21 Facts About Livia Drusilla

Livia Drusilla married Tiberius Claudius Nero around 43 BC, and they had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus.

Livia Drusilla continued to exert political influence as the mother of the emperor.

Livia Drusilla was the grandmother of the emperor Claudius, great-grandmother of the emperor Caligula, and the great-great-grandmother of the emperor Nero.

The diminutive Livia Drusilla often found in her name suggests that she was not her father's first daughter.

Livia Drusilla's father married her to Tiberius Claudius Nero, her cousin of patrician status who was fighting with him on the side of Julius Caesar's assassins against Octavian.

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Livia Drusilla's father committed suicide in the Battle of Philippi, along with Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, but her husband continued fighting against Octavian, now on behalf of Mark Antony and his brother Lucius Antonius.

Livia Drusilla's first child, the future emperor Tiberius, was born in 42 BC.

Seemingly around that time, when Livia Drusilla was six months pregnant, Tiberius Claudius Nero was persuaded or forced by Octavian to divorce Livia Drusilla.

Livia Drusilla always enjoyed the status of privileged counselor to her husband, petitioning him on the behalf of others and influencing his policies, an unusual role for a Roman wife in a culture dominated by the pater familias.

Livia Drusilla wore neither excessive jewelry nor pretentious costumes; she took care of the household and her husband, always faithful and dedicated.

Livia Drusilla owned and effectively administered copper mines in Gaul, entire estates of palm groves in Judea, and dozens of papyrus marshes in Egypt.

Livia Drusilla had her own circle of clients and pushed many proteges into political offices, including the grandfathers of the later Emperors Galba and Otho.

Tacitus charges that Livia Drusilla was not altogether innocent of these deaths and Cassius Dio mentions such rumours.

Livia Drusilla plotted against her stepdaughter's family and ruined them.

Livia Drusilla played a vital role in the formation of her children Tiberius and Drusus.

Livia Drusilla's image appears in ancient visual media such as coins and portraits.

Livia Drusilla was the first woman to appear on provincial coins in 16 BC and her portrait images can be chronologically identified partially from the progression of her hair designs, which represented more than keeping up with the fashions of the time as her depiction with such contemporary details translated into a political statement of representing the ideal Roman woman.

Livia Drusilla is mentioned by Pliny the Elder, who describes the vines of the Pulcino wine.

Livia Drusilla is said to have loved this Vinum Pucinum for its medicinal properties and at the end of her long life she attributed her old age to the regular consumption of this wine and recommended it to everyone as an "elixir for a long life".

Livia Drusilla is portrayed as deceptively submissive in public, while in private she possesses an iron will, and a gift for political scheming that matches Atia's.

Livia Drusilla plays an important role in two Marcus Corvinus mysteries by David Wishart, Ovid and Germanicus.