Octavia the Elder
Octavia the Elder | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Sextus Appuleius |
| Children | Sextus Appuleius Marcus Appuleius |
| Parents |
|
Octavia the Elder[a] (before 69 BC – after 29 BC) was the daughter of the Roman governor and senator Gaius Octavius by his first wife, Ancharia. She was the elder half-sister to Octavia the Younger and Roman Emperor Augustus.[1]
Biography
[edit | edit source]Early life
[edit | edit source]Octavia was born to Ancharia and Octavius likely some time before 69 BC.[2]
Marriage and issue
[edit | edit source]Octavia the Elder was married to Sextus Appuleius (I). They had a son, who was also named Sextus Appuleius, he served as 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
[edit | edit source]Plutarch was only aware of one daughter of Gaius Octavius and confused Octavia the Elder with Octavia the Younger.[6]
Octavia's existence as wife of Appuleius was first discovered due to a dedication from when her husband was proconsul of Asia.[7]
It is uncertain if Octavia died before or after her siblings. A dedication by a man named Marcus Ancharius dated after 14 AD to a woman named Octavia who was the sister of a prominent man (the name of whom is lost due to the inscription being damaged) might be for her.[8]
Cultural depictions
[edit | edit source]Octavia and her husband, as well as their two sons, may be depicted on the Ara Pacis.[9]
See also
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Also known as Octavia Major or Octavia Maior.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Suetonius, Life of Augustus 4.1 [1]
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- ^ Inscriptions from Pergamon 2, 419 = Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes 4, 323 = Wilhelm Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae 462.
- ^ Syme, Ronald, Augustan Aristocracy (1989), p. 37
- ^ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy (1989), pp. 316f
- ^ Plutarch, Life of Antony 31.1-2 and 87
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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Sources
[edit | edit source]- 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). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).