Livia Drusilla the First Empress of the Roman Empire

Livia Drusilla was the third wife of Augustus Caesar, and the first Empress of the Roman Empire. 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. She was the mother of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, and the grandmother of Emperor Claudius.

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.

— SUPPORT US VIA OUR PATREON—

— BUY OUR MERCH —

— CHAPTERS —
0:00​ Introduction
1:07 Livia's Early Life and Marriage
3:23 Life and Family of Livia Drusilla
7:09 Livia Drusilla's Last Years
8:45 Outro

— WANT TO KNOW MORE? —

— WATCH NEXT —
History of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty of the Roman Empire
The Lives of Ancient Roman Women
The Roman Epic Poem The Aeneid: Introduction and Summary
The Roman Goddess Vesta and her Vestal Virgins

— ATTRIBUTIONS —

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

— THUMBNAIL IMAGE —
Carole Raddato

Carole Raddato

World History Encyclopedia

#liviadrusilla #romanempire #romanempress

[WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Do you know of other powerful Roman women?

[MosesTibasima]

The fact that she managed to live for 86 years in Rome during that period time is remarkable and says a lot about Livia I personal think she was a power house!

[gregstephens]

Wow! I love your energy for this subject!

[kaylacattouse-cowans]

Domina does a good job of telling her story

[redkev]

i’m using this for my history project, thx

[elagabalusrex]

Not only the first empress, but also probably the most ruthless and cunning. If she did even half of what is written about her, I don't think even the likes of Agrippina and Julia Domna can compare to Livia in terms of intelligence and sheer ambition. It's no coincidence that the most successful empress was married to the most successful emperor the Romans ever knew. I doubt if Augustus would have lasted half as long without her by his side.

[patriciahayes]

It hasn't been 100% proved that Livia secretly caused the deaths of Gaius, Lucius, Germanicus, and Augustus to secure the throne of Tiberius. However, it's very likely that both Tiberius and Livia were involved in the deaths of Agrippa Posthumus and his mother, Julia the Elder. Tiberius would have taken great pleasure in seeing Julia die in exile, not only because she was Augustus's daughter, but because that was how much Tiberius hated her. 🤔

[freyasslain]

Livia never killed Augustus. First off, Augustus had health problems all his life . The fact that he lived 75 years was indeed a miracle . She was a good wife and Empress.
People stop watching I Claudius !

[antonius_]

Was she a psychopath like Octavian ? I heard that she poisoned many, including (by her order) Agrippa.

[Amadeu.Macedo]

According to British sources, Livia is portrayed as a cunning, manipulative, and powerful lady, who appears to have poisoned many members of the imperial family (as you correctly suggested). Furthermore, according to the same sources, Livia's greatest wish, during her later years, was unfulfilled, for she hoped to be named a goddess... BRAVO!

[gailcurl]

"Let Us Nayou"?? It's "Let Us KNOW"!!