Octavia Minor
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- For other Roman noble women of this name see Octavia
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Octavia Thurina Minor (69 - 11 BC), also known as Octavia the Younger or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (known also as Octavian), half sister of Octavia Thurina Major, and fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was one of the most prominent women in Roman history, respected and admired by contemporaries for her loyalty, nobility and humanity and for maintaining traditional Roman feminine virtues. Octavia lived at a time when many succumbed to treachery and intrigue.
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[edit] Life
[edit] Childhood
Octavia was the only daughter of her father Gaius Octavius's second marriage to dictator Julius Caesar’s niece Atia Balba Caesonia and so she was full sister of Augustus. She was born in Nola, Italy. Her father, a Roman Governor and Senator died in 59 BC from natural causes. Her mother later remarried, to the consul Lucius Marcius Philippus. Much of her childhood she spent travelling with her parents.
[edit] First marriage
Before 54 BC her step-father arranged for her to marry Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor. Marcellus was a man of consular rank, a man who was worthy of her and was consul in 50 BC. He was also a member of the influential Claudian family and descended from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War.
In 54 BC, her great uncle Caesar is said to have been anxious for her to divorce her husband so that she could marry Pompey who had just lost his wife Julia (Julius Caesar's daughter, and thus Octavia's cousin once removed). However, Pompey apparently declined the proposal and Octavia's husband continued to oppose Julius Caesar including in the crucial year of his consulship 50 BC.
Marcellus, a friend of Cicero, was an initial opponent of Julius Caesar when he invaded Italy, but did not take up arms against his wife's great uncle at the Battle of Pharsalus, and was eventually pardoned by him. In 47 BC he was able to intercede with Caesar for his cousin and namesake, also a former consul, then living in exile. Presumably, Octavia continued to live with her husband from the time of their marriage (she would have been about 15 when they married) to her husband's death when she was about 29.
They had three children: Claudia Marcella Major, Claudia Marcella Minor and Marcus Claudius Marcellus. All three were born in Italy. Marcellus died in May 40 BC.
[edit] Second marriage
By a Senatorial decree, Octavia married Mark Antony, in October 40 BC, as his fourth wife (his third wife Fulvia having died shortly before). This marriage had to be approved by the Senate as she was pregnant with her first husband's child and was a political marriage to cement the uneasy alliance between her brother Octavian and Mark Antony - however, Octavia appears to have been a loyal and faithful wife to Antony.
Between 40 BC–36 BC, Octavia lived with him in his Athenian mansion. She raised her children by Marcellus; Antony's two sons and their two daughters: Julia Antonia Major and Julia Antonia Minor, who were born there. She travelled with him to various provinces.
[edit] Breakdown
The alliance was severely tested by Octavia's second husband abandoning her and their children for his former lover Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Mark Antony and Cleopatra had already met in 41 BC, and subsequently had twins.
After 36 BC, Octavia returned to Rome with her children by Mark Antony. On several occasions she acted as a political adviser and negotiator between her husband and brother.
Mark Antony divorced Octavia circa 32 BC, after she had supplied him with men and troops in 35 BC (to be used in his eastern campaigns). With Antony's rejection, divorce, and eventual suicide in 30 BC, Octavia became the sole caretaker of their children. She also became guardian of Antony's remaining children from his unions with both Fulvia and Cleopatra:
- Iullus Antonius (Fulvia),
- Alexander Helios (Cleopatra),
- Cleopatra Selene II (Cleopatra), and
- Ptolemy Philadelphus (Cleopatra)
Octavia never remarried.
[edit] Life after Antony
Augustus had adopted her son Marcellus as his heir, but Marcellus died of illness in 23 BC. Octavia had opened the Library of Marcellus in his memory, while her brother completed Marcellus's theatre in his honor.
Aelius Donatus, in his Life of Virgil, states that Virgil
| “ | "recited three whole books [of his Aeneid] for Augustus: the second, fourth, and sixth--this last out of his well-known affection for Octavia, who (being present at the recitation) is said to have fainted at the lines about her son, "…You shall be Marcellus" [Aen. 6.884]. Revived only with difficulty, she ordered ten-thousand sesterces to be granted to Virgil for each of the verses." | ” |
Never recovering from her son's death, she retired from public life and spent her final years dressing in mourning.
[edit] Death
She died in 11 BC, sometime after her niece Julia the Elder married Tiberius. Her funeral in 11 BC was a public one with her sons-in-law carrying her to the grave. While her brother Augustus delivered the funeral oration and gave her the highest posthumous honors (e.g. building the Gate of Octavia and Porticus Octaviae in her memory, declaring her a goddess and built temples for her), he also declined many of the honors decreed to her by the senate, for reasons unknown. She was one of the first Roman women to have coins minted in her image.
[edit] Issue
[edit] Octavia's Children with Marcellus
Octavia and her first husband had one son and two daughters born late in their marriage:
- 1. Marcellus
- 2. Claudia Marcella Major
- 3. Claudia Marcella Minor
[edit] Octavia's Children with Mark Antony
Octavia and Mark Antony had two daughters by their marriage (her second, his fourth), and were the ancestors of three later Roman Emperors.
- 4. Antonia Major--grandmother to Emperor Nero.
- 5. Antonia Minor--mother to Emperor Claudius, grandmother to Emperor Caligula, and great-grandmother to Emperor Nero.
[edit] In popular culture
There have been at least two depictions of her life in popular fiction.
- A highly fictionalized version of her early life is shown in the 2005 television series Rome by the character of Octavia of the Julii, played by Kerry Condon. One of the most striking differences is the completely fictional version of her early married life. In Rome, Octavia is married to a fictional husband, who bears no resemblance to Marcellus, whom she divorces, and who is killed on the orders of Atia circa 50 BC. She also commits incest with her brother and has a lesbian affair with Servilia Caepionis . Finally, the character has a romantic relationship with Marcus Agrippa, based on the historical Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, with whom the historical Octavia was not involved. Her marriage to Antony was depicted in season two (2007) but there is no evidence of her children from her first marriage.
- Her later life, around the time of the death of Marcellus, is depicted in the acclaimed 1976 television adaptation of Robert Graves's novel I, Claudius. The role was played by Angela Morant, and should not be confused with Claudia Octavia (referred to as 'Octavia' also in the show), Claudius' daughter and wife of the future emperor Nero, who was played by Cheryl Johnson.
[edit] Sources
[edit] Octavia's life and virtues
- Details on Octavia pt 1 "Octavian was much attached to his sister, and she possessed all the charms, accomplishments and virtues likely to fascinate the affections and secure a lasting influence over the mind of a husband. Her beauty was universally allowed to be superior to that of Cleopatra and her virtue was such as to excite even admiration in an age of growing licentiousness and corruption."
- Details on Octavia pt 2
- Nuttall Encyclopedia profile says merely that she was "distinguished for her beauty and her virtue"
[edit] Discussion of Octavia
[edit] Octavia's family and descendants
- Marcellus, Octavia's only son who died aged 20
- Julia, Octavia's daughter-in-law and niece
- Octavia's descendants include the Roman emperors Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.
[edit] External links
- A statue of Octavia Minor
- Octavia entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
