Empress of Rome

Empress of Rome is the fascinating biography of one of the most 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.

“'Ebullient' The Times.”

'Brilliant' Daily Express. Daily Express
The Times

Matthew Dennison is the author of 'The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria's Youngest Daughter' (2007). A journalist, he contributes to The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator and Country Life. He is married and lives in London and North Wales.

Second wife of the emperor Augustus, mother of his successor Tiberius, grandmother of Claudius and great-grandmother of Caligula, the empress LIvia lived through the years of Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire. She would witness both its triumphs under the rule of Augustus and its lapse into instability under his dysfunctional successor. Posterity has not been kind to her. The Roman historian Tacitus condemned her as 'malevolent', and a 'feminine bully', and inspired Robert Graves's 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. In this rigorously researched biography, Matthew Dennison presents more nuanced assessment. Livia's true 'crime', he reveals, was not murder but the exercise of power. In a society so assertively male that is historians avoided mentioning women save as exemplars of outstanding virtue or vice, Livia was unusual in creating for herself a public profile and a sphere of influence. Empress of Rome rescues the historical Livia from the crude caricature of popular myth to paint a magisterial portrait of a complex, courageous and gifted woman - one of the most fascinating and perplexing figures of the ancient world.

Empress of Rome is the fascinating biography of one of the most 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.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.