Gaius Octavius was an ancestor to the Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

s of the Julio-Claudian dynasty

Julio-Claudian Dynasty

The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...

. He was the father of the Emperor Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

, step-grandfather of the Emperor Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

, great-great grandfather of the Emperor Caligula

Caligula

Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...

, great-grandfather of the Emperor Claudius

Claudius

Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...

, and great-great-great grandfather of the Emperor Nero

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

. He descended from an old, wealthy equestrian branch of the Octavii

Octavii

The gens Octavia was a plebeian family at Rome, which was raised to patrician status by Caesar during the 1st century BC The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gnaeus Octavius Rufus, quaestor circa 230 BC...

 family. Despite being from a wealthy family, his family was plebeian, rather than patrician. As a novus homo

Novus homo

Homo novus was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul...

 ("new man"), he was not of a senatorial family.

His grandfather, Gaius Octavius, fought as a military tribune

Military tribune

A military tribune was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion...

 in Sicily during the Second Punic War

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...

. His father Gaius Octavius was a municipal magistrate who lived to an advanced age. He was distantly related to Gnaeus Octavius

Gnaeus Octavius

Gnaeus Octavius was a senator and later consul of the Roman Republic. His father, also called Gnaeus Octavius, was Consul in 128 BC.His uncle, Marcus Octavius, was a key figure in opposition to the reforms of Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BC...

, the consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

 of 87 BC who led the opposition to Lucius Cornelius Cinna

Lucius Cornelius Cinna

Lucius Cornelius Cinna was a four-time consul of the Roman Republic, serving four consecutive terms from 87 to 84 BC, and a member of the ancient Roman Cinna family of the Cornelii gens....

.

Personal life

Octavius' first wife was named Ancharia

Ancharia (gens)

The gens Ancharia was a plebeian family at Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Quintus Ancharius, a senator early in the 1st century BC.-Origin of the gens:...

. The two had a child (named Octavia Major

Octavia Major

Octavia the Elder , also known as Octavia Major or Octavia Maior was the daughter of the Roman governor and senator Gaius Octavius by his first wife, Ancharia. She was also an elder half-sister to Octavia the Younger and Roman Emperor Augustus. Little is known of her life...

). 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

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

, 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

Octavia Minor

Octavia the Younger , also known as Octavia Minor or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and fourth wife of Mark Antony...

 and the Emperor Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

, the latter of which was born in 63 BC.

Political career

Octavius was elected quaestor

Quaestor

A Quaestor was a type of public official in the "Cursus honorum" system who supervised financial affairs. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official whereas, with the autocratic government of the Roman Empire, quaestors were simply appointed....

, believed to have been in 70 BC. In 61 BC, he was elected praetor

Praetor

Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

. In 60 BC, after his term had ended, he was appointed propraetor, and was to serve as governor of Macedonia

Macedonia (Roman province)

The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...

. Before he left for Macedonia, the senate sent him to put down a slave rebellion at Thurii

Thurii

Thurii , called also by some Latin writers Thurium , for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf, within a short distance of the site of Sybaris, whose place it may be considered as having taken...

. These slaves had previously taken part in the rebellions of Spartacus

Spartacus

Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...

 and Catiline

Catiline

Lucius Sergius Catilina , known in English as Catiline, was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC who is best known for the Catiline conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the aristocratic Senate.-Family background:Catiline was born in 108 BC to...

. He then left for Macedonia and proved a capable administrator, governing "courageously and justly", his deeds included leading the Roman forces to victory in an unexpected battle against the Thracian

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

 Bessian tribe. Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

 had high regard for his diplomatic dealings. Because of his successful term as governor of Macedonia, he won the support necessary to be elected consul

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

.

In 59 BC, Octavius sailed to Rome, to stand for election as consul. However, he died before arriving in Rome. He supposedly died in the same bedroom where Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 would pass away many years later. His career is summarized in an inscription erected by his son on the forum

Forum of Augustus

The Forum of Augustus is one of the Imperial forums of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus. It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor.-History:The triumvir Octavian vowed to build a temple honoring Mars, the Roman God of War, during the battle of Philippi in 42 BC...

 he built in Rome::

C(aius) Octavius C(ai) f(ilius) C(ai) n(epos) C(ai) pr[on(epos)]

pater Augusti

tr(ibunus) mil(itum) bis q(aestor) aed(ilis) pl(ebis) cum

C(aio) Toranio iudex quaestionum

pr(aetor) proco(n)s(ul) imperator appellatus

ex provincia Macedonia

“Gaius Octavius, son, grandson and great-grandson of Gaius,

father of Augustus,

twice military tribune, quaestor, aedile of the plebs together with

Gaius Toranius, judge,

praetor, proconsul, proclaimed imperator

in the province of Macedonia”

Sources

• Suetonius
  Suetonius
  Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
  
  - The Twelve Caesars - Augustus vs. 1-8
• Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor; by Anthony Everitt