Portraits of Livia

Driven by the novelty of her role as empress, Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus, invented a visual language of female rank and status that was to have a profound impact on Roman art. The portrait solutions that she devised cleverly promoted the cultural programs of Augustus and his successors, Tiberius and Claudius, as well as her role in the imperial line of succession. In this study, Elizabeth Bartman sets Livia's imagery within its socio-political context while also analyzing the role played by gender in its formulation. Richly illustrated and including descriptive catalogue entries of more than 110 surviving portraits, as well as the epigraphic testimony for scores of images now lost, this study presents unparalleled documentation of Livia's image during more than sixty years of her public life in Rome.