If you go through the history of ancient Rome, you'll find the stories of many important men.

What you won't find are the tales of many important women.

Women in Roman history are given little to no mention.

There is one major exception to this however, Livia Drusilla.

Learn more about the most powerful woman in Roman history and determine if she was one of history's

most shrewd Machiavellian characters or if she was just

misunderstood on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Book your ticket to happiness with Sun Express Airlines. Before I get into the details of Livia Drusilla's life I should address the bigger topic of women in ancient Roman society.

Egypt had several female rulers.

England had many significant female rulers. China had a female

emperor by the name of Wu Zitan which I'll probably have to do a future episode on.

Rome however had no female emperors before the collapse of the Western Empire.

Some women ruled over the Eastern Byzantine Empire, but there were no women who came even close to power in the West.

Why was that the case? You've probably heard of the term patriarchy. However, ancient

Rome quite literally had a patriarchy. The term patriarchy comes from the Latin word

potter, which means father.

In Rome, the head of a household

was known as the Potter Familius,

and had the literal power of life and death

over everyone in his family.

In Latin, this is known as Potria Potestus. The

literal meaning of patriarchy means the rule of the father, which was the case in

Rome. Women in Rome were not expected to take part in public life. They

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