Marcus's Women: Octavia of the Julii

​Welcome to Brook's Scroll this week! 

First, I have a thrilling announcement. This week, my debut novel, Antonius: Son of Rome was awarded a SILVER MEDAL in the international Readers' Favorite Book Reviewers Awards for 2020. This award was in the sub-genre of Biographical Historical Fiction, and I'm humbled and honored, as thousands of authors entered this competition. 

Now, let's get to the blog!!!

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Because I have two very important ladies to cover, I'm going to address both Octavia and Cleopatra one at a time. Today is Octavia's day. To the left, you'll see a bust of her that probably dates from around the time of her marriage with Antonius. 

Octavia was born in Nola, Italy in 67 BC. Within the gens Julii, she was known as Octavia Minora (the Younger), for she had an older sister by the same name. (Roman names are horrible things for authors to wrestle with!) 

Octavian was her full brother and their mother's name was Atia. And here, I must add that if ever a woman's character was maligned by a series depiction on television, HBO's series ROME treated Atia of the Julii horrendously! But I digress... Octavia's father died, and Atia remarried Lucius Marcius Philippus. 

Sometime around 52 BC, Octavia married Gaius Claudius Marcellus. She was to give him two daughters and a son, posthumously. There must have been some pretty tense family dynamics going on, because Marcellus was fiercely anti-Caesarian. He opposed Julius Caesar staunchly and Philippus was inclined to side with him politically, too. So it's rather intriguing that Julius Caesar remained so very fond of this side of his family. At one point, Caesar made a long-distance offer to Pompeius Magnus of marriage to Octavia, with one small obstacle in the way. She was already married to Marcellus. Marcellus haughtily refused Caesar's plan, refusing to divorce here, and there was probably a juicy scandal, quickly smoothed over by Pompeius, who promptly married another lady, Cornelia.

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I find this particular Octavia bust striking, because it shows how much she resembled her brother, Octavian (below at right). ​She was six years his senior and it makes me wonder how awkward it would have been for her once Marcellus died and suddenly she came under her brother's umbrella of control. 

I can't imagine she was pleased to marry Marcus Antonius. First of all, at the time of their betrothal, she was still in mourning, and so was he. Fulvia had recently died, leaving him widowed. Their marriage was signed and sealed when Antonius returned to Italy after his first fling with Cleopatra (more on her NEXT week!). 

But there was more. Not only was Octavia in mourning--she was PREGNANT with Marcellus's child and her delivery was imminent. Undoubtedly, she was coerced into marrying Antonius. And it's likely that he had little choice in the matter, as he was responsible, along with Octavian, for preserving peace, and this was Octavian's demand to seal their alliance at the Treaty of Brundisium. 

Plutarch's account, of course, is festive and full of joyful celebration, probably much like the Roman people felt at the time: 

"Everybody concurred in promoting this new alliance, fully expecting that with the beauty, honor, and prudence of Octavia, when her company should, as it was certain it would, have engaged his (Antonius's) affections, all would be kept in the safe and happy course of friendship. So, both parties being agreed, they went to Rome to celebrate the nuptials; the senate dispensing with the law by which a widow was not permitted to marry till ten months after the death of her husband."  
​     Plutarch, Life of Antony

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I love coins! My father was a numismatist, so I think my affinity for them is genetic. Anyway, I love this coin, featuring Antonius and Octavia after they were wed. Look at her likeness for a moment, then scroll back up to the bust at the top of the page. She's wearing the same flipped back hairstyle and I think bears many of the similar features as in the marble. 

The coin here mentions that Antonius was both Imperator and Consul. Being hailed "Imperator" by one's legions was the highest accolade a Roman general could achieve on the field. And the consular title was the highest office in Rome, though by this time, the Republic was no longer holding regular elections. The powers that be--in this case, the Second Triumvirate--of which Antonius was a senior member at the time, gave him the "right" to declare the consulship.

Octavia and Marcus Antonius spent a good three years together. For about a year and a half, they lived in Rome proper, but then Antonius had to head east again to prepare for his invasion of Parthia (modern day Iran/Iraq). His operations at that time were located in Athens, and the Greek people loved Octavia and ancient sources state that the couple spent a very happy, but short interlude there. Sometime before they left Rome or shortly after arriving in Greece, Octavia bore Antonius the first of their two daughters. Both were named Antonia (more confusion for this author to differentiate in her story!). 

There were plenty of tense moments in Octavia's is marriage for alliance--not so much between Octavia and Antonius, but between Antonius and her brother. Things began to unravel shortly after their sojourn in Athens, when Antonius headed back to the East again, Octavia returned to Rome with the children, who included his two sons by Fulvia, Fulvia's children by Clodius, and Octavia's children by Marcellus, along with the two Antonias. This turned out to be the marriage's "fork in the road" and where I shall end Octavia's story, in the hope that you'll want to continue it in my next book. 

So what do we have left of Octavia besides a few coins or busts? Believe it or not, there is a ruin in Rome that Octavian built in her honor, the remnants of which can still be seen today. 

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​This is the Portico of Octavia (red brick arch at right), which Octavian built in honor of his sister sometime after 27 BC. There was a lovely colonnade behind the Portico, connecting existing Temples to Jupiter and Juno, along with the magnificent Theater of Marcellus (also still standing). Marcellus, if you recall, was Octavia's son by her first husband, and he completed the theater which had been started by Julius Caesar before his assassination. Sadly, Marcellus died prematurely and suspiciously, too. In her grief, it's believed that Octavia built the library in memory of her son.

Octavia will be an integral character in my upcoming book!

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I'm so excited about the next few weeks of blogging! I have some amazing guests with fascinating material and upcoming books to share. Also, I'll be sharing more about my own book--Antonius: Soldier of Fate, which launches on Friday, October 16th! Next week, we're headed for Alexandria, Egypt for an intimate look at HER MAJESTY, Cleopatra VII Philopater! See you then and READ ON!