Editing Livia (section)

===In ancient literature===
[[File:Livia moglie di augusto e madre di tiberio, dupondio, 21-22 dc.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Dupondius]] probably depicting Livia as [[Salus|Salus Augusta]].]]
[[File:Blick auf Miramar und Contovello (BildID 15595391).jpg|thumb|Historical picture in the direction of the vineyards by the sea between Prosecco and [[Barcola]] where the Empress' favorite wine was grown]]

The ancient sources all agree that Livia was Augustus' best confidant and counselor, but the extent of her influence remained disputed due to the numerous attempts by her political enemies to defame her dynasty. According to Suetonius, who had access to imperial records, Augustus would write down lists of items to be discussed with Livia, and then take careful notes of her replies to be consulted again later.<ref>Suetonius. "Life of Augustus"; "Life of Tiberius"; "Life of Claudius," in The Twelve Caesars. Translated by Robert Graves, 1957. Revised by Michael Grant, 1979. NY: Viking Penguin, 1986.</ref>

In Tacitus' ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'', meanwhile, Livia is famously depicted as having great influence, to the extent where she "had the aged Augustus firmly under control—so much so that he exiled his only surviving grandson to the island of Planasia";<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WFQCgAAQBAJ|title=The Annals|last=Tacitus|date=1 September 2004|publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=9781603840156|language=en}}</ref> Tacitus goes on to call her "a real catastrophe to the nation as a mother, and to the house of the Caesars as a stepmother" and "a compliant wife, but an overbearing mother".<ref>Tacitus. Annals of Imperial Rome. Translated by Michael Grant. NY: Viking Penguin, 1987.</ref>

Livia's image appears in ancient visual media such as coins and portraits. Following [[Octavia the Younger]], [[Cleopatra]] and possibly [[Fulvia]], she was the third (or fourth) woman to appear on provincial coins in 16 BC. On official Roman coinage, she was probably portrayed as [[Salus|Salus Augusta]] on the [[dupondius]] of Tiberius.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kleiner |first=Fred S. |date=2020 |title=Review of ''Tracene Harvey, Julia Augusta: images of Rome's first empress on the coins of the Roman Empire. London; New York: Routledge, 2019. 264 p.. ISBN 9781472478689. $112.00.'' |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2020/2020.07.27/ |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review}}</ref> Her portrait images can be chronologically identified partially from the progression of her hair designs, which represented more than keeping up with the fashions of the time as her depiction with such contemporary details translated into a political statement of representing the ideal Roman woman. Livia's image evolves with different styles of portraiture that trace her effect on imperial propaganda that helped bridge the gap between her role as wife to the emperor Augustus, to mother of the emperor Tiberius. Becoming more than the "beautiful woman" she is described as in ancient texts, Livia serves as a public image for the idealization of Roman feminine qualities, a motherly figure, and eventually a goddesslike representation that alludes to her virtue. Livia's power in symbolizing the renewal of the Republic with the female virtues ''Pietas'' and ''Concordia'' in public displays had a dramatic effect on the visual representation of future imperial women as ideal, honorable mothers and wives of Rome.<ref>''I Claudia II: Women in Roman art and society''. Edited by Diana E. E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson Yale University Art Gallery. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.</ref> Livia also restored the temple of the ''Bona Dea.''<ref name="Flory, Marleen B. 1993, pp. 287"/>

Livia is mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]], who describes the vines of the Pulcino wine ("Vinum Pucinum" - today at best "[[Prosecco]]"). This then special and rare wine from the sunny slopes northeast of [[Barcola]] in the direction of the place Prosecco or [[Duino]] (near the historic place Castellum Pucinum) was according to Pliny the favorite wine of the Empress Livia. She is said to have loved this Vinum Pucinum for its medicinal properties and at the end of her long life (she was 87) she attributed her old age to its consumption and commended it to everyone as an "elixir for a long life".<ref>Pliny "The natural history of Caius Plinius Secundus" (approx. AD 77), third volume, 14th book.</ref><ref>Zeno Saracino, „Pompei in miniatura“: la storia di „Vallicula“ o Barcola", In: Trieste All News, 29 September 2018.</ref><ref>PLIN. Nat. XIV, 6: Iulia Augusta LXXXVI annos vitae Pucino vino rettulit acceptos, non alio usa. Gignitur in sinu Hadriatici maris non procul a Timavo fonte, saxoso colle, maritimo adflatu paucas coquente anforas … nec aliud aptius medicamentis indicatur.</ref>