Episode 63. Livia, Part Two: Julia Augusta

Works CitedPrimary SourcesCalendar inscriptions and Acta Arvalia. The Fasti Verulani and Fasti Praenestini record her birthday and her death anniversary as public observances. The Acta Arvalia preserve the priestly vows for her health during the 22 CE illness and at other moments of crisis.Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 57 and 58. The continuous Greek-language narrative. Book 58.2 contains the obituary passage acknowledging Livia's restraining and humane influence.Senatus Consultum de Cn. Pisone Patre. The bronze decree of December 10, 20 CE, recording the Senate's verdict in the trial of Cn. Calpurnius Piso. A copy was found at Itálica in Spain in 1988 and published by Werner Eck, Antonio Caballos, and Fernando Fernández in 1996. The single most important documentary witness to Livia's named, formally acknowledged role in Tiberian decision-making.Suetonius. Life of Caligula, chapters 7–10. Caligula's upbringing and the family context of the funeral oration in 29 CE.Suetonius. Life of Claudius, chapters 1–3. Claudius's childhood under Livia's eye. Contains the letter between Augustus and Livia debating his fitness for public appearances.Suetonius. Life of Tiberius, chapters 50–51. The central source for the mother-son deterioration. Chapter 50 catalogues Tiberius's specific evasions; chapter 51 closes with the death and his funeral absence.Tacitus. Annals, 1.6–14, 3.17, 3.64, 4.16, 5.1–3. The continuous Tacitean account of Livia's widowhood. Hostile in framing throughout, but the indispensable narrative source. The death scene and obituary are at 5.1–3.Secondary SourcesBarrett, Anthony A. Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome. Yale University Press, 2002. The essential modern treatment. The first biography to fully incorporate the Piso decree, and the reference for almost every reconstruction in this episode.Damon, Cynthia, and Sarolta Takács, editors. The Senatus Consultum de Cn. Pisone Patre: Text, Translation, Discussion. American Journal of Philology Special Issue, 1999. The most accessible English-language treatment of the decree.Eck, Werner, Antonio Caballos, and Fernando Fernández. Das Senatus Consultum de Cn. Pisone Patre. C. H. Beck, 1996. The foundational publication of the bronze decree. In German, but the Latin text and apparatus are usable for any reader.Kleiner, Diana E. E. Cleopatra and Rome. Harvard University Press, 2005. Useful for the comparative framing of female political power in the late Republic and early empire.Wood, Susan. Imperial Women: A Study in Public Images, 40 BC–AD 68. Brill, 1999. The coin portraits and sculptural representations that document Livia's continuing public presence through the Tiberian and post-Tiberian periods.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/real-roman-history/donations