Octavius is a Latin

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

, or

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

. It was never particularly common at Rome, but may have been used more frequently in the countryside. The feminine form is Octavia. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Octavia, and perhaps also to gens Otacilia, also written ''Octacilia''. A late inscription gives the abbreviation Oct.

History

The praenomen Octavius is best known from

Octavius Mamilius Octavius Mamilius (died 498/496 BC) was ''princeps'' ("leader, prince") of Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium. He was the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome. According to tradition, the '' gens Mamilia'' ...

, the prince of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Classical Rome, Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable dist ...

, and son-in-law of

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', wikisource:From_the_ ...

, the seventh and last king of Rome, who was slain by Titus Herminius at the Battle of Lake Regillus about 498 BC. Members of the Mamilia gens afterward came to Rome, and the name must have been used by the ancestors of the Octavii and perhaps the Otacilii, but examples of the praenomen are scarce. At least in its feminine form, ''Octavius'' seems to have been used on occasion throughout the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

and into imperial times. The name was used by gens Maecia, and a woman named "Octavia Valeria Vera" lived at Ticinum in the second or third century. Either through direct transmission or revival, the name has survived to the present day.

Origin and meaning

The root of ''Octavius'' is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

numeral ''octavus'', meaning "eight" or "eighth". It might be expected to appear as ''Octavus'', feminine ''Octava'', but in the few examples known it seems to have been treated as an " stem", and is given as ''Octavius'' or ''Octavia''. This occurs with certain other praenomina, including the feminine forms ''Marcia'' and ''Titia'', which are usually found in place of the expected ''Marca'' and ''Tita''. Octavius falls into the same class as the masculine praenomina ''

Quintus Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus (praenomen), Quintus'', a common Latin language, Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is ...

'', '' Sextus'', '' Septimus'', '' Nonus'', and '' Decimus'', as well as the feminine names ''Prima'', ''Secunda'', ''Tertia'', ''Quarta'', ''Quinta'', ''Sexta'', ''Septima'', ''Nona'', and ''Decima''. Originally the name was probably given to an eighth child, eighth son, or eighth daughter. However, scholars have long postulated that, at least at Rome, such names might instead refer to the month of the year in which a child was born. Over time, the literal meanings of such names were commonly ignored, and the more common names bestowed without regard for meaning, perhaps explaining why certain names, such as those based on the numerals from seven to nine, came to be neglected. In the form ''Uchtave'', the praenomen was also used by the Etruscans.Heurgon, ''Daily Life of the Etruscans''.

References

Bibliography

* Titus Livius (

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

), '' History of Rome''. *

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

''et alii'', ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''

L'Année épigraphique ''L'Année épigraphique'' (''The Epigraphic Year'', standard abbreviation ''AE'') is a French publication on epigraphy (i.e the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing). It was set up by René Cagnat, as holder of the chair of 'Epigraphy a ...

'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present). * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897). * Jacques Heurgon, ''La Vie quotidienne chez lez Etrusques'' (Daily Life of the Etruscans), Hachette, Paris (1961, 1989). * Mika Kajava, ''Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women'', Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae (1994). {{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina 8 (number)

History

Origin and meaning

See also

References

Bibliography