Livia was born in 58 BCE, the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus and Alfidia. Her mother, while the daughter of a magistrate from an Italian town, did not have an impressive pedigree. Her father though was born Appius Claudius Pulcher and was adopted as an infant by M. Livius Drusus who was tribune in 91 BCE. Livia carried the blood and prestige of both the Livii and the patrician Claudii families. There was a second connection with the gens Claudius as well. At the age of 15 or 16, she was married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, who was an opponent of the young Octavian. She gave birth to her first son, Tiberius in 42 BCE and by 40 BCE, the family fled Rome to the protection of Mark Antony, specifically to Antony’s brother L. Antonius and then, after the fall of Perusia in 40, fled to Sicily where Sextus Pompey as attracting the remnants of Rome’s upper class. From there he and Livia and their small son, Tiberius, moved on to Greece. They soon returned to Rome, thanks to the amnesty granted to the adherents of Antony in 39 BCE and by 38 BCE, we find a very pregnant Livia divorcing her husband to marry Octavian who had just divorced his wife, Scribonia who had the misfortune of having a family connection to Pompey and who had just given birth to their daughter. The events leading up to this marriage aren’t clear, but it appears to have been done with the approval of her husband, but what could he say really. We do know that he was present at the wedding banquet and that Livia had been granted exemption from the obligatory ten month waiting period required of a widow or divorced woman before remarriage on the grounds that Nero and her new husband had agreed on the coming child’s paternity. It is safe to assume that both Livia and Octavian wanted this union since it caused a great deal of scandal and tongue wagging in Rome at the time. Supposedly a story of a divine omen was put out at the time indicating that Livia was to play a special role. The story is that when she was traveling to her country estate an eagle, the bird of Jupiter, dropped in her lap a pregnant hen holding a sprig of laurel in its mouth, all of which were potent omens. Three months after the marriage, Livia’s second son, Drusus, was born. In accordance with Roman custom, Livia’s sons went to live with their father while Julia stayed with Octavian and Livia. When Tiberius Claudius Nero died in 32 BCE, Livia’s sons joined Octavian’s household.

Though Livia was a beautiful woman whom Octavian was reported to have fallen quickly in love with and that the two apparently lived happily together ever after, their marriage was still built on political foundations. Octavian needed connections with the Roman aristocratic families to grant respectability to his growing power and his marriage to Livia helped secure that. She brought to this union her Livian and Claudian ancestry and her two sons were heirs to the distinguished Claudii Nerones.

In 35 BCE, Octavian was already singling his family out as special. He persuaded the Senate to set up public statues in honor of his sister Octavia and his wife Livia. By the time he received the title of Augustus, he was actively promoting his family, which had started out in the most unconventional manner, as the epitome of the old fashioned family values. Augustus was fond of boasting that Livia spun and wove the cloth for his tunics. She is always portrayed dressed conservatively, wearing the stola and palla of the respectable matrona, little jewelry and a very conservative hairstyle. By all accounts Livia played the role of a loving, dutiful and even old fashioned wife. She cooperated with Augustus’ encouragement of upper class women to behave in the austere fashion of an earlier age when she and other female members of his household spun and wove and provided him with clothing. She sometimes accompanied him from Rome and always served as a trusted confidante and advisor. When a beloved great grandson of Augustus’ died (a son of Germanicus’), she saw to it that the child’s statue was placed in his private quarters. She also ignored his notorious womanizing and as a result, Tacitus referred to her as an ‘easy wife’. This tolerance was not surprising when the traditional goal of a Roman marriage is taken into consideration. A good Roman marriage was the formation of a household and the production of children, not for sexual gratification which would be found elsewhere. Though she never bore Augustus any children (a premature infant died), he must have been pleased with her, and its a tribute to their relationship, since he stayed married to her for 53 years despite the problems caused by his lack of a son. With his dying words, the emperor asked her to remember their life together.

The public display, honors and status given to Livia was carefully crafted by Augustus (or Augustus and Livia together) She was given the right to set with the Vestal Virgins during public performances, she received large numbers of clients, commissioned and dedicated public buildings, sponsored charities and interceded on behalf of provincial embassies. However, her entire public persona and all her images and actions were connected with marriage, the family and traditional Roman values. The Portico of Livia was a public recreational area consisting of a large courtyard with a shrine to Concordia, dedicated to marital concord and harmony. At the time of its dedication, she gave a large banquet for the respectable matrons of Rome. In 35 BCE, Livia received her first official marks of status, the right to manage her own affairs (i.e. control her own financial resources) without a guardian and the grant of sancrosancitas, the inviolability that tribunes enjoyed; it gave her the same protection that Augustus had. She also received a public statue, an honor almost unique for her time. In 9 BCE a second statue followed, on the surface, to console her on the recent death of her son Drusus and to call attention to her as a mother of important sons. At the same time, she was given the ius liberorum, the collection of rights given to the mothers of four sons. It further referenced her maternal role. While her actions may have been untraditional by being so public, they were still directed toward very traditional ends. She was a very intelligent woman who was able to help her husband consolidate his power while maintaining the appearance of not doing so. Livia continued to exert her influence over her son until her death in 29 CE at the age of 85. It was probably because of her political acumen and ability to watch out for Tiberius that the problems with the praetorian prefect Sejanus did not occur until two years after her death. Agrippina the Younger, her great granddaughter (and mother of Nero), followed the precedent set by Livia, but in this case, all the initiative came from her and she was more open in her use of power. She paid dearly for this when she was murdered by the orders of her own son.

The unconventionality of her m ade some Roman writers uncomfortable. She was after all, the pioneer in the role as the first wife and mother of emperors. In ancient Roman literature, a prominent woman is depicted in one of two ways. The first is as a traditional Roman matron, of which Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, is the best example. Such a woman derives her importance based solely on her role as a wife and mother who does not cross into the realm of politics. In the second way, an overly conspicuous woman whose influence is seen as exceeding that appropriate for her sex is often caricatured as a scheming virago and is seen as dangerous to her rivals and society as a whole. Both of these characterizations were applied to Livia. Because of the uniqueness of her position and the influence she wielded toward the end of her life, both Tacitus and Dio treat her negatively. Ancient authorities suggest that she had a hand in some of the untimely deaths of the designated heirs of Augustus, but there is no convincing evidence. To have arranged so many murders without arousing suspicion, Livia would have to be ranked among the cleverest manipulators of all time. Augustus, ordinarily very perceptive, would have had to have been terribly naive not to have recognized her part in them. Some even suggest she murdered him. Although it is implausible that Livia poisoned Augustus, the accusation shows how strongly she came to be perceived as championing her offspring at any cost. Also, the circumstances surrounding several of the deaths which she is supposed to been involved with are sufficiently attested to indicate death from natural causes. It was circumstance that made Tiberius the only one left at the end. The rumors came much later. Nevertheless, the outcome was certainly not displeasing to her.....she now looked forward to having her only surviving son become emperor of Rome. However, for the most part, other sources give a very different picture of her, as a kindly and dignified and, even possibly dull, Roman matron.

In his will, Augustus adopted Livia into his own lineage and gave her the title of Julia Augusta. The adoption did not change her legal position but it did serve to legitimize the position of Tiberius who was an adopted Julian and now became a naturalized one. The title Augusta was to become honorific for subsequent empresses. The Senate proposed granting her a lictor to accompany her on public occasions, since she was the widow of the now deified Augusta, priestess of his cult and mother of the new emperor. The sources disagree as to whether or not she ever got one. Images of Livia portrayed her as the personification of such Roman virtues as pietas and statues showed her in the guise of various goddesses, especially Ceres. When she died, the Senate voted to set up an arch in her honor - the type of monument previously reserved for triumphant generals. Tiberius pretended to accept this honor and even volunteered to pay for it himself, but he quietly let the whole matter slip.

Livia died in 29 CE at the advanced age of 86. She received a public funeral, although a relatively modest one and was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus. Gaius delivered the eulogy. He would be the one, her great grandson, who, on becoming emperor, finally paid the bequests that she had provided for in her will and that Tiberius had ignored. Her grandson, Claudius would oversee her long deferred deification in 42 CE. She received an elephant drawn chariot to convey her image to the games and a statue of her was set up in the temple of Augustus. Races were held in her honor. Tacitus’ obituary calls her “ An imperious mother and an amiable wife, she was the match for the diplomacy of her husband and the dissimulation of her son.”

Roman People, Second Edition, Robert B. Kebric, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1993

Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, Translated by Michael Grant, Penguin Group, 1996

Roman Women, Their History and Habits, J.P.V.D Balsdon, Barnes and Noble Books, 1998

Women and Politics in Ancient Rome, B. A. Bauman, Routledge, 1992

Women of the Caesars, G. Ferrero, Putnam’s Sons, 1925

Livia and the Imperial Court, G. Grether, 1946