General Notes

Octavia, byname OCTAVIA MINOR (b. c. 69 BC--d. 11 BC), ful
l sister of Octavian (later the emperor Augustus) and wif
e of Mark Antony.
Octavia was the daughter of Gaius Octavius and his second w
ife, Atia. Before 54 BC Octavia was married to Gaius Marcel
lus, by whom she had two daughters and a son. On the deat
h of Marcellus in 40 she was married to Marcus Antonius ( M
ark Antony), who at the time was ruling the Roman state wit
h Octavian and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. At first this marri
age helped to reduce tensions between Antony and Octavian
, and, when the two rulers quarreled in 37, Octavia brough
t about peace between them, which resulted in the Treaty o
f Tarentum. But in 36 Antony left Italy to command troops i
n Parthia and while in the East resumed his liaison with th
e Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Although Octavia brought troop
s and money to him (35), he refused to see her, and in 32 h
e obtained a divorce. Octavia was a faithful wife and mothe
r who raised Antony's children by Cleopatra along with he
r own children. After the death of her son Marcellus in 23
, she withdrew from public life.
Copyright 1994-1999 Encyclopædia Britannica
(Research):Octavia the Elder, sister of Augustus Octavius C
aesar, was born about 64 B.C. and died about 11 B.C., marri
ed (1) C. Claudius Marcellus, and (2) Mark Antony (Antonius
) II, Triumvir., son of Antonius Aeticus and his wife, wh
o later married Cornelius Lentulus Sura, step-father to Mar
k Antony, who was also the grandson of Antonius the Orator
, who was born 83 B.C., and who was married a total of fiv
e times: (1) Fadia; and (2) Antonia. From this second marri
age, there was a daughter, Antonia, who married Pythodorus
. They had a daughter, Pythodoris, who married (1) Archelau
s of Cappadocia, and (2) Polemo I. From this marriage ther
e were three children: Antonia Tryphaena; Zeno; and M. Anto
nius Polemo (?). Mark Antony married (3) Fulvia, widow of C
lodius, and later widow of Crio. Mark Antony married (4) Oc
tavia, and finally, at the end of his career, in the autum
n of 37 B.C. (5) Cleopatra VII., Queen of Egypt, previousl
y married (1) Ptolemy XIII., who died in 47 B.C., and (2) P
tolemy XIV, who died in 44 B.C. Mark Antony and Cleopatra b
oth committed suicide, and he died in 30 B.C. By Mark Anton
y, Cleopatra bore a daughter, Cleopatra of Cyrene (Selene)
, Queen of Cyrene, about 33-31 B.C., married Juba II. of Ma
uretania, son of Juba I. of Numidia, ruler of Armenia, Medi
a, and Parthia. Salene and Juba II. had a son, Ptolemy of M
auretania. See Skakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra."
From the first marriage of Octavia the Elder and C. Claudiu
s Marcellus, there were three children as follows:
1. M. Marcellus, born in 43 B.C. , and died in 23 B.C., mar
ried Julia, daughter of Augustus.
2. Marcella major, married (1) M. Valeriusa Barbatus Appian
us, and (2) Sextus Appuleius. There were offspring from eac
h marriage.
3. Marcellus minor, married (1) M. Vipsanius Agrippa, and (
2) Julius Antonius
From the second marriage of Octavia the Elder and Mark Anto
ny, there were two daughters as follows:
1. Antonia the Elder, born about August or September 39 A.D
., married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Cn. Dominu
s Ahenobarus and grandson of L. Dominus Ahenobarbus. Antoni
a and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus had the following childre
n:
1. Filia. (?).
2. Filius (?).
3. Domitia.
4. Gnacus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who married Agrippina the Y
ounger, daughter of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus. The
y in turn were the parents of the infamous Nero (Lucius Dom
itius Nero), Emperor from 54 to 68 A.D., in whose reign th
e city of Rome burned. The fire broke out at night, July 18
, 64 A.D., in some wooden shops and, fanned by a huge wind
, raged for more than a week, destroying the greater part o
f the city. It is not certainly known who started the fire
, but Nero blamed the Christians and thus began their