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o f a number of wives.23 And like Effie, Livia was mated to the
dominant male in the pack. Specifically, Livia had managed to inveigle
into matrimony a man named Augustus Caesar--the leader who had
grabbed the reins of Rome from his rivals and stabilized the Empire in
a time of turbulence. In the process, Augustus had become the most
powerful man the world had ever known.
Gorillas manage to keep a whole gaggle of wives trailing behind
them simultaneously. Augustus didn't have that privilege. The law
forced him to possess his official mates one at a time. Livia was
Augustus' third wife. She had won him when she was a tender
seventeen. Well, maybe not so tender. According to Graves, the
teenage beauty had grown contemptuous of a previous husband
because the unlucky gentleman believed in such outlandish principles
as liberty for Rome's citizens. Livia had no patience with these notions.
She was convinced that all power should be centered in the hands of
one man--preferably a man under her direct control. So she had
divorced her soft idealist and sought out a harder husband whose
possibilities were more in line with her own aspirations.
At the time, Augustus was married to someone else. In fact, he'd
had a number of children by the woman at his side. And he seemed
reasonably pleased with his old wife's ways. But that didn't stop the
ambitious young Livia. She managed to tarnish the reputation of the
existing spouse and to drive additional wedges between the
unfortunate lady and her husband. Then she inserted herself into the
gap, making her presence the only logical consolation for Augustus'
distress over his wife's disgrace.
Livia quickly consolidated her hold over Augustus. Soon, he
would not make a major decision without her. Like Effie the gorilla,
Livia had struggled to become the first lady in the band. And like
Effie, Livia was ambitious for more than just herself. She was
ambitious for her children. Rome had been run in the past by a
democratic Senate. But Augustus was shifting power into the hands of
a one-man emperorship. Livia wanted the newly established imperial
throne to go to her own brood.
<< < GO > >>
11
11
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o f a number of wives.23 And like Effie, Livia was mated to the
dominant male in the pack. Specifically, Livia had managed to inveigle
into matrimony a man named Augustus Caesar--the leader who had
grabbed the reins of Rome from his rivals and stabilized the Empire in
a time of turbulence. In the process, Augustus had become the most
powerful man the world had ever known.
Gorillas manage to keep a whole gaggle of wives trailing behind
them simultaneously. Augustus didn't have that privilege. The law
forced him to possess his official mates one at a time. Livia was
Augustus' third wife. She had won him when she was a tender
seventeen. Well, maybe not so tender. According to Graves, the
teenage beauty had grown contemptuous of a previous husband
because the unlucky gentleman believed in such outlandish principles
as liberty for Rome's citizens. Livia had no patience with these notions.
She was convinced that all power should be centered in the hands of
one man--preferably a man under her direct control. So she had
divorced her soft idealist and sought out a harder husband whose
possibilities were more in line with her own aspirations.
At the time, Augustus was married to someone else. In fact, he'd
had a number of children by the woman at his side. And he seemed
reasonably pleased with his old wife's ways. But that didn't stop the
ambitious young Livia. She managed to tarnish the reputation of the
existing spouse and to drive additional wedges between the
unfortunate lady and her husband. Then she inserted herself into the
gap, making her presence the only logical consolation for Augustus'
distress over his wife's disgrace.
Livia quickly consolidated her hold over Augustus. Soon, he
would not make a major decision without her. Like Effie the gorilla,
Livia had struggled to become the first lady in the band. And like
Effie, Livia was ambitious for more than just herself. She was
ambitious for her children. Rome had been run in the past by a
democratic Senate. But Augustus was shifting power into the hands of
a one-man emperorship. Livia wanted the newly established imperial
throne to go to her own brood.
<< < GO > >>