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Livia Drusilla


claudia

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[fon :) t=Garamond] [/font] Hi newbie here

I have loved Roman history ever since I watched and read "I Claudius" as a teenager but one burning question has always been "Was Livia really as bad as all that?" I realise that Robert Graves was influenced by Suetonius and Tacitus (indeed having translated at least one of them) and hence his portrayal of Livia was unsympathetic.

So I am wondering if there are any other sources apart from Suetonius, Tacitus and Dio Cassius that mention the great Lady Livia?

Obviously any sources regarding Tiberius and Augustus will mention her peripherally, I would be grateful for any assistance

Thanks

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You've got all the primary sources there from what I know, any later historians almost always will be quoting the earlier ones in their own works. You ask one of the great questions of Roman history that historians have done battle over for centuries...I am afraid no one will ever know for sure unless someone miraculously finds a new ancient work on the history. :)

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No no, her kids turned out fine, though her son Tiberius didn't show much love for her(since he didn't deified her) while Claudius finally deified her Diva Agusta or Julia Augusta (name given to her by Augustus when he made her part of his lineage). I think you should mean Agrippina the Younger, now that woman the one who poisoned Claudius was a such a backstabber only to be backstabbed by her own son Nero.

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