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.
This looks great. I was a Latin and Classical Civ major in college so I can't wait to get my hands on this.
ReplyDeleteLivia sounds like she lead a fascinating life. I am going too have to watch for this one.
ReplyDeleteAncient Rome is not something I have read much about. It is a different social system. The intrigue, murder and sex, however, is universal.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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!
ReplyDeletethis does sound very good! visiting your blog adds to my wish list :)
ReplyDeletehttp://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
Oh this one sounds great...
ReplyDeleteLivia is a fascinating historical personality! I can't wait to read this. Thanks for pointing it out!
ReplyDeleteI second your ooooohhhhhhhh!
ReplyDelete