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Gaius Octavius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gaius Octavius (d. 59 BC) was the biological father of Augustus. He descended from an old, wealthy equestrian branch of the Octavii family, of whom he was the first to enter the Roman Senate.
His great-great-grandfather fought as a middle-ranking officer in the Second Punic War. His father was a municipal magistrate who lived to an advanced age. Like his father, he bribed voters during elections.
After his praetorship, he subsequently became governor of Macedonia. He was commissioned by the Senate on his way to Macedonia to disperse a rebellion of slaves who had previously taken part in the rebellions under Spartacus and Catiline. He proved a capable administrator in Macedonia, governing "courageously and justly", his deeds including victory in a battle against the Thracian Bessian tribe. Cicero had high regard for his diplomatic dealings.
Octavius died in Nola on his way to stand for the consulship in Rome in 59 BC, supposedly in the same bedroom where Augustus would later pass away. By his first wife, Ancharia, he fathered Octavia Major; by his second, Atia Balba Caesonia, he fathered Octavia Minor and Augustus.
Portraits of Gaius Octavius can be seen here (section 4, "parents").
- Suetonius, Augustus, vs. 1-8 (Robert Graves translation)