Did you know that a woman steered the course of the early Roman Empire?
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia! My name is Kelly and today's video is all about
the third wife of Emperor Augustus Caesar, the mother of Emperor Tiberius and the grandmother of
Emperor Claudius: Livia Drusilla. Livia, the first empress of the Roman Empire spent her life serving
silently in the shadows of Augustus and making sure her son became the next emperor of Rome;
whether he wanted to be or not. Don't forget, the easiest way to support us is by giving this
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As is unfortunately very common for women in Rome, much of Livia's early life is unknown but
we do know that she was probably born in Rome on January 30th in either 59 or 58 BCE. She
was first married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, who was a prominent member of the Claudian clan but
he didn't really choose his political alliances wisely and sided with the conservative optimates,
which were a branch of the Senate and then he backed Mark Antony at the Battle of Philippi.
When her husband was exiled to Greece, Livia and their son Tiberius went with him but he was
able to return to rome in 39 BCE. Livia had two children with Tiberius Nero, including the future
emperor of Rome, Tiberius, who was born in 42 BCE and Nero Claudius Drusus, who became the father of
the future Roman emperor Claudius. In either 37 or 38 BCE, Livia divorced her husband, while she
was pregnant with Drusus, to marry Augustus and unite two prominent Roman families - the Julians
and the Claudians. Livia was Augustus's third wife (his first two were both for political alliances),
after first being married to Mark Antony's stepdaughter Claudia, he then divorced her
and married the older Scribonia who gave birth to his only child Julia in 39 BCE. His marriage to
Livia ended up being a wise one since Livia kept a low profile while also being a big
supporter of her husband. She became a symbol of the loyal Roman wife who possessed intelligence,
dignity and beauty. Many people, both inside and outside the Imperial court, thought that Livia had
a pretty significant influence on the decisions of her husband since he respected her opinion and she
was believed to be a generous woman who encouraged Augustus to be merciful. Not everyone in the court
saw her in such a positive light though and thought of her more as a ruthless schemer
despite claiming that she really didn't hold much sway over her husband's decisions,
the Roman historian Tacitus wrote that she had gained quite a hold on the aged Augustus.
Although she was an imperial woman and the wife of the Roman emperor, like other Roman women,
Livia's duties mostly consisted of domestic affairs; she would have overseen the running of
the house and the education of both her children and her grandchildren. Although she did undertake
matters that most Roman women did, she of course had some privileges as the wife of the emperor,
including front row seats to the theatre and financial independence. With her freedom,
she had numerous buildings erected, many of which were concerned with the lives of women
and included a temple to Bona Dea, who was a Roman fertility goddess, shrines to Concordia,
the goddess of harmony, and porticos which were covered walkways. She lived with Augustus in a
house on Palatine Hill and she was known as Romana princips; kind of like the First Lady of Rome.
She was supportive of her husband, of course, but mostly she was concerned with getting one
of her sons on the throne as the next emperor. Augustus was said to be devoted to his wife
despite being a bit of a womanizer and apparently Livia ignored his fraternizing with other women.
Augustus's only daughter Julia had two daughters Julia and Agrippina and three sons: Gaius, Lucius
and Agrippa Postumus, and since these children were directly related to Augustus and not adopted,
like Livia's sons, they were ahead of Livia's children as heirs to the throne. Somehow though,
with three boys ahead of Tiberius and Drusus, Livia's plans to have a son of hers on the throne
would succeed. First her son Drusus died in battle in 9 BCE, and then soon after, and while still
quite young, Gaius died in battle in 4 CE at the age of 23 and Lucius died of an illness in Gaul in
2 CE. Although neither of them actually died in Rome, history does still question whether Livia
had anything to do with the boy's untimely deaths. Then the final son of Julia, Agrippa Postumus,
was exiled while he was still young even though he was adopted by Augustus and then he was executed
after the death of Augustus. After the death of both Lucius and Gaius, Tiberius became the obvious
choice as heir to the throne, although Augustus was pretty reluctant to name him his successor
and it seems that although Livia really wanted her son to be the next emperor, Tiberius didn't really
feel the same way although he was successful in politics, he didn't feel comfortable in the
Imperial House and even exiled himself to Rhodes, returning to Rome in 2 CE. Not only was he being
groomed to be emperor when he really didn't want the title, but he was forced to divorce
his beloved and pregnant wife, Vipsania, and marry the widow Julia instead. Apparently he hated Julia
and may have taken to Rhodes just to get away from her. In 4 BCE, while Tiberius was in his forties,
Augustus finally adopted him as successor and he was the first in line to be the next emperor.
Before his death, Drusus had two sons: one the commander Germanicus, who was the father
of Caligula and the third emperor of Rome and Claudius who became the fourth emperor of Rome and
ruled between 41 and 54 CE. Germanicus, who was a popular leader, died at the age of 34 in 19 CE
and is believed to have been poisoned by Tiberius as a way to remove him as a threat to his reign.
Livia, who was Claudius's grandmother, is said to have prayed aloud that the Roman people
might be spared so cruel and undeserved of misfortune of having Claudius as their
emperor when it was predicted that he would one day rule the Empire.
On the 14th of August 14 CE, Augustus died but prior to his death his health was failing and he
had become more and more withdrawn and only corresponded with his wife through letters.
Many historians believe that not only is the date of Augustus's death wrong,
because they think Livia delayed announcing his death because Tiberius was not in Rome
at the time, but that she had a role in his death by feeding him poisoned figs.
Whilst his health was failing, Livia stayed by his side and sent out bulletins about
his health and after the arrival of Tiberius, his death was announced and his will was read,
giving Livia and Tiberius the bulk of his estate. Tiberius as emperor soon became
tired of Livia meddling and had her removed from all public affairs. After the death of Augustus,
Livia was granted the title Augusta which was an honorary title given to Roman empresses
with Livia being the first to hold the title. In 29 CE, at the age of 86, Livia Drusilla died and
though she may have been remembered as a suspected murderess, she was definitely a powerful woman who
not only stood by her husband but made sure her son had no challenges to overcome in order to
sit on the throne of the Roman Empire. Do you know of other powerful Roman women? Let us know
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