Latest / The Story of Italy: Rome, Renaissance, and the Birth of Modern Europe — Fexingo History / Livia Drusilla: Rome's First Empress and the Power Behind Augustus
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've covered a lot of the monuments and the machinery of Rome — the colosseum, the aqueducts, the census. But there's a thread that runs through all of it, and we haven't really pulled it yet. The people. Specifically, the one who outmaneuvered everyone for decades without ever holding a title. Livia Drusilla. Luna: Livia — Augustus's wife. I've heard her name, but she always seems to be in the background. Lucas: Exactly, and that's the thing. She deliberately kept herself in the background, but she was arguably the most powerful person in the empire after her husband. In fact, some historians would say she was the power behind the throne — not in a secretive, manipulative way, but in a very public, strategic way that we can actually trace in the sources. Lucas: Let's start with her origins. Livia was born in 59 BC into the Claudii, one of the oldest patrician families. Her father, Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus, was a supporter of the Republicans — he fought at Philippi against Octavian and committed suicide after the defeat. So Livia came from the losing side, which makes her later rise even more remarkable. Luna: She married Octavian after that? How did that even happen? Lucas: It's one of those dramatic stories. In 38 BC, Livia was already married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, and she was pregnant with their second child. But Octavian — who was not yet Augustus — had apparently fallen for her. The tradition says he married her the very day she gave birth to her son, Drusus. We don't know exactly how it played out, but the political symbolism was huge: Octavian was absorbing the prestige of an ancient patrician family into his own, and Livia got a partner who was on the rise. Lucas: And Livia's first husband didn't just vanish — he actually attended their wedding and gave her away, which is bizarre to us but shows how practical Roman elite marriage could be. From that moment on, Livia became Octavian's political partner. She managed his household, his correspondence, and his image — not as a passive hostess, but as an active advisor. Luna: So she was basically a co-ruler, but without the title. Lucas: Yes. And she was very careful about that. She never publicly took power, but she controlled access to Augustus. People who wanted a favor went through Livia. She built a network of clients and allies that spanned the senatorial class and the equestrians. The poet Ovid, for instance, wrote poems praising her — though that didn't save him when he was exiled. Lucas: One of the most concrete things we have from Livia's time is the Porticus Liviae, a public building she financed with money from her own dowry. It was a colonnaded walkway with gardens, built on the site of a wealthy family's house that had been torn down. She dedicated it to her deceased husband — but it was also a political statement, showing that she could fund public works like any male aristocrat. Luna: She built that herself? That's not typical for a woman, is it? Lucas: Right, it's unusual. Most public buildings were funded by men. But Livia did it with her own money, and it was a hit — people loved the gardens and the shade. It was a smart move, because it associated her with generosity and care for the people, which was exactly the image Augustus wanted to project for the imperial family. Lucas: Now, here's where it gets really interesting. Livia had her own son Tiberius, but Augustus had a daughter, Julia, from his first marriage. The question of succession was enormous. Augustus adopted his grandsons — Julia's kids — and for a while it looked like one of them would inherit. But Livia played a long game, promoting Tiberius, who was also Augustus's stepson, and eventually Augustus adopted him. Luna: So she pushed her own son instead of Augustus's grandsons? Lucas: That's the common, and maybe too simple, reading. But the sources are messy. Tacitus claims Livia had a hand in the deaths of potential rivals — including Marcellus, Julia's first husband, and later Agrippa Postumus, the last surviving grandson. But Tacitus is writing a century later, and he's not always reliable. Still, the suspicion stuck, and it shaped how people saw her. Lucas: Let's take a step back, because there's a bigger picture here. Livia wasn't just scheming for her son. She was building the imperial household as a political institution. Before Augustus, Rome was a republic with no precedent for a first family. Livia helped create the model of the domus Augusta — the imperial family as a source of stability and continuity. She cultivated an image of the matrona, the ideal Roman matron, while actually wielding immense influence. Luna: So she was performing a role while also doing the real work. Lucas: Exactly. She dressed modestly, kept a spinning room, and presented herself as the ultimate traditional wife. But behind that facade, she managed a vast patronage network, corresponded with eastern client kings, and even had a close relationship with her slaves and freedmen — some of whom became important administrators. She had her own spies, her own agents, and her own personal wealth, which was considerable. Lucas: And when Augustus died in 14 AD, Livia was already a powerful figure in her own right. She was given the title Augusta, which was a new thing — no woman had ever had that as a formal title. She also became a priestess of his cult when he was deified. For a few years, she was arguably the most influential person in Rome, even above her son Tiberius, who was emperor but often deferred to her. Luna: Did she ever overstep? I mean, with Tiberius, it must have been tense. Lucas: Oh, it was very tense. Tiberius was resentful. He felt she had too much power, and there are letters where he complains about her interfering in state business. But he also owed his position to her, so he couldn't just push her aside. After her death in 29 AD, he actually vetoed her deification — which was a huge insult. It wasn't until later, under her grandson Claudius, that she was finally deified and given official cult. Lucas: But here's the kicker: even after she died, her influence didn't end. Caligula, who was her great-grandson, grew up hearing stories about her and reportedly wore her ring as a talisman. Claudius, who was her grandson, honored her memory. And the image of the empress as the mother of the nation — that idea stuck around for centuries, right through the Byzantine period. Luna: So she really did shape the role of empress for all of Roman history. Lucas: Absolutely. But let's be clear: she was also controversial in her own time. The historian Tacitus paints her as a scheming, domineering figure. Cassius Dio describes her as ambitious and ruthless. There's a famous story that when Augustus was considering which of his grandsons to adopt, Livia poisoned him — but that's almost certainly propaganda. The reality is that she was a brilliant political operator who had to navigate a system that gave her no formal authority, but she found ways to exercise power anyway. Luna: It's fascinating how she turned her lack of official power into a kind of advantage. Lucas: That's the key. She could always say, 'I'm just a wife and mother,' while doing things that would have been punishable if a man had done them. She built alliances, promoted her son, and even shaped public policy — like when she advised Augustus on land reform for veterans. She was also a patron of the arts and literature, supporting writers like Vergil and Livy. Lucas: If today's conversation has given you a new way to see Roman history — not just as battles and emperors, but as a family drama with real consequences — then that's exactly the kind of thing we try to bring every week. And if it's been useful to you, the way these episodes stay ad-free is through listener support. You can buy me a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that helps keep this going. Luna: Yeah, I always appreciate that you dig into these stories without interruption. Lucas: So back to Livia. One of the most telling episodes is what happened after Augustus's death. His will, which he had written years earlier, was publicly read. In it, he adopted Tiberius and gave Livia the title Augusta — but he also made her the heir to a third of his property, which was unprecedented. She became one of the richest women in the empire, with a personal treasury that she controlled entirely. Lucas: And she used that wealth to continue her patronage. She funded temples, restored roads, and supported charities. She also maintained a vast network of clients who could petition her directly. In effect, she ran a parallel court to her son's. Tiberius didn't like it, but he couldn't stop her. Luna: So she was like a queen mother, but without the crown. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why she's so important. She defined the role of the empress mother — the Augusta — which became a powerful title for women in the empire. Later empresses like Agrippina the Younger, Julia Domna, and even the Byzantine empresses all looked back to Livia as the model. She was the first, and she set the pattern. Lucas: There's also a physical reminder of her in Rome today. The Basilica Aemilia, which we mentioned in an earlier episode, was partly restored by Livia — there's an inscription that says she donated funds for it. And the Porticus Liviae, which we talked about, was later incorporated into a church, but its foundations are still there. So even now, you can walk past remnants of her projects. Luna: I never really thought about the empresses as having a concrete impact like that. Lucas: And that's the thing — Livia's legacy is written in stone as much as in the histories. She was a woman who, without holding any office, shaped the architecture, the politics, and the very idea of imperial rule. In a way, she's the real founder of the Roman Empire's dynastic system, not just Augustus. Lucas: So next time you hear about Augustus and his achievements — the Pax Romana, the building programs, the new regime — remember that behind it all was Livia, the invisible hand that helped make it possible. And that's a story worth telling.