Livia Drusilla (January 30, 58 BCE – September 28, 29 AD)

It’s one of those dirty little secrets that gets whispered around the corridors of power in Rome and caused a bit of dissension between a mother and her son, Tiberius. No, not the ending of Augustus’ life, but the reason for Livia divorcing Tiberius’ father and marrying Augustus. Some children don’t like having their lives upended, on a whim.

I have marked this chart as (2) because Livia’s birth year was in dispute. 59 BCE would have made her 16 when she married for the first time, but 58 BCE is more accurate.

The timing of this chart is rectified to show Livia’s young marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero (at age 15). Note, too, how her first husband’s name was bestowed on her son, grandson and great-great-grandson who became Roman Emperors. She was a powerful woman in her own right, especially after Augustus died, so the conflict with Tiberius would have been resentment from him that she got him the throne through her maneuvers. Children can be so ungrateful. There are two inconjuncts.

Moon Inconjunct Jupiter

This aspect indicates that you have a positive, optimistic outlook on life, and you enjoy socializing with good friends. However, there are some dangers with this aspect. First, it can be a sign that you are self-indulgent and possibly even selfish, although this is not likely to happen if you have a good, strong relationship with your mother. You have a great need to be cared for and supported, to be accepted for what you are with no strings attached. If this need is fulfilled, the positive side of this aspect will flourish. But if your mother does not support your needs fully, you will feel insecure and will look elsewhere for support and fulfillment. In this case your concerns will be totally for yourself with little thought for other people’s needs.

This problem may show up in several different ways. For instance, you might simply have a desire to eat too much, as if food were love. Or you may always be wanting things that other people own. You might be afraid of the world and be reluctant to leave your comfortable and safe surroundings. Some people with this aspect stay tied too closely to their mother.

On the other hand, if you feel emotionally secure and accepted, then you will be able to give others the support that you would otherwise have been seeking for yourself. You will help others in their times of need, share what you have with those who have less, and find great satisfaction in taking care of people and animals.

Pluto Inconjunct Ascendant

This can be an indication that through experiences with others, you will be forced to undergo many significant changes in life. At times the crises may be quite unpleasant, but for the most part the results will be very positive, although for some people, they may be less constructive. But you must be very careful about the kind of people you get involved with. Choose your friends with great care and try to find people who have a healthy outlook on life and who seem reasonably well balanced. People who are driven to extreme behavior or who act compulsively, as if they could not plan anything in advance, are not very good for you. They will get you into difficult situations that you do not need.

Also watch for compulsiveness or extreme behavior yourself. These qualities could be quite hard for others to handle, and people will probably avoid you if you express them freely.

Now, About Those Other Rumours

Augustus died on August 19, 14 AD, being deified by the Senate shortly afterwards. In his will, he left one third of his property to Livia, and the other two thirds to Tiberius. In the will, he also adopted her into the Julian family and granted her the honorific title of Augusta. These dispositions permitted Livia to maintain her status and power after her husband’s death, under the new name of Julia Augusta. Tacitus and Cassius Dio wrote that rumours persisted that Augustus was poisoned by Livia, but these are mainly dismissed as malicious fabrications spread by political enemies of the dynasty. The most famous of these rumors was that Livia, unable to poison his food in the kitchens because Augustus insisted on only eating figs picked fresh from his garden, smeared each fruit with poison while still on the tree to pre-empt him. In Imperial times, a variety of fig cultivated in Roman gardens was called the Liviana, perhaps because of her reputed horticultural abilities, or as a tongue-in-cheek reference to this rumor.

Wikipedia

The point of this chart comparison is to see if there are any ties to a deliberate act on Livia’s part that precipitated Augustus’ death. The opposing Moon’s between these charts means that the actions taken would have been instinctive on Livia’s part. The Jupiter in Augustus’ death chart is almost exactly conjunct Livia’s birth Midheaven. And Livia’s Jupiter in Scorpio is within 5 degrees of Augustus’ ‘death’ Saturn. So, in my opinion, she definitely poisoned him, but she didn’t do it with malicious intent.

She was helping to put an end to his misery. She was his loving wife, to the end.