Description: This is the first biography in English of one of Rome's most famous and infamous women, Livia (58 BC-AD 29), wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, who dominated imperial politics for decades.
Review Quotes: "A first-rate collection of material."--Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement
"Barrett is an assured and often amusing guide."--Mark Golden, Globe and Mail (Toronto) "An excellent biography."--Patrick Madigan, Haythrop Journal "Barrett's excellent life of Livia, the first Julio-Claudian empress and arguably the most important, forms a worthy companion to his earlier biography, Agrippina. . . . Clearly written, with translations of all Latin and Greek passages appearing in the text, a lengthy bibliography, notes, helpful stemmata, maps, plans, and illustrations."--Choice Selected as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2003 by ChoiceMagazine "In his previous books on Caligula and Agrippina, Anthony Barrett has amply proven his competence as an imperial biographer. Now he adds 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 "The first full-length book in English on (probably) the most important woman in (all) Roman imperial history. Barrett combines painstaking study of the ancient evidence with full awareness of contemporary scholarship."--Gwyn Morgan, University of Texas at Austin "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, Royal Society of Canada