Livia

Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – AD 29) was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julia gens in AD 14.

Livia was the daughter of senator Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus and his wife Alfidia. She married Tiberius Claudius Nero around 43 BC, and they had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus. In 38 BC, she divorced Tiberius Claudius Nero and married the political leader Octavian. The Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus in 27 BC, effectively making him emperor. In her role as Roman empress, Livia served as an influential confidant to her husband and was rumoured to have been responsible for the deaths of several of his relatives, including his grandson Agrippa Postumus. It is at least known that the emperor allowed her to participate in confidential affairs, dilemmas, and discussions about important figures, seeking her opinion, and she had a significant influence on him. Livia also used her influence cunningly, creating a network of supporters, meeting with high-ranking individuals, affecting the promotion of officials, and making them indebted to her. At the same time, by garnering the support of allies—and even enemies—through collecting and presenting evidence of their crimes, she pursued a shrewd political strategy that could compel people to comply with her wishes.

After Augustus died in AD 14, Tiberius was elevated, and Livia continued to exert political influence as the mother of the emperor until her death in AD 29. She was grandmother of the emperor Claudius, great-grandmother of the emperor Caligula, and great-great-grandmother of the emperor Nero. Livia was deified by Claudius in AD 42, bestowing her the title Diva Augusta.