OCTAVIA: d. 11BCE

• was Octavion-Augustus' sister and daughter of C. Octavius and Atia (whole section from OCD 1059).
• Octavia was first married to C. Claudius Marcellus, who unfortunately died in 40 BCE in time for her to remarry Mark Antony in that same year; Antony was a political ally (and triumvirate member) of her brother. In celebration of his blessed marriage, Antony struck a coin with Octavia's head on it--the first time a woman's head had ever appeared on coinage (Balsdon 70).
• They did not spend much time together as a married couple: Octavia and Antony spent the winters of 39-8 and 38-7 in Athens, after which her husband went back east to his infamous, beloved Cleopatra.
• Antony's abandonment of young Octavia did not deter her from continuing to support him; in 35 she led troops to her husband as commanded by her brother. Antony, however, was less than grateful, telling her to not come closer to him than Athens. While after this point even her brother urged Octavia to leave her husband's house, she refused until 32--the year that Antony sent her a letter declaring her a divorced woman.
• Despite what would seem incredibly rude actions from her husband, even for those times, Octavia remained the paragon of a virtuous Roman wife: she brought up his children after he and Cleopatra's deaths, from all three of his previous wives as well as from her initial marriage. Octavia was thus the mother to children from four families.
• Suffice it to say that "Her nobility, humanity, and loyalty won her wide esteem and sympathy" from the Roman world. To honor her, the Porticus Octaviae is named in her honor.