I know, it's kindof hilarious to see how Atia was created in the series, since we hear SO little about Augustus' mother that you've got to suspect she was just another one of those typical retiring Roman matrons - the fact no one ever had a word to say about her one way or the other, was a compliment.

I do think that the writers of ROME knew their stuff, and they figured that, in place of the demure, modest matrona, they needed one real hell-raising and decadent woman - and I think Atia is actually a blend of half a dozen, from Clodia (Catullus' mistress, supposedly tried to poison her lover) to Agrippina (Nero's mother, of infame). It works technically to make Atia a horrendous person, just so we can watch the affect on Octavian - and you have to admit, they made Rome an equal-opportunity hellhole for decadence in the upper classes. Men AND women.