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]Early life
[edit]Octavia was born to Ancharia and Octavius likely some time before 69 BC.[2]
Marriage and issue
[edit]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]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]Octavia and her husband, as well as their two sons, may be depicted on the Ara Pacis.[9]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ Also known as Octavia Major or Octavia Maior.
References
[edit]- ↑ Suetonius, Life of Augustus 4.1
- ↑ Syme, Ronald (1978). History in Ovid. University of Michigan: Clarendon Press. p. 152.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Syme, Ronald (1989). The Augustan Aristocracy (illustrated and revised ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 316. ISBN 9780198147312.
- ↑ Delplace, Christiane (1996). "Le théâtre de Falerio dans la regio V (Picenum) : interventions publiques et privées" [The Falerio Theatre in Regio V (Picenum): public and private interventions]. Ktèma. Ktèma: civilisations de l'Orient, de la Grèce et de Rome antiques, Hommage à Edmond Frézouls – III. (in French). 21 (21): 120. doi:10.3406/ktema.1996.2160 – via Persee.fr.
- ↑ Pollini, John (October 1986). "Ahenobarbi, Appuleii and Some Others on the Ara Pacis". American Journal of Archaeology. 90 (4). Archaeological Institute of America: 453–460. doi:10.2307/506032. JSTOR 506032.
Sources
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Mary White, Singer (1948). "The Problem of Octavia Minor and Octavia Maior". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 79. The Johns Hopkins University Press: 268–274. doi:10.2307/283365. JSTOR 283365.