Gaius Octavius (father of Augustus)

Gaius Octavius
Head of statue, thought to be Gaius Octavius
Bornc. 100 BC
Died59 BC
OccupationPolitician
Spouse(s)Ancharia
Atia
ChildrenOctavia the Elder
Octavia the Younger
Octavian

Gaius Octavius[1] (c. 100 – 59 BC) was a Roman politician. He was an ancestor to the Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was the biological father of the emperor Augustus, step-grandfather of the emperor Tiberius, great-grandfather of the emperor Claudius, and great-great grandfather of the emperors Caligula[2] and Nero.[3] Hailing from Velitrae, he was a descendant of an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia. Not being of senatorial rank, he was a novus homo ("new man") at Rome. 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.

  1. ^ No ancient source uses a cognomen (surname). The surname Rufus had belonged to his ancestor, Gnaeus Octavius, quaestor c. 230 BC. It was occasionally used (but more often ignored) by his descendants.
  2. ^ Caligula was a son of Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus, son of Gaius Octavius (proconsul)
  3. ^ Nero was a son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32), son of Antonia the Elder, daughter of Octavia the Younger, daughter of Gaius Ovtavius (proconsul)

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