19 Facts About Livia

Livia was the daughter of senator Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus and his wife Alfidia.

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

Livia was married around 43 BC to Tiberius Claudius Nero, her cousin of patrician status who was fighting with her father on the side of Julius Caesar's assassins against Octavian.

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

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

Livia 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 would set the pattern for the noble Roman matrona.

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

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

Livia 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 was not altogether innocent of these deaths and Cassius Dio mentions such rumours.

Tacitus alleged that Livia had plotted against her stepdaughter's family and ruined them.

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

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

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

Livia 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 its consumption and commended it to everyone as an "elixir for a long life".

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

Livia is portrayed as having sworn a sacred oath to her father's shade to restore the Republic and to be playing a long con to that effect in concert with Gn.