Marcus Octavius (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: , lived during the 2nd century BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

in 133 BC and a major rival of

Tiberius Gracchus Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus ( 163 – 133 BC) was a Roman politician best known for his agrarian reform law entailing the transfer of land from the Roman state and wealthy landowners to poorer citizens. He had also served in the Roma ...

. He was a son of Gnaeus Octavius, the consul in 165 BC, and a brother to another Gnaeus Octavius, the consul in 128 BC. Through his brother, he was the paternal uncle of Gnaeus Octavius, the consul in 87 BC. A serious and discreet person, he earned himself a reputation as an influential

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...

. Though they had originally been close friends, Octavius became alarmed by Gracchus's populist agenda and, at the behest of the

Roman senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

, repeatedly

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

ed Gracchus's programmes of land reform. Gracchus responded by ultimately having the

Plebeian Assembly The ''Concilium Plebis'' ( English: Plebeian Council., Plebeian Assembly, People's Assembly or Council of the Plebs) was the principal assembly of the common people of the ancient Roman Republic. It functioned as a legislative/judicial assembly ...

deprive him of his office and eject him from the Assembly's meeting place in 133 BC. This action led to a serious escalation in the confrontation between the traditionalists and the reformers. The action was unprecedented and contravened the ''

mos maiorum The ''mos maiorum'' (; "ancestral custom" or "way of the ancestors," plural ''mores'', cf. English " mores"; ''maiorum'' is the genitive plural of "greater" or "elder") is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social no ...

'' (Latin phrase meaning "ancestral custom" or "way of the elders") leading to the overall destabilization of the Republic. The reason that the senate called Marcus Octavius to veto Tiberius Gracchus's land bill or programmes of land reform was because it was "going against the books" so to speak; it was a bit of an unorthodox plan that was not in tune with the traditional ways of Rome's political dealings. The senate felt threatened by this and was not going to simply let Tiberius Gracchus violate the traditions that Rome had traditionally valued. The bill's proposed solution was to address the lack of manpower for the empire at that time. Nonetheless, despite it having been well thought through, it still called for the Republic to move past Roman traditions, controversial because keeping old traditions was very important to the political elites of Rome. Still, Tiberius stood his ground and went against tradition because he believed in the potential of his land reform programmes. Because of his opposition, Tiberius decided it would be best to remove Marcus Octavius from office. Now because Tiberius Gracchus's vote to determine whether or not Marcus Octavius should be removed from office was successful in the sense that it was decided in Tiberius's favor, things were able to change. Once Marcus Octavius was removed from office, the Plebeian tribunes came together and reached the decision that the veto of Tiberius's programmes of land reform should be nullified. Marcus Octavius's veto was nullified and voided because he was no longer in office; because of this, his decision was revoked and no longer valid. The primary source for Marcus Octavius is

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

's life of Tiberius. According to

, Gaius Octavius was one of his descendants, thus making him an ancestor of Roman Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Octavius, Marcus 2nd-century BC Romans Octavii Rufi Optimates

See also

References