Octavia the Elder

Octavia the Elder^[a] (before 69 BC – after 29 BC) was the daughter of the Roman governor and senator Gaius Octavius by his first wife, Ancharia. She was the elder half-sister to Octavia the Younger and Roman Emperor Augustus.^[1]

Octavia was born to Ancharia and Octavius likely some time before 69 BC.^[2]

Octavia the Elder was married to Sextus Appuleius (I). They had a son, who was also named Sextus Appuleius, he served as ordinary consul in 29 BC with his half-uncle, Augustus.^[3] It is postulated that they had a second son, Marcus Appuleius, the consul of 20 BC.^[4] Through Sextus Appuleius, the consul, she had a grandson named Sextus Appuleius, consul in AD 14, and a granddaughter Appuleia Varilla. Octavia the Elder's last known descendants were her great-grandson, also named Sextus Appuleius, through her grandson and Fabia Numantina.^[5]

Plutarch was only aware of one daughter of Gaius Octavius and confused Octavia the Elder with Octavia the Younger.^[6]

Octavia's existence as wife of Appuleius was first discovered due to a dedication from when her husband was proconsul of Asia.^[7]

Octavia and her husband, as well as their two sons, may be depicted on the Ara Pacis.^[8]

• List of Roman women
• Women in ancient Rome

• Herzog-Hauser, Gertrud: (Octavia 95). In: Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. XVII 2, col. 1858–1859.
• Suetonius; Life of Augustus
• Syme, Ronald; Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford University Press, 1989). ISBN 0-19-814731-7, ISBN 978-0-19-814731-2

• Mary White, Singer (1948). "The Problem of Octavia Minor and Octavia Maior". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 79. The Johns Hopkins University Press: 268–274. doi:10.2307/283365. JSTOR 283365.