2010 NF Release: Empress of Rome: The Life of Livia by Matthew Dennison

ooooohhhh...this one sounds really good!


by Matthew Dennison

Release Date:  April 1, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  Empress of Rome is a brand-new biography of one of the most fascinating, perplexing and powerful figures of the ancient world: the empress Livia. Second wife of the emperor Augustus and the mother of his successor Tiberius, Livia has been vilified by posterity (most notably by Tacitus and Robert Graves) as the quintessence of the scheming Roman matriarch, poisoning her relatives one by one to smooth her son's path to the imperial throne. In this elegant and rigorously researched biography, Matthew Dennison rescues the historical Livia from this crudely drawn caricature of the popular imagination. He depicts a complex, courageous and richly gifted woman whose true crime was not was not murder but the exercise of power, and who, in a male-dominated society, had the energy to create for herself both a prominent public profile and a significant sphere of political influence. 



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9 comments:

  1. This looks great. I was a Latin and Classical Civ major in college so I can't wait to get my hands on this.

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  2. Livia sounds like she lead a fascinating life. I am going too have to watch for this one.

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  3. Ancient Rome is not something I have read much about. It is a different social system. The intrigue, murder and sex, however, is universal.

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  4. I loved a book on Julius Caesar which I read and I think I would love this one as well. Thank you for a detailed review.

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  5. I don't know much about the Empress Livia, but this book looks like something that would make for interesting reading. Thanks for the spotlight on this book, I'll be looking for it!

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  6. this does sound very good! visiting your blog adds to my wish list :)
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  7. Livia is a fascinating historical personality! I can't wait to read this. Thanks for pointing it out!

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