Honours for Octavia
created: Transcription (Reynolds).
source date: 27 BCE to CE 4
language: ar; en; fr; de; grc; grc-Latn; el; he
availability: Creative Commons licence Attribution UK 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/) All reuse or distribution of this work must contain somewhere a link back to the URL http://inslib.kcl.ac.uk/

Bibliography

[...], 185, whence [...] 26.1824, [...] 324719, [...], A.26.

Ὀκταΐαν τὰν Καίσαρος τῶ Σεβάστω ἀδελφὰν Κυραναῖοι

Translation

Octavia the sister of Caesar Augustus set up by the Cyrenaeans

Commentary

This is the full sister of Augustus (PIR2 O, 0066), mother of Marcellus who was his natural heir in the twenties BCE, sometime wife of M. Antonius. She was highly honoured in Rome (cf Dio Cassius XLIX.38.1, available at Perseus) but comparatively few memorials to her have come to light in the provinces, although the mention of her at Mytilene (IG XII.2.58.b, line 25, available at PHI 74715) suggests that she would figure in any representation of the imperial family.

This monument cannot be earlier than 27 BCE when the title of Augustus was conferred and perhaps not later than 4 BCE when she died (although that is an insecure proposal). There is no obvious clue to the reason for it and no certain evidence for other imperial monuments in this sanctuary unless C.499 (for Livia in or after CE 14) belongs there, which is not certain.

The spelling of Octavia’s nomen in Greek at Cyrene is variable.