Gaius Octavius (praetor 61 BC)

Gaius Octavius (about 100 – 59 BC) was an ancestor to the Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He is the father of the Emperor Augustus, step-grandfather of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandfather of the Emperor Claudius, great-great grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, and great-great-great grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He descended from an old, wealthy equestrian branch of the gens Octavia. Despite being from a wealthy family, his family was plebeian, rather than patrician. As a novus homo ("new man"), he would not be of a senatorial family.

His grandfather, Gaius Octavius, fought as a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War. His father Gaius Octavius was a municipal magistrate who lived to an advanced age. He is a distant relative (possibly as third cousins, through their ancestor Gnaeus Octavius Rufus) to Gnaeus Octavius, the consul of 87 BC who led the opposition to Lucius Cornelius Cinna.

Personal life

Octavius' first wife was named Ancharia. The two had a child (named Octavia Major). It is not known how the marriage ended, although it is possible that Ancharia died during child birth. He later married the niece of Julius Caesar, Atia Balba Caesonia. How they met is not known, although Atia's family (through her father, the Balbi) lived close to Velitrae, which was the ancestral home of the Octavii. They had two children: Octavia Minor and the Emperor Augustus, the latter of whom was born in 63 BC.

Gaius Octavius (disambiguation)

Gaius Octavius was a name used for men among the gens Octavia. Gaius was one of the four chief praenomina used by the Octavii, the other three being Gnaeus, Marcus and Lucius. The most celebrated member was the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar's great-nephew and adoptive son, who later became the first Roman Emperor, famously known as Augustus.

Gaius Octavius also refers to men from several families of the gens Octavia:

Relatives of Augustus, member of the so-called Octavii Rufi:

Gaius Octavius (tribune 216 BC)

Gaius Octavius (fl. 216 BC) was a Roman army officer who was active during the third century BC. He was the son of the equestrian Gaius Octavius and grandson of the quaestor Gnaeus Octavius Rufus, also the father of Velitrae's magistrate Gaius Octavius, grandfather of praetor Gaius Octavius and great-grandfather of Roman emperor Augustus (reigning 27 BC - 14 AD). When Marcus Antonius tried to show his contempt against Augustus, he said that Octavius was freedman and rope-maker from Thurii.

During the Second Punic War, Octavius served as military tribune and participated in the disastrous battle of Cannae, being one of few survivors. When the Carthaginians marched into the Roman camp, Octavius and his colleague, tribune Sempronius Tuditanus, managed to cut their way through the enemy and arrived safely in Canusium. He served in Sicilia (modern Sicily) under the praetor Lucius Aemilius Papus in 205 BC, but it is unknown whether he took part in some other expedition.