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{{Short description|Roman empress from AD 54 to 62}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty 
|name=Claudia Octavia
|image=Ritratto di claudia ottavia, da roma, via varese.JPG
|image_size=240px
|caption=Portrait head of Claudia Octavia, [[National Museum of Rome]]
|succession=[[List of Roman empresses|Roman empress]]
|reign= October 13, AD 54 – June 9, AD 62
|consort= yes
|birth_date=late AD 39/early AD 40
|birth_place=[[Rome]]
|death_date=June 9, AD 62 (aged {{c.|22}})
|death_place=[[Ventotene|Pandateria]]
|place of burial=
|father=[[Claudius]]
|mother=[[Valeria Messalina]]
|spouse=[[Nero]]
|issue=
|house=[[Julio-Claudian dynasty|Julio-Claudian]]
|full name=}} 
{{Julio-Claudian dynasty}}

'''Claudia Octavia''' (late 39 or early 40 – June 9, AD 62) was a [[Roman empress]]. She was the daughter of the Emperor [[Claudius]] and [[Valeria Messalina]]. After her mother's death and father's remarriage to her cousin [[Agrippina the Younger]], she became the stepsister of the future Emperor [[Nero]]. She also became his wife, in a marriage between the two which was arranged by Agrippina.

Octavia was popular with the Roman people, but she and Nero hated their marriage. When his mistress, [[Poppaea Sabina]], became pregnant, he divorced and banished Octavia. When this led to a public outcry, he had her executed.

==Life==
===Family===
Octavia was the elder of two children of [[Claudius]] and his third wife, [[Valeria Messalina]]. Her younger brother was [[Britannicus]].{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=55}} She had older half-siblings through her father's earlier marriages. Her elder half-sister was [[Claudia Antonia]], Claudius's daughter through his second marriage to [[Aelia Paetina]]. She also had a half-brother, [[Claudius Drusus]], through Claudius's first marriage to [[Plautia Urgulanilla]], although Drusus died before she was born.{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=23–25}}{{rp|23}}

She was named for her great-grandmother [[Octavia the Younger]], sister of the Emperor [[Augustus]].{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=55}}

===Early life===
She was born in Rome around 39 or 40 during the reign of her cousin [[Caligula]].{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=55}} In January 41, Caligula was assassinated and her father was declared emperor.{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=29–33}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=292–293, 297–299}} Shortly after Claudius' accession to the throne, her brother Britannicus was born on February 12. That same year, Claudius betrothed her to [[Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus]], a descendant of [[Augustus]].{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=55–58}}

In 48, Messalina was engaged in an affair with the senator [[Gaius Silius (lover of Messalina)|Gaius Silius]], and the two held a wedding banquet when Claudius was away in [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]].{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=110}} Claudius was informed by one of his advisors, the [[freedman]] [[Tiberius Claudius Narcissus|Narcissus]], and hurried back to Rome, concerned that the wedding was part of an attempt to overthrow him and make Silius emperor. Octavia and Britannicus were sent out to meet Claudius in an attempt to assuage his anger. Messalina's efforts to reconcile with Claudius were unsuccessful, and she was executed by the [[Praetorian Guard]] on orders that Narcissus presented as being from Claudius.{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=333–335}}{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=64–65, 69}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/11B*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XI |isbn=}}</ref>

===Claudius' remarriage and the rise of Nero===
[[File:Claudio_Octavia_-_Museo_archeologico_e_d%E2%80%99arte_della_Maremma_-_inv_97733_et_97768_image_3.jpeg|thumb|170px|right|Octavia as a child, [[:fr:Claudia Octavia (sculpture)|statue]] at the [[Museo archeologico e d'arte della Maremma|Archaeological and Art Museum of Maremma]] in [[Tuscany]]]]
Political concerns, including the need to dissuade further challenges to his legitimacy, motivated Claudius to remarry. Several candidates were proposed by his advisors; they included his former wife Aelia Paetina and [[Lollia Paulina]], a wealthy noblewoman who had been married to Caligula for a short time.{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=69–70}} In 49, Claudius instead married [[Agrippina the Younger]], daughter of the popular general [[Germanicus]] and also a descendant of Augustus. Germanicus was Claudius' older brother, making Agrippina Claudius' niece and Octavia's first cousin. The law prohibiting such a marriage was changed in order to proceed.{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=85}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=336–337}}{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=70}}

Agrippina had a son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus from her first marriage to [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of Nero)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]]. In 50, Claudius [[Adoption in ancient Rome|adopted]] Lucius, who changed his name to [[Nero|Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus]].{{sfn|Strauss|2019|pp=86–87}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=337–338}}{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=71}}

Agrippina played an active role in politics through her influence on Claudius.{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=86}}{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=71}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/12A*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XII |isbn=}} 12.7.1</ref> She had Octavia's fiancé Silanus publicly accused of incest with his sister; he was forced to resign from his position of [[praetor]] and [[Forced suicide#In ancient Greece and Rome|commit suicide]].{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=71}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Tranquillus |first=Gaius Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |date= |title=The Lives of the Twelve Caesars |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Claudius |isbn=}} 29.2</ref> [[Suetonius]] reports the latter occurring on the same day as Claudius and Agrippina's marriage. She then had Octavia betrothed to Nero, who was additionally made an heir to Claudius.{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=87}}{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=71}} The marriage between Octavia and Nero was arranged in 48 and formalised in 53; the close connection to the marriage between Agrippina and Claudius shows that the union was primarily of political significance.{{sfn|Meise|1969|p=175}} To address the problem that they were now legally brother and sister, Octavia was first adopted into another [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] family.{{sfn|Romm|2014|pp=40–41}}{{sfn|Griffin|1984|p=30}}{{sfn|Barrett|1996|p=153}}

===Life as empress===
[[File:Clevelandart 1925.943.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Bust of Octavia, [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]]]
On October 13, 54, Claudius became ill and died unexpectedly. The convenient timing of his death – Britannicus was rapidly approaching adulthood and might displace Nero as heir – led the ancient sources to accuse Agrippina of killing him, possibly with poisoned mushrooms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/12B*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XII |isbn=}} 12.66-67</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tranquillus |first=Gaius Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |date= |title=The Lives of the Twelve Caesars |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Claudius |isbn=}} 44.2-3</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Secundus |first=Gaius Plinius |author-link=Pliny the Elder |date= |title=Natural History |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61113/61113-h/61113-h.htm#Page_428 |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XXII, Chapter 46: Mushrooms: Peculiarities of their Growth |page=428 |isbn=}}</ref> Although modern historians consider the death suspicious and Agrippina possibly guilty, they also note that Claudius was in his sixties and never in the best of health.{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=77}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=341–342}}{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=88}} On the same day, Nero was acclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard, and the [[Roman Senate|senate]] acquiesced, formally investing him with power.{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=78}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=342}}{{sfn|Barrett|2020|p=8}}{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=88}} Octavia was now married to the Emperor of Rome and was awarded the usual honours accordingly: public statues of her and inscriptions of honour to her were erected; her portrait was placed on coins in the local coinage of the eastern half of the empire; the priesthood of the [[Arval Brethren]] made annual sacrifices to her and Nero. Compared to her predecessors and successors as empresses, however, her husband did not place her in a particularly prominent position. For example, she was denied the title [[Augusta (honorific)|Augusta]].<ref>{{harvnb|Meise|1969|pp=175–176}} with further references.</ref>

After becoming emperor, Nero's relationship with his mother began to deteriorate as the two vied for power.{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=348–350}} The next year, Britannicus suddenly died during a banquet where Octavia, Nero, and Agrippina were all present.{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=77, 189}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=351}} Octavia and Agrippina were shocked at Britannicus' sudden illness, which Nero attributed to [[epilepsy]].{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=351}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/13A*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XIII |isbn=}} 13.16.1</ref> Britannicus, as the son of Claudius, had been a potential rival for the imperium, one that Agrippina had attempted to use as leverage in power struggles with her son.{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=350–351}}{{sfn|Dando-Collins|2010|p=116}} The suspicious death of Nero's rival led to the widespread assumption that Nero had had Britannicus poisoned;{{sfn|Levick|1990|pp=77, 190}}{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=90}} ancient writers including [[Tacitus]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/13A*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XIII |isbn=}} 13.15-16</ref> [[Suetonius]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Tranquillus |first=Gaius Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |date= |title=The Lives of the Twelve Caesars |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Nero |isbn=}} 33.2-3</ref> [[Cassius Dio]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Dio |first=Lucius Cassius |author-link=Cassius Dio |date= |title=Roman History |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book LXI |isbn=}} 61.7.4</ref> and [[Josephus]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Josephus |first=Flavius |author-link=Josephus |date= |title=Antiquities of the Jews |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2848/2848-h/2848-h.htm |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XX, Chapter 8, paragraph 2 |page= |isbn=}}</ref> all charge Nero with the murder of his stepbrother. Tacitus reports that by this point, Octavia "had learned to hide her griefs, her affections, her every emotion".<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/13A*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XIII |isbn=}} 13.16.1</ref>

Octavia and Agrippina grew close after the death of Britannicus.{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=357}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Southon |first=Emma |author-link= |date=2019 |title=Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World |url= |location=New York |publisher=Pegasus Books |page=222 |isbn=978-1-64313-078-1}}</ref> Nero began to have affairs, first with [[Claudia Acte]], a freedwoman, and then with [[Poppaea Sabina]], the wife of his friend [[Otho|Marcus Salvius Otho]]. Nero's infidelities and his expressed desire to marry one of his mistresses resulted in another conflict in the ongoing power struggles between Nero and Agrippina.{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=350, 357–8}}{{sfn|Dando-Collins|2010|pp=72–74}}{{sfn|Strauss|2019|pp=90–91}} These came to an end in March 59 when Nero, possibly at the urging of Poppaea, murdered his mother with the assistance of [[Anicetus (freedman)|Anicetus]], an [[admiral]] and his former tutor.{{sfn|Holland|2015|pp=339–361}}{{sfn|Strauss|2019|pp=91–92}}{{sfn|Dando-Collins|2010|pp=117–119}}

[[File:Claudia Octavia.jpg|thumb|right|Coin of Claudia Octavia]]
Octavia was well-liked by the Roman populace,{{sfn|Levick|1990|p=113}}<ref>{{harvnb|Meise|1969|p=203}} lists the ancient sources.</ref> but her marriage to Nero was loveless and unhappy.{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=357}}{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=85}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=68}} Although Tacitus describes Octavia as "a noblewoman of proven virtue"<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |translator-last1=Yardley |translator-first1=J.C. |date=2008 |title=The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero |url= |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=Book XIII |page=275 |isbn=978-0-19-282421-9}} 13.12</ref> and having a "modest demeanour",<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |translator-last1=Yardley |translator-first1=J.C. |date=2008 |title=The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero |url= |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=Book XIV |page=333 |isbn=978-0-19-282421-9}} 14.59</ref> Nero had no interest in her and hated their marriage, and preferred to have affairs with Acte and Poppaea.{{sfn|Romm|2014|pp=52, 78, 105, 137}}{{sfn|Griffin|1984|pp=38, 72–73}} When some in the court raised questions about his treatment of her, he responded that she should be content to be his wife in name only.{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=52}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Tranquillus |first=Gaius Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |date= |title=The Lives of the Twelve Caesars |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Nero |isbn=}} 35.1</ref> According to Suetonius, he attempted to strangle her on several occasions.{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=228}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Tranquillus |first=Gaius Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |date= |title=The Lives of the Twelve Caesars |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Nero |isbn=}} 35.2</ref>

The fact that Nero remained married to her for so long despite his dislike may have been due to the political significance of their marriage: As long as there was a political faction that did not consider Nero to be the rightful heir to the imperial throne, he had to endeavour to symbolically present the closest possible connection to his predecessors.{{sfn|Meise|1969|pp=176-196}}

In 62, Nero no longer had the chief advisors of his early reign, as [[praetorian prefect]] [[Sextus Afranius Burrus]] died, and [[Seneca the Younger]] retired. This led to a shift in Nero's conduct that historian [[Barry Strauss]] referred to as "a turning point in the reign", as he increasingly exiled or executed those he considered his enemies.{{sfn|Strauss|2019|pp=96–97}} Burrus had previously advised Nero against divorcing Octavia. He positioned Nero's marriage to her as the source of his legitimacy as emperor, telling Nero that he would need to "give her back her [[dowry]]".{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=377}}{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=137}}{{sfn|Griffin|1984|pp=72, 75–76}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=59}} The same year as Burrus' death, Poppaea became pregnant with Nero's child.{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=139}}{{sfn|Griffin|1984|pp=99, 259}}

===Divorce, banishment, and death===
[[File:Museo Arqueológico Madrid (17201407506).jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Poppaea Sabina, [[National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)|National Archaeological Museum]], [[Madrid]]]]
Nero divorced Octavia, claiming that his lack of an heir was due to her [[Infertility|sterility]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Shotter |first=David |author-link=David Shotter |date=2005 |title=Nero |url= |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=28 |isbn=0-203-02298-X}}</ref> As part of the divorce, he gave her properties previously belonging to Burrus and [[Rubellius Plautus]], another [[Julio-Claudian dynasty|Julio-Claudian]] relative he recently had killed.{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=205}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=66}} Nero married Poppaea shortly after – in Suetonius' account, twelve days after the divorce.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tranquillus |first=Gaius Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |date= |title=The Lives of the Twelve Caesars |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Nero |isbn=}} 35.3</ref>

In an attempt to damage Octavia's reputation and with it her popularity, Nero and Poppaea also accused her of [[adultery]] with Eucaerus, a flute player from [[Alexandria]].{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=141}}{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=205}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=66}} One of the new praetorian prefects, [[Ofonius Tigellinus]], questioned Octavia's [[Ancillae|maidservants]], including [[Pythias (Roman)|Pythias]], [[Interrogational torture|under torture]] in order to corroborate this charge, but was largely unsuccessful.{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=66}}{{sfn|Bauman|1992|pp=116–117, 205}}{{sfn|Dando-Collins|2010|p=68}} Nevertheless, Octavia was exiled to [[Campania]].{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=206}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=66}}

The people of Rome responded to Octavia's banishment with widespread public protests that historian Vasily Rudich described as "the most pronounced mass disturbance [in the city of Rome] under Nero until the very moment of his overthrow".{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=66}} The protests were largely against Poppaea; Nero was even cheered when rumors spread that he had changed his mind.{{sfn|Barrett|2020|p=10}} Statues of Octavia were carried through the streets and erected in temples and the forum, while those of Poppaea were pulled down or damaged. While these riots are usually interpreted by scholars as a spontaneous expression of the Roman people's feelings, they could ultimately have been instigated by a politically influential Claudius-friendly faction who were dissatisfied with Nero's political actions.{{sfn|Meise|1969|pp=204–209}}

Nero was unsure how to respond.{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=141}} According to Tacitus, Poppaea argued for harsher treatment of Octavia, claiming that the protesters were simply Octavia's clients and servants and did not really represent what the Roman populace thought.{{sfn|Griffin|1984|p=112}} She also suggested that any husband found for Octavia could be a threat to his position.{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=207}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Fertik |first=Harriet |author-link= |date=2019 |title=The Ruler's House: Contesting Power and Privacy in Julio-Claudian Rome |url= |location=Baltimore |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |page=57 |isbn=9781421432908}}</ref> Contrary to this speech described by Tacitus, other ancient sources identify Nero as solely responsible for the banishment.{{sfn|Meise|1969|pp=209-212}}

Nero is said to have asked Anicetus, his ally in the murder of Agrippina, to confess to adultery, offering him the options of rewards and a comfortable life in exile or death. Anicetus gave Nero the false confession he wanted and was exiled to [[Sardinia]], where he eventually died of natural causes.{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=207}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=67}}{{sfn|Dando-Collins|2010|p=122}} Nero also accused Octavia of covering up this adultery with an abortion, even though his initial basis for divorce was a claim that she was sterile.{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=207}}{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=207}}

Octavia was exiled to the small island of [[Pandateria]] (now Ventotene), where [[Julia the Elder]], [[Agrippina the Elder]], and [[Julia Livilla]] had all previously been exiled.{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=207}}{{sfn|Barrett|1996|p=78}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=68}} A few days after her arrival, soldiers arrived with the order to execute her. Her entreaties with her executioners were unsuccessful, and she was tied up. Her veins were cut in an attempt to simulate suicide, but when that took longer than expected, she was brought into a room full of hot steam to suffocate.{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=142}} She died on June 9, 62, at age 22.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shotter |first=David |author-link=David Shotter |date=2005 |title=Nero |url= |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=29 |isbn=0-203-02298-X}}</ref> Her head was cut off and brought back to Poppaea.{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=208}}{{sfn|Rudich|1993|p=69}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=377}}

[[File:Poppea Brings the Head of Octavia to Nero by G.Muzzioli (1876).jpg|thumb|right|upright=2.0|''Poppaea Brings the Head of Octavia to Nero'' by [[Giovanni Muzzioli]] (1876)]]
Tacitus described the aftermath of her death as follows:
<blockquote>For all these things offerings were decreed to the temples — how often must those words be said? Let all who make their acquaintance with the history of that period in my narrative or that of others take so much for granted: as often as the emperor ordered an exile or a murder, so often was a thanksgiving addressed to Heaven; and what formerly betokened prosperity was now a symbol of public calamity. – Tacitus, ''The Annals''<ref>{{cite book |last=Tacitus |first=Publius Cornelius |author-link=Tacitus |date= |title=Annals |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/14C*.html |location= |publisher= |chapter=Book XIV |isbn=}} 14.64.1</ref></blockquote>

In the aftermath of the failed [[Pisonian conspiracy]] of 65, Praetorian [[Subrius Flavus]] listed Nero's murder of Octavia as one of the reasons for his participation when being questioned by Nero.{{sfn|Romm|2014|p=189}}{{sfn|Barrett|2020|p=119}}{{sfn|Griffin|1984|p=84}}

Poppaea would remain Nero's wife until her death in 65, a death usually attributed to Nero kicking her while she was pregnant.{{sfn|Bauman|1992|p=208}}{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=97}}{{sfn|Holland|2015|p=396}} Nero would kill himself after armies rose in revolt against him, dying on June 9, 68, exactly six years after Octavia.{{sfn|Strauss|2019|p=104}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Shotter |first=David |author-link=David Shotter |date=2005 |title=Nero |url= |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=63, 78 |isbn=0-203-02298-X}}</ref>{{sfn|Griffin|1984|p=256}}

==In fiction==
Her divorce from Nero is the subject of the play ''[[Octavia (play)|Octavia]]'', the only example of Roman drama [[fabula praetexta|based on Roman history]] to survive in its entirety.{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|p=1}} It was written by an unknown author after Nero's death, possibly during the rule of the [[Flavian dynasty]], and may have been the first written accusation that Nero was responsible for the [[Great Fire of Rome]].{{sfn|Barrett|2020|p=122}}

Beginning in the 17th century, there was an increase in operas and other dramatic works based on the life of Nero.{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=21–30}} The ''Octavia'' was likely an influence on some of these works, although to what extent is unclear.{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=8–9}} Octavia appears in works including [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]'s lost opera ''[[Handel's lost Hamburg operas#Nero|Nero]]'',{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=150–158}} [[Claudio Monteverdi]]'s opera ''[[L'incoronazione di Poppea]]'' (1642/1643);{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=37–46}} [[Reinhard Keiser]]'s opera ''[[Octavia (opera)|Octavia]]'' (1705);{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=159–169}} [[Vittorio Alfieri]]'s tragedy ''Ottavia'' (1783),{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=309–315}} in which she is portrayed as the devoted wife of Nero who is executed by her husband after Poppaea, Nero's mistress, helps frame her for adultery; and [[Johann Caspar Aiblinger]]'s ballet ''La morte di Nerone'' (1815/1816).{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=323–329}} Some works took considerable creative liberties with the historical events, such as [[Giovanni Battista Bassani]]'s ''Agrippina in Baia'' (1687), which contains a happy ending where all the characters survive and are successfully reconciled with each other.{{sfn|Manuwald|2013|pp=77–84}} 

Octavia is also the subject of the massive German novel ''Die Römische Octavia'' (1677–1707) by [[Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haile |first1=H. G. |date=October 1958 |title=''Octavia: Römische Geschichte'': Anton Ulrich's Use of the Episode |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27707158 |journal=[[The Journal of English and Germanic Philology]] |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=615, 623 |doi= |jstor=27707158 |access-date=May 22, 2022}}</ref> and a character in [[Robert Graves]]'s novel ''Claudius the God''<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Magill |editor-first=Frank N. |date=2015 |title=Cyclopedia of Literary Characters. Volume One: Aaron's Rod – Death of a Salesman |edition=4th |url= |location=Ipswich, Massachusetts |publisher=Salem Press |page=451 |isbn=978-1-61925-802-0}}</ref> (the sequel to ''[[I, Claudius]]'') and the television series ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]]''.  She is the main character of the [[historical fiction|historical]] [[biographical novel]] ''Octavia: A Tale of Ancient Rome'' by Seymour van Santvoord (1923).<ref>{{cite book |last=van Santvoord |first=Seymour |author-link= |date=1923 |title=Octavia: A Tale of Ancient Rome |url=https://archive.org/details/octaviataleofanc00vans/mode/2up |location=New York |publisher=[[E.P. Dutton|E.P. Dutton & Company]] |page=401 |isbn=}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2022}}

==See also==
*[[Julio-Claudian family tree]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Barrett |first=Anthony A. |author-link= |date=1996 |title=Agrippina: Mother of Nero |url= |location=London |publisher=B T Batsford |page= |isbn=0-203-48106-2}}
* Barrett, Anthony A., ''Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Roman Empire.'' Yale University Press, New Haven, 1999.
* {{cite book |last=Barrett |first=Anthony A. |author-link= |date=2020 |title=Rome is Burning: Nero and the Fire that Ended a Dynasty |url= |location=Princeton |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |page= |isbn=978-0-691-17231-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Bauman |first=Richard A. |author-link= |date=1992 |title=Women and Politics in Ancient Rome |url= |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-203-42907-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Dando-Collins |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Dando-Collins |date=2010 |title=The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and his City |url= |location= |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |page= |isbn=978-0-306-81890-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Griffin |first=Miriam T. |author-link=Miriam T. Griffin |date=1984 |title=Nero: The End of a Dynasty |url= |location= |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page= |isbn=0-203-13309-9}}
* {{Aut|E. Groag, A. Stein, L. Petersen – e.a.}} (edd.), ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933 – . ('''''PIR<sup>2</sup>''''')
* {{cite book |last=Holland |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Holland (author) |date=2015 |title=Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BmNEAAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=[[Random House]] |isbn=978-0-385-53784-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Levick |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Levick |date=1990 |title=Claudius |url= |location=New Haven |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |page= |isbn=0-300-04734-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Manuwald |first=Gesine |author-link=Gesine Manuwald |date=2013 |title=Nero in Opera: Librettos As Transformations of Ancient Sources |url= |location=Berlin |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |isbn=978-3-11-031751-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Meise |first=Eckhard |date=1969 |title=Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Julisch-Claudischen Dynastie |trans-title=Studies on the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty |location=Munich |publisher=Beck}} (on Claudia Octavia especially pp. 171-215).
* {{cite book |last=Romm |first=James |author-link= |date=2014 |title=Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero |url= |location=New York |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |isbn=978-0-307-74374-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Rudich |first=Vasily |author-link= |date=1993 |title=Political Dissidence Under Nero: The Price of Dissimulation |url= |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-203-97599-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Strauss |first=Barry |author-link=Barry S. Strauss |date=2019 |title=Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine |url= |location=New York |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |page= |isbn=978-1-4516-6883-4}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Claudia Octavia}}
*[http://www.roman-emperors.org/octavia.htm Octavia's entry] at roman-emperors.org
*[https://worldhistory.us/ancient-history/ancient-rome/octavia-wife-of-nero-senecas-tragedy-roman-empress-octavias-marriage-exile-and-death-on-the-roman-stage.php Octavia, Wife of Nero: Seneca’s Tragedy – Roman Empress Octavia’s Marriage, Exile and Death on the Roman Stage]

{{Roman empresses}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1st-century Roman empresses]]
[[Category:1st-century births]]
[[Category:62 deaths]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Claudii Nerones|Octavia]]
[[Category:Octavii]]
[[Category:Murdered ancient Roman empresses]]
[[Category:Executed Roman empresses]]
[[Category:1st-century executions]]
[[Category:People executed by the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Wives of Nero]]
[[Category:Children of Claudius]]
[[Category:Daughters of Roman emperors]]