Octavia the Elder explained

Octavia the Elder
Spouse:	Sextus Appuleius
Children:	Sextus Appuleius Marcus Appuleius
Father:	Gaius Octavius
Mother:	Ancharia

Octavia the Elder (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

Early life

Octavia was born to Ancharia and Octavius likely some time before 69 BC.^[2]

Marriage and issue

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

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]

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

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).,

Further reading

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

Notes and References

1. [Suetonius]
2. Book: Syme, Ronald. History in Ovid. Clarendon Press. 1978. University of Michigan. 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]
7. Book: Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon Press. 1989. 9780198147312. 316. illustrated and revised.
8. Ahenobarbi, Appuleii and Some Others on the Ara Pacis . American Journal of Archaeology . Pollini . John . October 1986 . 90 . 453–460 . Archaeological Institute of America . 4 . 10.2307/506032. 506032 .