In his Dialogus de oratoribus, Tacitus notes her to be exceptionally religious and moral, and one of the most admired matrons in the history of the Republic: In her presence no base word could be uttered without grave offence, and no wrong deed done.

Religiously and with the utmost delicacy she regulated not only the serious tasks of her youthful charges, but also their recreations and their games.Suetonius' account of Augustus mentions the divine omens she experienced before and after his birth: When Atia had come in the middle of the night to the solemn service of Apollo, she had her litter set down in the temple and fell asleep, while the rest of the matrons also slept.

When she awoke, she purified herself, as if after the embraces of her husband, and at once there appeared on her body a mark in colours like a serpent, and she could never get rid of it; so that presently she ceased ever to go to the public baths.

There, she is portrayed as ambitious, shrewd, manipulative, sexually uninhibited, and morally bankrupt; the program also shows her as involved in a long-term romantic relationship with Marc Antony.

Jonathan Stamp, the historical consultant for Rome, stated that in addition to the historical Atia, the character version of Atia draws significant influences from other Roman women from the same time period, such as the infamous Clodia, and Marc Antony’s wife, Fulvia.