Emperors of Rome | Livia Drusilla, Empress of Rome (Lecture 7)

Lecture 7: Augustus’s wife, Livia Drusilla, and his stepson, Tiberius, were major players in his succession schemes. In this lecture, we take a look at the intelligent and resourceful woman who won Augustus’s heart and respect. We examine the continuities and discontinuities in the roles of aristocratic women in the republic and under the empire, Livia’s family background, and her meeting and marriage to Augustus (then Octavian). The opinion that Livia was a sort of dynastic black widow, murdering or arranging the deaths of rivals to ensure Tiberius’s eventual succession, is scrutinized and found wanting. The position of women under the Principate, a matter investigated further in coming lectures, is introduced here. As we will see, Livia was easily the most powerful woman in Roman history to date.

Essential Reading:
Barrett, Livia, especially pp. 3−72.

Supplementary Reading:
Levick, Tiberius the Politician, chapter 4.
Seager, Tiberius, chapters 1 and 2.