Livia in the mirror: Romulus’ wife Ersilia in the augustan tradition 

The paper examines the different traditions preserved about Ersilia. The similarities between the legendary portrayal of the woman, wife of Romulus, and the biographical profile of Livia, wife of Augustus – found in sources from the Augustan age but not in earlier accounts – suggest that her memory was subject to a rewriting during the Principate. This rewriting likely aimed to provide Livia with an authoritative and legitimizing precedent, particularly for political initiatives that deviated from the traditional female model and incorporated the perceived illegitimacies of female agency during the late Republican period. 

Keywords: Livia, Hersilia, Augustan tradition, Legend of origins, Politics.