#Livia Drusilla

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

And they were triumvirs...oh my god they were triumvirs

(Also “long term associate”...you mean the childhood friend whom Augustus entrusted with all his plans, the one who held all the same legal powers Augustus did, the one who was included in family portraits and buried with him? That kind of associate?)

(David Shotter, Tiberius)

[fkevin073]

There are only three reasons to marry. Money, power or family. And you have no family. And you have nothing else. A perfect match then.

YOUNG LIVIA DRUSILLA & YOUNG GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR in Domina (MGM+) | Looks in Season 1

[flying-ham]

Names in The Hunger Games series obviously hold a lot of symbolic meaning. Whether it be a particularly on the nose name for characters like Peeta or the complete absence of one for characters like Mrs Everdeen, Suzanne Collins puts a lot of thought and care into names. One that I haven’t seen people talk about so far is Livia Cardew.

Livia Cardew is a rude, cruel classmate that Snow despises. When we are introduced to her character, Snow thinks that she, "had always been prone to gloating," (tbosas). She is assigned Facet, a strong boy from District 1 with a good chance of winning the games, and Snow hates that she acts, "As if the plum assignment was solely a reflection on her, and not on her mother running the largest bank in the Capitol," (tbosas).

The character Livia Cardew is named after Livia Drusilla, wife of the first Roman Emperor Augustus and mother of the Emperor Tiberius. Livia Drusilla came from a powerful Patrician family in Rome, with her father inheriting a substantial fortune around the time of her birth. She was married prior to her marriage with Augustus, giving birth to two sons before her divorce and subsequent remarriage to Augustus. Although he believed these sons to be proof of her high fertility, Livia was only able to give Augustus one stillborn child during their marriage. Livia Cardew reflects the early life of her namesake Livia Drusilla, in that she comes from an influential banking family that helps her get ahead in society. The advantage she has being assigned the District 1 boy only widens the gap, making her a frontrunner to win the scholarship. However, just as Livia Drusilla loses her child with Augustus, Livia Cardew's tribute dies before the games even begin, removing her from the competition entirely. Moreover, Livia attempts to "steal" Clemensia's tribute while she is ill, "demanding new tributes be brought from the districts, or at least that she be given Reaper, the boy assigned to Clemensia, who everyone thought had been hospitalized with the flu," (tbosas). Similarly, Livia Drusilla campaigned with her husband to make her son Tiberius his heir after she failed to give him a son, though she was only successful after the death of his nephew Marcellus and disgrace of his daughter Julia.

Further connecting Livia Cardew to her historical namesake, it is implied that Snow marries her after the events of tbosas. In the epilogue, Snow thinks, "If he ever married, he’d choose someone incapable of swaying his heart. Someone he hated, even, so they could never manipulate him the way Lucy Gray had. Never make him feel jealous. Or weak. Livia Cardew would be perfect. He imagined the two of them, the president and his first lady, presiding over the Hunger Games a few years from now," (tbosas). Just as Livia Drusilla became Empress of Rome, Livia Cardew would become the First Lady of Panem. Livia Drusilla was seen as the ideal matron in the early Roman Empire, as a steadfast and supportive wife who oversaw domestic affairs like the home and children. In the same way, Livia Cardew is Snow's ideal wife, a girl with an advantageous family name and no emotional ties to get in Snow's way.

Finally, Livia Drusilla was often villainized by Roman authors the same way Snow villainizes Livia Cardew. Annals by the author Tacitus portrays Livia as a murderous, evil woman in cahoots with her son Tiberius to steal the Empire after Augustus' death. Over and over he reveals his own prejudice against women in ancient Rome, inserting his personal opinions into a work he claims is unbiased truth.  He often uses negative language to describe Livia Drusilla, saying that, “There was also [Tiberius’] mother with her female unruliness,” (Tac. Ann., chap. 1).  Tacitus’ choice to specify that Livia’s shortcoming relates to her gender highlights his lack of respect for women, and his expectation that all Roman women fit a specific mold. In the same way, Snow constantly thinks the worst about Livia Cardew, thinking things like, "Unlike Livia, Clemensia received news of her good fortune with tact," (tbosas). Livia Drusilla was often associated with poison (a "woman's weapon"). There were many rumors about her killing enemies of herself or Augustus using the very method Snow adopted as his own by the events of the original trilogy.

tl:dr Livia Cardew is based on Livia Drusilla, wife of the first Roman Emperor and holds a lot of similarities to the historical figure

[cesareeborgia]

↳ family trees + Julio-Claudian dynasty (limited to the main figures)

requested by anonymous

[uncleclaudius]

Portraits of Augustus and Livia from Neuilly-le-Réal, France

This must be the oldest-looking Augustus I've ever seen. He has wrinkles! If you squint he could be downright forty-ish. What happened here. Where is the youthful not a day over thirty Augustus?

[littleweirdoss]

I don't want to be alone.

KASIA SMUTNIAK as LIVIA DRUSILLA & BEN BATT as MARCUS VIPSANIUS AGRIPPA in DOMINA Season Two, Episode Five — "Sacrilege"

[cocalynx]

Tom Glynn-Carney in behind the scenes of Domina

[behindfairytales]

DOMINA (2021- ) Wedding (2.02)

[gingeroyalty]

I have never betrayed him. I know. But I have always loved you. I know that too.

LIVIA DRUSILLA & MARCUS VIPSANIUS AGRIPPA in DOMINA | S02E03 "Betrayal"

[octavianiscougarbait]

Octavian is the type of person who would attempt an evil laugh, and would lapse into an asthma attack until Agrippa pinned him down so that Livia could force his inhaler onto him.

[headsinsand]

I actually quite like the stylization in this hm (sorry Agrippa)

[wyrmsfornerves]

hi i would die to read agrippina the younger's memoirs actually

[wolframpant]

Historical Female Characters in Domina (2021)

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Clodia Metelli did nothing wrong. Livia probably did nothing wrong. Fulvia probably killed a guy, but I'm sure she had her reasons.

[uncleclaudius]

The statue of Livia, wife of emperor Augustus and mother of emperor Tiberius, portrayed as the goddess Ceres.

[littleweirdoss]

DOMINA: 1X02 // 2X02