The gens Livia was an illustrious plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the Livii to obtain the consulship was Marcus Livius Denter in 302 BC, and from his time the Livii supplied the Republic with eight consuls, two censors, a dictator, and a master of the horse. Members of the gens were honoured with three triumphs. In the reign of Augustus, Livia Drusilla was Roman empress, and her son was the emperor Tiberius.
History preserves no traditions concerning the origin of the Livian gens. Although its members are not found in the first two centuries of the Republic, there is nothing in particular to suggest a foreign origin. The regular cognomina of the Livii are all Latin. The nomen Livius is generally supposed to be derived from the same root as liveo, lividus, and livor, all with the meaning of leaden or bluish-grey, but this connection is not absolutely certain. Pokorny dismissed this derivation, arguing that the nomen either predated these words, or could not be linguistically connected with them. He hypothesized an Etruscan origin for the Livii.
Branches and cognomina
The cognomina of the Livii during the Republic were Denter, Drusus, Libo, Macatus, and Salinator. Of these, Denter was a common surname originally referring to someone with prominent teeth. Macatus means "spotted", being derived from the same root as macula.
Drusus probably means "stiff", although Suetonius records a tradition that the first of the name received it after slaying a Gallic chieftain named Drausus. If this is the true origin of the name, then it probably dates the story to the year 283 BC, when the Senones, the Gallic people of whom Drausus was said to be the leader, were defeated and scattered, for the most part vacating northern Italy. Libo, derived from libere, designated a libation pourer, and entered the family from the Scribonia gens, one of whom was adopted by the Livii Drusi.
The surname Salinator, meaning a salt-merchant, is said to have been given in derision to Marcus Livius, who as censor in 204 BC, imposed an unpopular salt tax. A question arises from the fact that Marcus' father is also referred to as Salinator, although the historians may simply have applied the cognomen retroactively.
Gaius Livius Denter, grandfather of the consul of 302 BC, may have been the magister equitum of 348.
Marcus Livius Denter, consul in 302 BC. Previously he had been one of the pontiffs chosen from the plebeians to augment the numbers of that college.
Livius Drusus, according to Suetonius, a propraetor in Gaul, who defeated the chieftain Drausus in single combat, thereby earning his surname. He brought back the gold taken by the Senones as the price of departing Rome in 390 BC, thereby avenging the Gallic sack of the city. Pighius conjectures that he was the son of Marcus Livius Denter, consul in 302 BC, which would agree with the probable date of his struggle with Drausus, in 283.
Marcus Livius Drusus, grandfather of the consul of 147 BC.
Marcus Livius M. f. Drusus Aemilianus or Mamilianus, father of the consul of 147. His agnomen suggests, but does not prove, that he was adopted from either the Aemilii or the Mamilii.
Gaius Livius M. f. M. n. Drusus, consul in 147 BC. Either he or his son Gaius should probably be identified with the jurist of this name.
Marcus Livius C. f. M. n. Drusus tribune of the plebs in 122 BC, opposed the measures of his colleague, Gaius Gracchus, and undermined his authority by proposing similar measures for which the optimates, the aristocratic party of the Senate could take credit. He was consul in 112, and perhaps triumphed over the Scordisci in the following year. He is probably the censor of 109 BC, who died during his year of office.
Gaius Livius C. f. M. n. Drusus, known for his friendliness, courtesy, and persuasiveness, which he shared with his brother. Some identify him, instead of his father, as the jurist of this name.
Marcus Livius M. f. C. n. Drusus, one of the most influential figures in Roman politics in the years leading up to the Social War. He went to great lengths to win over the Senate, espousing the party of the optimates, but then as tribune of the plebs in BC 91, he sought to conciliate the people by passing the various measures of the Gracchi. He won over the socii by promising them the rights of Roman citizenship, and passed a law to fill up the ranks of the Senate with equites. But he made a violent enemy of the consul, Lucius Marcius Philippus, who had his measures declared void ab initio. Drusus was assassinated in his house just as civil war began to break out.
Livia M. f. C. n., sister of the tribune, married Quintus Servilius Caepio, whose sister, Servilia, married Drusus. Caepio became her brother's bitter opponent, and she divorced him, marrying Marcus Porcius Cato. Her sons were Quintus Servilius Caepio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger); her daughter Servilia Major was the mother of Marcus Junius Brutus and mother-in-law of Gaius Cassius Longinus, the assassins of Caesar; daughter Servilia Minor was the wife of Lucius Licinius Lucullus.
Marcus Livius M. f. M. n. Drusus Claudianus, born a member of the Claudian gens, was adopted by one of the Livii Drusi, apparently the tribune Marcus. He was thus connected with Brutus and Cassius, two whom he allied himself after the death of Caesar. Proscribed by the triumvirs, he took his own life after the Battle of Philippi. He was the father of Livia Drusilla, Roman empress, and the grandfather of Tiberius.
Marcus Livius M. f. M. n. Drusus Libo, apparently born a member of the Scribonii Libones, and adopted by one of the Livii Drusi, generally supposed to be Claudianus, although there are several uncertain details in his relationships to the other Livii Drusi and Scribonii. He was aedile about BC 28, and consul in BC 15.
Livia M. f. M. n. Drusilla, married first Tiberius Claudius Nero, and second Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the future emperor Augustus. She was the mother of the emperor Tiberius, and of Drusus the Elder, and through her machinations ensured the succession of her son.
Lucius Scribonius Libo Drusus, generally supposed to be the son of Marcus Livius Drusus Libo, was induced by the Senator and delator Firmius Catus to consult soothsayers with respect to his chances of attaining the empire. At first the accusations were ignored by Tiberius, but then he was brought to trial and, finding no hope of vindication, he took his own life.
Marcus Livius, proavus of the consul of 219 and 207 BC.
Marcus Livius M. f., grandfather of the consul.
Marcus Livius M. f. M. n. (Salinator), father of the consul, was decemvir sacris faciundis in 236 BC. Either he or perhaps his son purchased an educated Greek, named Andronicus, as a tutor for his children; once freed, Andronicus became the founder of Roman drama.
Marcus Livius M. f. M. n. Salinator, was consul during the Second Illyrian War, and despite triumphing over the enemy, he was afterward charged with misappropriating the spoils of war, and sent into exile. During the Second Punic War he was induced to return and resume his seat in the Senate, although he rarely spoke, except to speak on behalf of his kinsman, Marcus Livius Macatus. Consul for the second time in 207, he and his colleague, Gaius Claudius Nero, defeated and slew Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, before the two could unite their forces, and he triumphed for the second time. He was appointed dictator the following year to host the elections, and censor in 204, but he and his colleague quarreled severely.
Gaius Livius M. f. M. n. Salinator, praetor in 202 BC, and again in 191, when he had command of the fleet in the War against Antiochus, and defeated the Selucid admiral, Polyxenidas. He was consul in 188.
Lucius Livius, tribune of the plebs in 320 BC, the year after the disaster at the Caudine Forks. The consul, Spurius Postumius Albinus, had pledged himself and the other Roman magistrates as guarantors of the peace, in order to preserve the lives of the Roman army. Livius and one of his colleagues resisted the demand to turn themselves over to the Samnites as hostages, as they had nothing to do with the agreement, and moreover were sacrosanct as tribunes, the entire body of the Roman people obliged to defend them; but Postumius browbeat them until they agreed to become hostages. However, the Samnites rejected the hostages, when they realized that the Romans were bound to continue the war with or without them.
Lucius Livius Andronicus, originally an educated but enslaved Greek named Andronicus, he was purchased by a Marcus Livius Salinator as a tutor for his children. On his manumission, he assumed the name Lucius Livius Andronicus. He was a renowned poet, and the founder of Roman drama.
Marcus Livius, member of the plenipotentiary board sent to Carthage after the fall of Saguntum in 219 BC to inquire if Hannibal's attack on it had been authorized and declare war if Hannibal could not be brought to justice. He was married to the daughter of Pacuvius Calavius, chief magistrate of Capua in 217 BC. Pacuvius was a patrician who had married a daughter of Appius Claudius.
Marcus Livius Macatus, placed by the propraetor Marcus Valerius Laevinus in charge of the garrison at Tarentum in 214 BC, during the Second Punic War. When the town was lost to a surprise attack in 212, Livius and his soldiers retreated to the citadel, where they held out until the city was retaken by Quintus Fabius Maximus in 209. On the question of whether Livius should be punished or rewarded for his conduct, Fabius replied that he could not have recaptured Tarentum but for Livius' actions.
Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, consul in 77 BC, he was originally a Livius, but was adopted into the Aemilii Lepidi. He was a supporter of Sulla's party, the optimates, but was one of those who had persuaded Sulla to spare the life of the future dictator, Gaius Julius Caesar.
Titus Livius, the historian, flourished during the last decades of the Republic, and through the reign of Augustus. He wrote nothing of his family, and other historians have contributed only that he was from Patavium, and that he had at least one son, and a daughter who married a certain Lucius Magius. Two inscriptions from Patavium in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum are thought to mark the resting place of Livy and several members of his family.
Gaius Livius, possibly the father of the historian.
Titus Livius T. f. Priscus, thought to be the historian's elder son.
Titus Livius T. f. Longus, perhaps the historian's younger son.
Livia T. f. Quarta, perhaps a daughter of the historian. If she is the same daughter who married Lucius Magius, there is no indication of it on her monument.
Titus Livius Liviae Quartae l. Halys, freedman of Livia Quarta. His funeral plaque was unearthed at the monastery of St. Justina at Padua in 1360, followed in 1413 by the excavation of a lead coffin in the same location, containing a human skeleton. Owing to a misunderstanding of the tablet's inscription, the remains were supposed to belong to the historian, rather than a freedman, until further excavations at Padua explained the inscription's true meaning.
In European languages, Livia is still an ordinary girls' name. In Romanian, the form is Liviu.
The town of Forlì in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is named after Livius Salinator, its legendary founder. The original name was Forum Livii.
