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Author: Matthew Dennison Publisher: Macmillan + ORM ISBN: 142998919X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 335
Book Description
Rome is a subject of endless fascination, and in this new biography of the infamous Empress Livia, Matthew Dennison brings to life a woman long believed to be one of the most feared villainesses of history. Second wife of the emperor Augustus, mother of his successor Tiberius, grandmother of Claudius and great grandmother of Caligula, the empress Livia lived close to the center of Roman political power for eight turbulent decades. Her life spanned the years of Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire, and witnessed both its triumphs under the rule of Augustus and its lapse into instability under his dysfunctional successor. Livia was given the honorific title Augusta in her husband's will, and was posthumously deified by the emperor Claudius—but posterity would prove less respectful. The Roman historian Tacitus anathematized her as "malevolent" and a "feminine bully" and inspired Robert Graves's celebrated twentieth-century depiction of Livia in I, Claudius as the quintessence of the scheming matriarch, poisoning her relatives one by one to smooth her son's path to the imperial throne. Livia, Empress of Rome rescues the historical Livia from the crude caricature of popular myth to paint an elegant and richly textured portrait. In this rigorously researched biography, Dennison weighs the evidence found in contemporary sources to present a more nuanced assessment. Livia's true "crime," he reveals, was not murder but the exercise of power. The Livia who emerges here is a complex, courageous and gifted woman, and one of the most fascinating and perplexing figures of the ancient world.
Author: Matthew Dennison Publisher: Macmillan + ORM ISBN: 142998919X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 335
Book Description
Rome is a subject of endless fascination, and in this new biography of the infamous Empress Livia, Matthew Dennison brings to life a woman long believed to be one of the most feared villainesses of history. Second wife of the emperor Augustus, mother of his successor Tiberius, grandmother of Claudius and great grandmother of Caligula, the empress Livia lived close to the center of Roman political power for eight turbulent decades. Her life spanned the years of Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire, and witnessed both its triumphs under the rule of Augustus and its lapse into instability under his dysfunctional successor. Livia was given the honorific title Augusta in her husband's will, and was posthumously deified by the emperor Claudius—but posterity would prove less respectful. The Roman historian Tacitus anathematized her as "malevolent" and a "feminine bully" and inspired Robert Graves's celebrated twentieth-century depiction of Livia in I, Claudius as the quintessence of the scheming matriarch, poisoning her relatives one by one to smooth her son's path to the imperial throne. Livia, Empress of Rome rescues the historical Livia from the crude caricature of popular myth to paint an elegant and richly textured portrait. In this rigorously researched biography, Dennison weighs the evidence found in contemporary sources to present a more nuanced assessment. Livia's true "crime," he reveals, was not murder but the exercise of power. The Livia who emerges here is a complex, courageous and gifted woman, and one of the most fascinating and perplexing figures of the ancient world.
Author: Tracene Harvey Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 0429648502 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 439
Book Description
Julia Augusta examines the socio-political impact of coin images of Augustus’s wife, Livia, within the broader context of her image in other visual media and reveals the detailed visual language that was developed for the promotion of Livia as the predominant female in the Roman imperial family. The book provides the most comprehensive examination of all extant coins of Livia to date, and provides one of the first studies on the images on Roman coins as gender-infused designs, which created a visual dialogue regarding Livia’s power and gender-roles in relation to those of male members of the imperial family. While the appearance of Roman women on coins was not entirely revolutionary, having roughly coincided with the introduction of images of powerful Roman statesmen to coins in the late 40s BCE, the degree to which Livia came to be commemorated on coins in the provinces and in Rome was unprecedented. This volume provides unique insights into the impact of these representations of Livia, both on coins and in other visual media. Julia Augusta: Images of Rome’s First Empress on the Coins of the Roman Empire will be of great interest to students of women and imperial imagery in the Roman Empire, as well as the importance of visual representation and Roman imperial ideology.
Author: Anthony A. Barrett Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300127162 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 459
Book Description
The author of Rome Is Burning separates fact from fiction as he examines the life of an ancient Roman figure made famous in the TV miniseries I Claudius. Livia—wife of the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, and mother of the second, Tiberius—wielded extraordinary power at the center of Roman politics. In this biography of Livia, the first in English, Anthony Barrett sets aside the portrait of a cunning and sinister schemer to reveal Livia as a complex figure whose enduring political influence helped shape Roman government long after her death. “An excellent biography of Livia—as appealing to the general reader as it is satisfying to the scholar.” —Colin M. Wells, Trinity University, San Antonio “In reading Anthony Barrett’s biography of Livia, I not only learned about this remarkable woman, but also gained a meaningful appreciation of life and society in her time.” —Howard Alper, President, The Royal Society of Canada “First-rate.” —Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement
Author: Matthew Dennison Publisher: Quercus Books ISBN: 9781849161107 Category : Empresses Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Empress of Rome is a brand-new biography of one of the most fascinating, perplexing and powerful figures of the ancient world: the empress Livia. Second wife of the emperor Augustus and the mother of his successor Tiberius, Livia has been vilified by posterity (most notably by Tacitus and Robert Graves) as the quintessence of the scheming Roman matriarch, poisoning her relatives one by one to smooth her son's path to the imperial throne.In this elegant and rigorously researched biography, Matthew Dennison rescues the historical Livia from this crudely drawn caricature of the popular imagination. He depicts a complex, courageous and richly gifted woman whose true crime was not was not murder but the exercise of power, and who, in a male-dominated society, had the energy to create for herself both a prominent public profile and a significant sphere of political influence.
Author: Robert Graves Publisher: Rosetta Books ISBN: 0795336799 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 606
Book Description
“One of the really remarkable books of our day”—the story of the Roman emperor on which the award-winning BBC TV series was based (The New York Times). Once a rather bookish young man with a limp and a stammer, a man who spent most of his time trying to stay away from the danger and risk of the line of ascension, Claudius seemed an unlikely candidate for emperor. Yet, on the death of Caligula, Claudius finds himself next in line for the throne, and must stay alive as well as keep control. Drawing on the histories of Plutarch, Suetonius, and Tacitus, noted historian and classicist Robert Graves tells the story of the much-maligned Emperor Claudius with both skill and compassion. Weaving important themes throughout about the nature of freedom and safety possible in a monarchy, Graves’s Claudius is both more effective and more tragic than history typically remembers him. A bestselling novel and one of Graves’ most successful, I, Claudius has been adapted to television, film, theatre, and audio. “[A] legendary tale of Claudius . . . [A] gem of modern literature.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Author: Guy De la Bédoyère Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300230303 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 421
Book Description
A captivating popular history that shines a light on the notorious Julio-Claudian women who forged an empire Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero--these are the names history associates with the early Roman Empire. Yet, not a single one of these emperors was the blood son of his predecessor. In this captivating history, a prominent scholar of the era documents the Julio-Claudian women whose bloodline, ambition, and ruthlessness made it possible for the emperors' line to continue. Eminent scholar Guy de la Bédoyère, author of Praetorian, asserts that the women behind the scenes--including Livia, Octavia, and the elder and younger Agrippina--were the true backbone of the dynasty. De la Bédoyère draws on the accounts of ancient Roman historians to revisit a familiar time from a completely fresh vantage point. Anyone who enjoys I, Claudius will be fascinated by this study of dynastic power and gender interplay in ancient Rome.
Author: Mary Mudd Publisher: Trafford Publishing ISBN: 1426940130 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 472
Book Description
A historical tradition of Roman origin represents Livia Drusilla, the third and much beloved wife of Caesar Augustus, as a conniving, Borgia-like criminal. This view of Livia maintains, that to promote the political career of her son by her former husband, Livia killed or incapacitated Augustus' descendants through his previous wife. Author Robert Graves, in his famous novel, I, Claudius, based his fictitious rendering of Livia upon this malevolent representation of her. The conceit is patently wrong, and essentially all modern scholars of Roman history reject it. But thanks to Graves' immensely entertaining book, and the British Broadcasting Corporation adaptation of it for television, the image of Livia as a devious dynastic murderess prevails in the popular mind. I, Livia: The Counterfeit Criminal aspires to correct the misconception, and present an accurate assessment of this much-maligned woman. The study's comfortably readable style is intended for general audiences. The first three chapters present a biographical sketch, which focuses on Livia's public life. Livia was accepted as an extraordinarily visible, dynamic and influential political personage, by a society and culture that maintained that women must confine their activities childrearing and other domestic pursuits. The following two chapters demonstrate the absurdity of Livia's criminal reputation, and offer explanation for its development. Three subsequent chapters seek Livia's private side - her habits, tastes, and interpersonal relationships. Livia (who suffered from colds and chronic arthritis) was an amiable soul, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She was a loving, supportive forbearant wife and mother, an intellectual with profound political insights, an enthusiastic traveller, a connoisseur of art. Although generally patient and demure, she could also be impulsive, assertive, opinionated and, especially in later life, petulant. The final chapter examines how Livia became, and remained, a symbol of Roman imperial power. The brief epilogue describes the physical appearances of Livia and the members of her family. Also included are relevant appendices, a comprehensive bibliography, and color images of surviving wall paintings from her homes.
Author: Matthew Dennison Publisher: Macmillan ISBN: 125002353X Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 402
Book Description
A retelling of the lives and times of the Roman emperors traces how their reigns marked Rome's shift from a republic to an influential empire, offering a sequence of biographies that offers insight into the political and social dynamics of each ruler's time.
Author: Matthew Dennison
Author: Matthew Dennison
Author: Tracene Harvey
Author: Anthony A. Barrett
Author: Matthew Dennison
Author: Elizabeth Bartman
Author: Robert Graves
Author: Guy De la Bédoyère
Author: Mary Mudd
Author: Alfred John Church
Author: Matthew Dennison