A noble lady whose life changed after her brother got an unexpected inheritance. Married by senatorial decree to her brother's rival and abandoned by him, but guardian to her step children, this matriarch played a crucial role in her brother's empire.
Story in the evening ...
Story in the evening ...
https://twitter.com/Arby_K/status/1331060225940439040
Octavia (Minor) was born around 69 BC to Gaius Octavius, a Roman quaestor and his wife Atia Balba Caesonia. Her mother was the niece of another Roman quaestor of 69 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar, and her father's political career seems to have benefitted from the relation. 1/10 
In 54 BC, Octavia married Gaius Claudius Marcellus. Marcellus was one of the two Roman Consuls for 50 BC. Initially opposed to his wife's grand uncle, Marcellus switched sides as Caesar invaded Italy and was subsequently pardoned. 2/10
Julius Caesar adopted Octavia's brother Gaius Octavius in his will and made him his heir. Aged 19 at the time of his adopted father's death, her brother would find allies in Marcus Antonius and the new Pontifex Maximus, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate. 3/10
By 40 BC, the three would have complete control over the Roman Republic. To cement the alliance, Mark Antony would marry the newly widowed Octavia the same year. Pregnant with her third child, the marriage needed a Senatorial decree. 4/10
Octavia would help raise army for Antony's campaign against Parthia and maintain the peace between her husband and her brother. But in 36 BC, Antony would break off from the marriage and resumed his liaison with the Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra, during the Parthian campaign. 5/10
The marriage would officially end by 32 BC. Octavia would remain the guardian of her children step daughter, Antonia. After defeating Mark Antony, her brother would have Antony's son, Antyllus and Caesar's son, Ptolemy XV, killed the same day. 6/10
Octavia's household would now be enlarged with Antony's remaining children, Iulius Antonius, Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene and Ptolemy Philadelphius. Her brother had become the sole ruler of Roman Republic. By the time of his death, the Republic had become an Empire. 7/10
The death of her eldest child, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, in 23 BC, would devastate Octavia and she would retire from public life. But her children and her step children would continue to play a vital role in the Empire. 8/10
Octavia's grandson, Germanicus Julius Caesar, would defeat the Germanic tribes after they had routed Romans in 9 AD. Later his son, Gaius Julius Caesar (Caligula), his brother, Tiberius Claudius Nero and his grandson, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero) would become Emperors. 9/10
Octavia would arrange the marriage of Cleopatra Selene with Juba of Numidia. They would rule Mauretania as Roman clients, securing the Empire's South. Antony's granddaughter, Pythodorida, would be Queen of Pontus and the ancestor of Roman Bosporan Kings, securing the East. 10/10
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