Octavia

(the Younger)

Nola 64 B.C.E. ‖ Roma 11 B.C.E.

Period of activity: From 49 B.C.E. until 11 B.C.E.

Geographical classification: Europe > Italy

Socio-cultural movements

Antiquity > Roman culture > Empire

Groups by dedication

Rulers > Empresses / Queens / Noblewomen

Context of feminine creation

The Roman patriarchal society deprived the midwives of the rights granted to the men, excluding them from politics, religion, or war. Her space was reduced to the domestic area (raising the children and management of the family home). They were used as exchange objects in arranged marriages.

At the end of the Republic, the political interests come firsts when it comes to arranging marriages. See, as an example, the marriages of Julius Caesar and Cornelia Cinna, of Pompeius and Julia Caesaris, or Marcus Antonius and Octavia’s. Women will know how to take advantage of this marriage policy for their benefit, their husbands, or their descendants. We have examples of bold women taking control of men’s affairs: Hortensia addressed a speech in favor of the women of her class; Fulvia, Marcus Antonius’ wife, was able to recruit an army with her means; Servilia, Julia, Mucia, or Octavia herself took part in the negotiations of several political agreements during the Triumvirates, etc.

The actions of these women highlight that this troubled time for Rome favored their emancipation. This emancipation will be unstoppable if we consider the increasingly important public role that empresses of the Julio-Claudian dynasty played. Something Octavia initiated and was consolidated with her sister-in-law Livia. Messalina, Agrippina, and Poppaea were truly emperors in the shadow of their husbands.

Review

Octavia, an educated woman with enormous intelligence and an exceptional political nose, was one of the most admired women in Rome. In the events from the last years of the Republic, she played an important role in the alliances between the political figures of the moment. Her union with Mark Anthony led to the approach between him and his brother Octavian, the triumvirs she tried to reconcile without success. After Mark Anthony’s death, she was a great support for her brother, becoming the model for traditional values for the Roman nation and an example for the rest of the women.

Activities

Justifications

Admired and respected in her time for embodying the values of the noble midwife, faultless morals, and devotion to her family.
Acted as a mediator between the political leaders in crucial times for the Republic (Second Triumvirate).
She had a big influence and prominence in the Principate serving faithfully and effectively her brother’s interests. Her effigy appeared minted in coins and was represented in exposed statues in public places.
Promoter of public works, for the reconstruction of Rome, she built the Porticus Octaviae.

Biography

[…] In the year of 64 b. C. Octavia was born. Her father, Gaius Octavius Turinus, was the first senator of her family. Her mother, Atia, was the daughter of Julia, Julius Caesar’s sister. In the events from the last years of the Republic, she played an important role in the alliances between the political figures of the moment, which were strengthened or broken through marriages and divorces. Octavia, being very young, got married in the 54 b. C. with Gaius Claudius Marcellus, consul in the 53 b. C. They had two daughters, Marcella the Elder and Marcella the Younger, and a son, Marcus. Her husband died in the 40 b. C., leaving her widow at a crucial moment in the face of the growing rivalry between Mark Anthony and Octavian. This death, along with Fulvia’s, occurred in the same year, favored the union between Mark Anthony and Octavia, leading the approach between the triumvirs. […] Mark Anthony was the father of her daughters Antonia the Elder and Antonia Minor, born posthumously. In these dates, specifically in the 35 b. C., Octavia received extraordinary privileges, as her sister-in-law Livia, appearance of recognition for her work. Among these, it stands out the award of the sacrosanctitas or the immunity of the magistrates, the freedom of her male tutor, getting statues, or getting her image engraved on coins. Moreover, she tried to reconcile with her male relatives. In fact, despite the known relationship between Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Octavia only abandoned the marital house when he filed for divorce, which caused the last civil war in 31 b. C. that finished with the victory of Octavian in Accio. The disappearance of Mark Anthony made her the ally and the big political support of her brother, now the only ruler of the Roman nation. Octavia did not get married again and opted for taking care of her offspring and the one her husband had with Fulvia and Cleopatra. Especially, she cared about Marcellus’ future, an essential piece of the dynastic system of August, who married his cousin Julia, sealing a union that would guarantee the line of August. Marcello dies prematurely in 23 b. C. and Octavia never recovered from the loss. She died in the 11 b. C., being buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus, a powerful symbol of his dynastic power.

Rosa María Cid López. 250 mujeres de la Antigua Roma, ed. Pilar Pavón, Sevilla, pp. 93, 94.

At her death she was offered a public funeral with honors never tributed to a woman, even the senators mourned. This fact set the bases and marked the beginning of the public role for imperial women.

Works

Bibliography

Cid López, Rosa María (2022). “Octavia”, 250 mujeres de la Antigua Roma, ed. Pilar Pavón, Sevilla, pp. 93, 94.

Cid López, Rosa María (2016). “Octavia, la noble matrona de la domus de Augusto”, Mujeres en tiempos de Augusto. Realidad social e imposición legal, eds. Rodríguez López, R., Bravo Bosch, Mª José. Valencia, pp. 307-331.

Cid López, Rosa María (2018). ”Mujeres y acción política en la República tardía: las conspiradoras. Imágenes nuevas de viejas prácticas femeninas”. Lo viejo y lo nuevo en las sociedades antiguas: homenaje a Alberto Prieto, XXXVI Coloquio del GIREA, pp. 619-641.

López Gómez, Helena (2022). ”Las funciones institucionales de las mujeres de la familia de Augusto: Octavia, Livia y Julia”, Lucentum, 41, pp. 231-246.

Oya García, Goretti (2017). "Livia y Octavia dos primeras damas del imperio romano”, Mujeres que hacen historia, Vol. 2, pp. 229-242, Universidad del País Vasco.

Pavón Pilar (dir.), (2022). “Exposición Virtual: 250 mujeres de la antigua Roma” en Conditio feminae I: Marginación y visibilidad de la mujer en el Imperio Romano. Universidad de Sevilla, (retrieved on 22/11/2022), <https://grupo.us.es/conditiofeminae/index.php/2022/03/03/56-octavia/>

Didactic approach

-CUC: Block Classical roots of today's world. History and sociopolitical evolution. Block Classical roots of today's world. Quotidian life.

- Latin 4th of ESO. Block The present of the Latin civilization.

- Latin Baccalaureate: Block Ancient Rome.

- History 1st of ESO: Block Societies and territories, referring to Rome