A goddess who wanted to rule.
Story in the evening ...
Story in the evening ...
https://twitter.com/Arby_K/status/1371650851652075521
Livia Drusilla was born in 58 BC to Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus (Born Appius Claudius Pulcher and later adopted by Marcus Livius Drusus) and Alfidia. Not much is known about her early life, except that she married Tiberius Claudius Nero around 43. 1/10 
In the Roman civil wars after 44, both Livia's father and husband ended up supporting the losing side. After Gaius Octavius defeated Lucius Antonius in Perusia, they would flee from Rome. But after Octavius reconciled with Marcus, brother of Lucius, they would return. 2/10
It was around this time that Octavius and Livia met and they decided to marry each other, though Livia was pregnant at the time. Octavius already had a daughter from an earlier marriage, Julia. Soon, Livia would deliver her second child, Nero Claudius Drusus. 3/10
Antonius would break away from alliance. Civil war was back in Rome till 31, when Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa would lead Octavian's forces to victory at Actium. Agrippa, an old schoolmate of Octavius, was also his most reliable supporter. 4/10
For his victory, the Senate named Octavian, Augustus. Calling himself Imperator, Augustus adopted the title Princeps. The Roman Republic was unofficially over. Augustus and Livia had become the first citizens of the Roman Empire. 5/10
Marcus Agrippa played an important role in setting up the Empire, but not just militarily, since he was also responsible for many of its notable buildings. He remained an important ally of Augustus and would later marry Julia in 21. 6/10
As Augustus and Agrippa consolidated the Empire, Livia also gained power in Rome. Many, though, blame her for the deaths of many of the potential successors of her husband, as she steered him towards confirming that inheritance to her elder son, Tiberius Claudius Nero. 7/10
Julia's first husband, Marcus Marcellus, who was also her first cousin, had died in 23. Agrippa died in 12 and though his sons Gaius and Lucius would see their careers fast tracked to become heirs, both would be dead by 4 AD. 8/10
The last son of Julia would be exiled for being "crazy", making Tiberius the best likely candidate. Livia's other son, Nero, who had become a popular general after Agrippa, with victories against Germanic tribes, had died in 9, leaving two sons, Germanicus & Claudius. 9/10
Tiberius succeeded Augustus as Princeps in 14 AD, with his mother at his side. But he was careful not to keep her too close, even delegating his grand nephew Gaius to eulogize her at her funeral in 29. It was her grandson, Claudius, who made Livia a Roman deity in 42. 10/10
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