As a modern day archetype, the core is almost always the same, which is this toxic rivalry between two women, often an older one and a younger one. That is, the stepmother and the stepdaughter. That according to Maria Tatar, an expert on German folklore at the Harvard University. Now, one possible origin of this evil stepmother trope dates back to ancient Rome, believe it or not, and to one iconic figure in particular livia Drusilla, the first Roman empress