Starring Kasia Smutniak as Livia Drusilla, it examines the power struggles of Ancient Rome from a female perspective.

The series charts the life and rise of Livia Drusilla, the powerful wife of the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar.

Livia Drusilla ("Domina"), a young noblewoman, prepares for her marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero, assisted by her enslaved friend, Antigone.

They agree to divide the empire between them and kill hundreds of senators and knights sympathetic to Caesar's murderers to raise money.

Livia, Nero and Tiberius have taken refuge with Sextus in Sicily but an amnesty as the result of the truce means the family can return to Rome.

He is reminded that the triumvirate's mandate from the senate expired some years previously and is given an ultimatum to step down, as his position is now illegal and unconstitutional.

When Piso declines the offer of consul, Livia realises the way forward is simply to get the senate unwittingly to grant power to Gaius thus legitimising his position.

Having overheard the conversation, Julia seeks comfort in the arms of Iullus (Mark Antony's son who was on the losing side against "Gaius" Augustus).

Livia decides to divorce Gaius and leave Rome, but before doing so she visits Agrippa and offers him the opportunity of calling off the marriage between his daughter Vipsania and her son Tiberius, but he declines.

Porcia indicates her husband was acting on the instructions of Caesar when he launched an offensive against the Danube tribes who had signed a peace treaty with the senate.

Primus asks Marcus Messalla Corvinus, newly fallen out with Crassus, to defend him in court but Gaius also wants him gone lest he be implicated in public, so makes him an offer that would see him exiled, but with generous compensation.

Livia, loyalties torn between her cousin and husband, meets Porcia to tell her that there will be a trial but Primus must not under any circumstances reveal Caesar's involvement.

Aprio's remains and diploma of freedom are discovered in Baiae and transported back to Rome alerting Octavia to the possibility that her son's murderer may have been silenced.

Scribonia reveals to Octavia that Marcellus had planned to kill Livia's sons and then banish her into exile, therefore should be treated as the prime suspect along with medicine expert Antigone.

Livia is separated in the melee and finds herself imprisoned by the nightwatch and almost sold into slavery, saved only by the timely intervention of Gnaius Calpernius Piso.

Eager to sign a treaty with the Cherusci before being forced back to Rome, Drusus is drawn into a trap and badly wounded.

Back in Rome, Iullus and Julia drown Marcella, and her death, explained away as suicide, removes another thorn from Livia's side.

However, the news of the death of her own son Drusus leaves Livia reeling and convinced that the many years of behind-the-scenes plotting, secrecy and bloodletting have been for nought.

Filming for Domina resumed at the Cinecittà studios in Rome in July 2020 following delays from the initial start in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As pointed out by Nicola Maccanico (executive vice president of programming, Sky Italia), Domina is an international production with strong Italian roots.

Ancient Rome is brought back to life, bringing together at Cinecittà the great international artistic values and the best Italian talents in the sector.

[14] Historian Tom Holland in The Times agreed that "The echoes of Game of Thrones in the first two episodes are strong, and surely deliberate...the rest of the series approximates more closely to a political thriller".