The author of Rome Is Burning separates fact from fiction as he examines the life of an ancient Roman figure made famous in the TV miniseries I Claudius.

Livia—wife of the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, and mother of the second, Tiberius—wielded extraordinary power at the center of Roman politics. In this biography of Livia, the first in English, Anthony Barrett sets aside the portrait of a cunning and sinister schemer to reveal Livia as a complex figure whose enduring political influence helped shape Roman government long after her death.

“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

“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, The Royal Society of Canada