I Am Livia (50 page)

I began writing down my memories, thinking to sit in judgment on the young woman I was. I find I cannot do it. I am still Livia Drusilla.

The gods must judge me.

My beloved, Rome’s revered one, died shortly before what would have been his seventy-seventh birthday. He died in the month of Augustus, peacefully in his bed. During his illness, I was always with him, and as the light waned, I held him in my arms. His last act was to kiss me. His final words were spoken to me. “Keep the memory of our marriage alive,” he whispered. I have done that. I hope to do it for eternity.

Livia passed away at the age of eighty-six…
The Senate…
voted an arch in her honor—a distinction conferred on no other woman—because she had saved the lives of not a few of them, reared the children of many citizens, and paid the dowries for many girls, in consequence of which some were calling her Mother of Her Country. She was buried in the mausoleum of Augustus.

—
Cassius Dio

Author’s Note

Livia Drusilla (58
B.C.
–29
A.D
.) was not only the wife of Caesar Augustus but his political advisor. She is thought to have been the most powerful woman in the history of ancient Rome. Though Augustus himself used the humbler title First Citizen, historians have dubbed him Rome’s first emperor. His marriage to Livia lasted fifty-one years, and he was succeeded as emperor by Livia’s son Tiberius.

Many of the incidents in this book are based on the historical record. For example, Livia actually survived getting caught in a forest fire, though her hair and clothing were singed; her first husband, Tiberius Nero, gave her away at her wedding to Caesar; and she, along with her sister-in-law, Octavia, received the unusual right (for a woman) to manage her own finances.

Livia has gotten bad press. Rumor has a way even now of attaching to women who break the conventional mold, and it certainly did in ancient Rome. People told stories about her poisoning her husband’s potential heirs one by one—and finally him—so that her son Tiberius, at age fifty-five, could assume supreme power. “Poisoner” was not an uncommon charge to be leveled at prominent Roman women. (Even the supremely virtuous Cornelia was accused of poisoning her son-in-law.) Livia’s interest in medicinal herbs gave the charges verisimilitude. In recent years, several biographers have argued convincingly that Livia never murdered anyone. Personally, I find the idea laughable that the astute and canny Caesar Augustus misread her character for five decades, stood by while she disposed of his relatives, and then let himself be poisoned by her.

Livia induced her husband to show mercy to at least some of his political opponents. She cared for orphans and, like a good modern First Lady, succored victims of disasters such as fires and earthquakes. If this makes her no saint, it at least does not cast her as a villain.

Her relationship in old age with her son Tiberius was strained, and he saw to it that the arch the Senate wanted constructed in her honor was never built. However, she eventually received a greater distinction. Like Augustus, she was deified—in her case, through the efforts of her grandson, the emperor Claudius. She and her husband were worshipped as gods, and Roman women took oaths by invoking the name of Livia.

The novel’s unromantic view of Antony and Cleopatra is, like the portrait of Livia, consistent with facts. The blunt terminology in
chapter 16
is taken from a letter Antony actually wrote, preserved by Suetonius in
The Twelve Caesars
.

I’ve used the familiar anglicized versions of Mark Antony’s and Sextus Pompey’s names (rather than calling them Marcus Antonius and Sextus Pompeius). In the case of Caesar Octavianus, later Augustus, I’ve followed a different course. He never used the name Octavian, and neither have I in this book. In keeping with my desire to take a fresh look at him through Livia’s eyes, I’ve referred to him by his actual Roman name and allowed Livia to call him by a nickname.

Acknowledgments

This book would never have existed without the generous help of extraordinary people. My thanks to:

The friends and fellow writers who were the novel’s first readers. Camden McDaris Black, Bruce Bowman, Gina Caulfield, Susan Coventry, Mark Dane, Cynthia Dunn, Mary Hoffman, Barbara Morgan, Vicky Oliver, and Norm Scott all gave me encouragement and support as well as perceptive feedback.

My brilliant literary agent, Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein. Her wise counsel and faith in the book have earned my everlasting gratitude.

The editorial dream team at Amazon Publishing. Terry Goodman has provided a sure guiding hand every step of the way. He, Charlotte Herscher, and Phyllis DeBlanche offered creative insights and expertise that made this a better novel. I’m grateful to all the people at Amazon for their innovative vision and hard work.

About the Author

© Photo by Rachel Elkind,
2013

Phyllis T. Smith was born and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College and a master’s degree from New York University, Phyllis pursued a practical career in computer applications training, yet found herself drawn to literature and art of the ancient world.
I Am Livia
is her first novel. She has another novel set in ancient Rome in the works.