Octavia the Elder

Octavia the Elder (born before 69 BC[lower-alpha 1] – died after 29 BC), also known as Octavia Major or Octavia Maior[lower-alpha 2] was the daughter of the Roman governor and senator Gaius Octavius by his first wife, Ancharia. She was also an elder half-sister to Octavia the Younger and Roman Emperor Augustus.[1] Little is known of her life.

Octavia the Elder
Born	before 69 BC
Noble family	Octavia (gens)
Spouse(s)	Sextus Appuleius I
Issue Sextus Appuleius II consul 29 BC ? Marcus Appuleius consul
Father	Gaius Octavius
Mother	Ancharia

Biography

Early life

Octavia was born to Ancharia and Octavius some times before 69 BC.[2]

Marriage and issue

Octavia the Elder was married to Sextus Appuleius (I). They had one son, who was also named Sextus Appuleius, was ordinary consul in 29 BC with his half-uncle, Augustus.[3] It is postulated that they had a second son, Marcus Appuleius, the consul of 20 BC.[4] Through Sextus Appuleius, the consul, she had a grandson named Sextus Appuleius, consul in AD 14, and a granddaughter Appuleia Varilla. Octavia the Elder's last known descendants were her great-grandson, also named Sextus Appuleius, through her grandson and Fabia Numantina.[5]

Research

Plutarch was only aware of one daughter of Gaius Octavius and confused Octavia the Elder with Octavia the Younger.[6]

Octavias existence as wife of Appuleius's wife was first discovered due to a dedication from when her husband was proconsul of Asia.[7]

Cultural depictions

Octavia and her husband, as well as their two sons may be depicted on the Ara Pacis.[8]

See also

• List of Roman women
• Women in ancient Rome

Notes

1. Her younger paternal half-sister, Octavia the Younger, was born in 69 BC.
2. Maior is Latin for the Elder

References

1. Suetonius, Life of Augustus 4.1
2. Syme, Ronald (1978). History in Ovid. University of Michigan: Clarendon Press. p. 152.
3. Inscriptions from Pergamon 2, 419 = Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes 4, 323 = Wilhelm Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae 462.
4. Syme, Ronald, Augustan Aristocracy (1989), p. 37
5. Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy (1989), pp. 316f
6. Plutarch, Life of Antony 31.1-2 and 87
7. Syme, Ronald (1989). The Augustan Aristocracy (illustrated and revised ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 316. ISBN 9780198147312.
8. Pollini, John (October 1986). "Ahenobarbi, Appuleii and Some Others on the Ara Pacis". American Journal of Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America. 90 (4): 453–460. doi:10.2307/506032. JSTOR 506032.

Sources

• Herzog-Hauser, Gertrud: (Octavia 95). In: Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. XVII 2, col. 1858-1859.
• Suetonius; Life of Augustus
• Syme, Ronald; Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford University Press, 1989). ISBN 0-19-814731-7, ISBN 978-0-19-814731-2

Further reading

• Mary White, Singer (1948). "The Problem of Octavia Minor and Octavia Maior". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 79: 268–274. doi:10.2307/283365. JSTOR 283365.