Gaius Octavius (father of Augustus)

Gaius Octavius
Head of statue, thought to be Gaius Octavius
Bornc.100 BC
Died59 BC
OccupationPolitician
Spouse(s)Ancharia
Atia
ChildrenOctavia the Elder
Octavia the Younger
Octavian (Augustus)

Gaius Octavius (c.100 – 59 BC) was a Roman politician. He was an ancestor to the Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was the biological father of the Emperor Augustus, step-grandfather of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandfather of the Emperor Claudius, and great-great-grandfather of the Emperors Caligula and Nero. Hailing from Velitrae, he belonged to an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia. Not being of senatorial rank, he was a novus homo ("new man") at Rome. His grandfather, Gaius Octavius, fought as a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War. His father, Gaius Octavius, was a municipal magistrate who lived to an advanced age.