Gnaeus Octavius (died 162 BC) was a Roman politician and general who served as consul in 165 BC and was the builder of the Porticus Octavia.

Family background Octavius belonged to the plebeian gens Octavia, which had emerged in the middle of the 3rd century. Its first attested member was a Gaius Octavius Rufus, whose two sons founded the two branches of the gens, but the second one, to which later belonged Octavian (the future first Roman emperor Augustus), received much less honours during the Republic.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 75. The elder branch shows a progression in the cursus honorum: Octavius' grandfather Gnaeus Octavius was aedile curule and his father Gnaeus Octavius was praetor in 205.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 77. The latter notably fought at Cannae in 216 and commanded the fleet from his praetorship to the end of the Second Punic War in 202.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 78. He then participated in several diplomatic delegations in the Greek East: first with Flamininus in Macedonia in 197, then to refound Croton as a colony with Aemilius Paullus in 194, and again with Flamininus as legate in 192 at the beginning of the Syrian War.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", pp. 79, 80. It seems Octavius' father was chosen for his expert knowledge of Greek culture.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", pp. 80, 81. He probably died c.190, aged about 55.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 82.

Career

Curule aedile (172 BC) Octavius was perhaps quaestor c.180. His first mention in ancient sources is placed in 172 as curule aedile, an important position for ambitious individuals as aediles were tasked with organising games and corn-supply, two popular activities. The date of 170 is also possible, but modern scholars favour 172 due to Octavius' connection with the Popilli Laenates, who won consulships in 173 and 172.Broughton, Magistrates, vol. I, pp. 411, 415 (note 13).

Ambassador in Greece (170–169 BC) In autumn 170,Charneux, "Rome et la confédération achéene", pp. 194–197. Octavius followed the steps of his father and went to Greece under the consul Aulus Hostilius Mancinus as legate together with Gaius Popillius Laenas, former consul in 172 when he was praetor.Walbank, Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, p. 330. Their mission was to secure the loyalty of the Greek states while the Third Macedonian War against Perseus had broken out. Mancinus was wintering at Larisa in Thessaly, so Octavius and Laenas first went to nearby Boeotia, where they thanked the Thebans for their loyalty.Burton, Third Macedonian War, p. 143. They next went to the Peloponnese and brought the news of the senatus consultum that prohibited requisitions from a Roman officials without approuval of the senate. This decree was passed to protect the Greeks from the exactions that happened in the 170s. It was also a good way for the senate to better control Roman commanders.Briscoe, "Q. Marcius Philippus", p. 74; "Eastern Policy", p. 63. However, they also told in each city that they knew who were reluctant to support Rome, which created "anxiety" according to the historian Polybius, who was a direct witness of these events. A federal council of the Achaean League (the dominant state of the Peloponnese) was called at Aegium to receive Octavius and Popillius. Polybius describes a rumour that the Roman legates wanted to accuse Archon, Polybius and his father Lycortas of being against Rome at this occasion, but could not do so because they had no proof. The legates simply said a few cordial words before leaving.Polybius, xxxviii. 3.Walbank, Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, p. 331. It seems that Octavius and Popillius had good reasons to suspect them as Lycortas advocated a neutral stance in the war against Perseus, in violation of the Achaean treaty with Rome, but Polybius' rumour is likely a reconstruction based on what happened to him after the war (he was taken prisoner to Rome). Despite the harsh comment of Polybius on Octavius, he was apparently appreciated in the Peloponnesian cities of Argos and Elis as inscriptions honouring him have been found there.Charneux, "Rome et la confédération achéene", pp. 182–189.Sherk, Translated Documents of Greece and Rome vol. 4, pp. 22, 23, for a translation of the inscription from Argos.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 83.Famerie, "Aspects diplomatiques", p. 51.

Octavius and Popillius then attended the meeting of the Aetolian League in Thermum, where they demanded hostages. It was likely a strategy to find who would oppose them, but the meeting ended with an Aetolian being stoned by the anti-Romans.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, p. 523. The legates left without hostages to Acarnania, where they used a similar tactics of antagonising parties. At the meeting of the Acarnanian League in Thyrreum, some pro-Roman Acarnanians asked Roman to have garrisons in their cities—a request rejected by Diogenes, a leader of the anti-Romans. Octavius and Popillius did not install garrisons and returned to the consul Mancinus in Larisa. N. G. L. Hammond considers that Hostilius and his legates' tactics of threatening even the moderates "must have offset any goodwill which the senatorial decrees were designed to excite".Charneux, "Rome et la confédération achéene", pp. 190–192, thinks that the legates were actually moderate, Octavius more than Popillius. Octavius then stayed with the consul for the rest of the winter, while Popillius was sent with a thousand soldier in Ambracia.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", pp. 82, 83. It is probably in Larisa that Octavius met Athenagoras, who became his personal physician and is named on an inscription from the island of Kos.Hallof, Hallof, Habicht, "Aus der Arbeit der «Inscriptiones Graecae» II", pp. 105–107. Octavius imitated a practice common among Hellenistic generals of having medics in their retinue.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 85.

In view of Octavius' rash behaviour in Greece, John Briscoe thinks that he belonged to a group of senators, whom he calls the "Fulvians", that dominated senatorial politics during most of the 170s. Hostilius and the Popillii Laenates were also members of this group. He characterises their activity in Greece as "arrogant and insensitive" and writes that they were responsible for the declaration of war against Perseus.Briscoe, "Eastern Policy", p. 60, 63–65. Earlier, H. H. Scullard thought that Octavius was in the Scipionic group, which counted the Cornelii Scipiones and Aemilius Paullus and opposed the Fulvians.Scullard, Roman Politics, p. 208. Scullard and Briscoe agree on the existence of a Fulvian and a Scipionic groups.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 89, does not take a position.

Upon his return to Rome in 169, Octavius was appointed decemvir sacris faciundis, a priest in charge of the Sibylline Books, for which knowledge of Greek culture and religion was essential.Broughton, Magistrates, vol. I, p. 426.Rüpke (ed.), Fasti Sacerdotum, p. 818.

Praetor of the fleet (168 BC)

In 168, Aemilius Paullus was elected consul and was given the command of the war; Octavius was elected praetor and received the command of the fleet.Broughton, Magistrates, vol. I, p. 428.Burton, Third Macedonian War, p. 157. This praetorian command was more independent than the other praetorships from the consul, who only conducted operations on land. Octavius and Paullus left Italy on 29 or 29 May 168; they arrived to Corcyra the same day, and to Delphi five days later, in 2 or 3 June.Briscoe, Commentary on Livy, books 41–45, p. 27. While the consul Paullus continued from there to Phila in Pieria, Octavius departed to meet with his fleet at Oreus, on the western tip of Euboea.Burton, Third Macedonian War, p. 161. The Roman fleet during the war counted about 40 ships, but could rely on the navies of Pergamon and Rhodes, which was enough to keep Perseus' fleet in its harbours.Brennan, The Praetorship, pp. 211, 212. Perseus was even forced to disperse some of his forces (perhaps up to 10,000 men) in several coastal cities to protect them from Roman raids.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, p. 539.

As Paullus could not break the front on the Elpeus river, he devised a ruse by ordering his military tribune Scipio Nasica to move south and feign an embarkment at Heracleum, where the fleet was stationed. The goal was to make Perseus believe that Scipio Nasica was about to land behind his lines, whereas he actually marched around Mt Olympus during the night in order to flank the Macedonian army. Therefore Octavius sailed north in that feigned operation, which successfully compelled Perseus to retreat to Pydna.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, p. 545.Briscoe, Commentary on Livy, books 41–45, p. 599.Burton, Third Macedonian War, pp. 163, 164. The decisive battle of the war was fought there on 22 June; it resulted in a crushing Roman victory.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, pp. 552–557. Perseus retreated to Pella, then Amphipolis, and finally the island of Samothrace.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, p. 558. Meanwhile, Octavius sacked the city of Meliboea on the coast of Magnesia.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, p. 559.Burton, Third Macedonian War, p. 169. This city was famous for its refined fabrics, which Octavius looted as they were later listed in the triumphal booty of Paullus (the first time luxury textile was mentioned in a triumph).Pietilä-Castrén, "New Men and Greek War Booty", p. 135. He then sailed to Samothrace in order to capture Perseus, who was protected by the sanctity of the Samothrace temples. Octavius therefore offered an amnesty to the followers of Perseus, who surrendered immediately, and left Perseus alone with his elder son. The king had no choice but to in turn surrender to Octavius, who therefore did not violate the temples with his army.Palagia, "The Victory of Samothrace", p. 161. Octavius brought Perseus to the legate Quintus Aelius Tubero in Amphipolis, who turned him to Paullus.Walbank, Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, p. 392.Burton, Third Macedonian War, p. 170. Octavius finally wintered with the fleet in Demetrias in Thessaly. At this occasion, he was likely honoured with an inscription by the small city of Echinous on the Malian Gulf.Bliquez, "Gnaeus Octavius and the Echinaioi", pp. 431–434. Olga Palagia has suggested that Octavius commissioned the Victory of Samothrace, a famous statue now in the Louvre in Paris, in order to commemorate his capture of Perseus in the island, therefore imitating Paullus who built a monument in Delphi. However, there is no academic consensus on the statue, and many other dates are possible.Badoud, "La Victoire de Samothrace", §§ 2–18, for the list of all the alternatives. Badoud favours a date after the Battle of Chios in 201 BC.

Most of the Roman officers in Macedonia were prorogued in their command in 167, including Paullus and Octavius, in order to implement the settlement of Perseus' former kingdom.Brennan, The Praetorship, p. 214. Paullus conveyed an assembly with representatives from all the Macedonian cities in Amphipolis, where he announced the new organisation that would rule them. He addressed the assembly in Latin, but Octavius translated his words into Greek as he spoke.Pietilä-Castrén, "Ancestry and Career", p. 84.Hammond & F. W. Walbank, A History of Macedonia, pp. 563, 564. Paullus gathered the massive booty he took from Perseus in Amphipolis and boarded it in Octavius' ships, as well as some merchant cargoes. Octavius then left Macedonia to Italy; he possibly had to sail around the Peloponnese as the ships were too heavy to pass through the Isthmus of Corinth.Pietilä-Castrén, "New Men and Greek War Booty", pp. 135, 136.

Triumph (167 BC)