Giving You Livia Drusilla 58 BC - 29 AD (Sinister and Formidable Lady Of Rome)

Livia Drusilla was a remarkable lady from history who imposed herself upon living memory for all. She was, by all accounts, a most machiavellian woman who held great power in Rome. Much has been written about her and it is very hard, 2,000 years later, to distinguish fact from fiction. She lived to be 86 and is sometimes admired and sometimes regarded as a dark and sinister character. I think it is fair to say that Livia Drusilla was an anti-heroic champion of Rome and she lived through the time of transformation from Republic to Imperial rule by Emperor.

Exist, she certainly did and much of her great reputation must be true, but I'm sure some things may also be false. It is very difficult to know what to believe for certain because she lived in a time when political stakes were high in the Imperial Roman families and relations did kill one another in ingenious ways. In popular modern day fiction, she was supposed to have poisoned opponents within Rome's imperial family in order to make way for the more suitable people to gain power. Chiefly her elder son Tiberius. Whether or not this extremity is so; can't be said, though it makes for good historical drama like I Claudius, a BBC adaptation that featured Livia Drusilla as a cunning woman of power, paving the way for her son to become Emperor of Rome.

In reality, Livia was born in the year 58 BC and is believed to have been the second daughter of a noble family. When she grew to a woman, her family arranged for her to marry a man called Claudius Nero. Her marriage to this man was during the time when Julius Ceaser was bringing an end to the old Roman Republic, but before he could completely usurp authority and become an Emperor, his dictatorship was brought to a sudden end when he was stabbed to death by members of the senate who wanted to preserve the Republic.

This caused a civil war in Rome, between the Imperial families and the Republic. On one side, Octavius (Julius Ceaser's adopted Nephew) Mark Antony, Lepidus and on the other side, the Republican forces led by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius.

Young Livia Drusilla's first husband (Claudius Nero) was among the forces of Brutus and Cassius too. They were defeated in Battle and the Roman Empire was split three ways between Octavius, (who would now become known as Augustus Ceaser) Mark Antony and Lepidus.

Augustus (Octavius) was able to eliminate the other two sharers of power over the coming years. He took Lepidus' part of the Empire and then defeated Mark Antony in a naval battle and marched on Egypt. Soon Augustus (Octavius) ruled all of the Empire. He had become the first supreme Emperor of Rome. He needed to gain allies from other Imperial families and therefore had to make peace with some of the nobles who had fought for Mark Antony's army. One of them, Claudius Nero - Livia Drusilla's first husband. They had been hiding in Greece but were given an amnesty to return to Rome and be presented to the supreme Emperor Augustus (Octavius)

Romans often got divorced and married into new families when marriage unions no longer remained necessary. Livia Drusilla's union with Claudius Nero was no longer viable for either. She had a son called Tiberius and was pregnant with another son who would be Nero Claudius Drusus. Because Augustus needed to form a union with the Claudian family he chose young Livia Drusilla for his new wife. He had a daughter of his own called Julia and he quickly divorced his wife named Scribonia.

He then arranged for Claudius Nero to divorce Livia. In this, history records that it was an agreeable divorce and that Claudius Nero even attended the quick wedding of Livia and Augustus, while she was still carrying the son of Claudius Nero. Everything was settled amicably.

As the Emperor's wife, Livia excelled in many ways. She was formidable and wanted to make sure her eldest son Tiberius became Emperor. Augustus' only daughter Julia, was married to his friend from the civil war Agrippa. Julia became available for her son (Tiberius) when Agrippa died. Some think Livia might have had a hand in the man's death, but it can't be confirmed. Her son Tiberius was forced to divorce a woman he loved for the political union with Julia who was, in reality, his step sister.

Augustus had grandsons (from Agrippa and Julia's marriage) and other young hopefuls in the Imperial Roman house, but they all died before their time, which led a lot of people to speculate that Livia Drusilla might have found ways to poison them. She had great powers granted to her by Augustus and remained married to him for over 50 years. They must have had some devotion and to all, Livia appeared to be a model wife who Augustus trusted and confined in for the time they were married. When he succumb and died, only Livia's eldest son remained. Her stepdaughter/daughter in law, Julia - wife of Tiberius had been banished to an island where she died lonely and betrayed.

The whole imperial household went through various stages of political subterfuge, untimely deaths, and alliances. Through it all the old Livia Drusilla is believed to have had power and knowledge that fashioned things in such ways to make her son Tiberius Emperor. When Tiberius did finally become Emperor upon Augustus' death she is believed to have become involved in new plans of deceit.

She died at the age of 86 - long lived by such standards in that day and age. Also remarkable for an Imperial family, where plots to remove people from power were constant. Maybe Livia Drusilla was ahead of her game in matters like this or maybe it is exaggerated. But she did hold great power and would have had to do cunning things to preserve and help the Great Roman Empire, which she loved so much. She remains a fascinating character of intrigue and compels interest 2,000 years after her passing.