Octavia: The Life of a Roman Matron Between Antony and Augustus

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Beth Andrea Severy-Hoven (Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East, Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East, Macalester College)

Octavia

Name: Octavia
Price: 259.95 AUD
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ISBN: 9780197518939

The Life of a Roman Matron Between Antony and Augustus

Beth Andrea Severy-Hoven (Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East, Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East, Macalester College)

$259.95

Hardback

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
13 March 2026

History of art: ancient & classical art; General & world history; Ancient history: to c 500 CE

Series: Women in Antiquity

Octavia Minor (c. 69--11 BCE) was the elder sister of the first Roman Emperor Augustus, the fourth wife of his ally and subsequent rival Mark Antony, and ancestor of the emperors Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Such a genealogy positions her squarely at the center of events as Rome transitioned from Republic to civil war to Empire. Octavia traces this elite woman's significant role in a turbulent period of Roman history. It explores the major events of Octavia's life, including her coming of age in the late Republic, her pivotal role as wife of Mark Antony and sister of Octavian during the triumviral conflicts, and finally her exemplary motherhood in the early years of the Augustan regime. This book analyses contemporary evidence from coins, statues, poetry, and inscriptions to counterbalance the picture of Octavia and her contemporaries that survives in literary sources indelibly marked by the propaganda of the final war between her brother and her husband, and her brother's triumphant transformation into the first emperor. Octavia's life thus reveals changes to the social and political landscape for women and men of the Roman elite--and how these changes came about--as the Republican system disintegrated and a new imperial one emerged.

By: Beth Andrea Severy-Hoven (Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Macalester College)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 581g
ISBN: 9780197518939
ISBN 10: 0197518931
Series: Women in Antiquity
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 13 March 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1: Introduction 2: Coming of Age in the Late Republic 3: Interceding with Triumvirs 4: Repairing the Triumvirate: Wedding Antony 5: Wife of the Triumvir in the East 6: Between Brother and Husband: Triumviral Mediator 7: Sacrosanct Matron: The Honors of 35 8: Matchmaking Empire 9: (Re)Modeling Motherhood in the Early Augustan Period 10: Final Impressions

Beth Andrea Severy-Hoven is Professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East at Macalester College and the author of Augustus and the Family at the Birth of the Roman Empire.