Octavia the Elder^[a] (before 69 BC – after 29 BC) was the daughter of the Roman governor and senatorGaius Octavius by his first wife, Ancharia. She was the elder half-sister toOctavia the Younger andRoman EmperorAugustus.^[1]

Octavia was born to Ancharia and Octavius likely some time before 69 BC.^[2]

Octavia the Elder was married toSextus Appuleius (I). They had a son, who was also namedSextus Appuleius, he served asordinary consul in 29 BC with his half-uncle,Augustus.^[3] It is postulated that they had a second son,Marcus Appuleius, the consul of 20 BC.^[4] Through Sextus Appuleius, the consul, she had a grandson namedSextus Appuleius, consul in AD 14, and a granddaughterAppuleia Varilla. Octavia the Elder's last known descendants were her great-grandson, also namedSextus Appuleius, through her grandson andFabia Numantina.^[5]

Plutarch was only aware of one daughter of Gaius Octavius and confused Octavia the Elder with Octavia the Younger.^[6]

Octavia's existence as wife of Appuleius was first discovered due to a dedication from when her husband was proconsul of Asia.^[7]

Octavia and her husband, as well as their two sons, may be depicted on theAra Pacis.^[8]

• List of Roman women
• Women in ancient Rome

• Herzog-Hauser, Gertrud:(Octavia 95). In:Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. XVII 2, col. 1858–1859.
• Suetonius;Life of Augustus
• Syme, Ronald;Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford University Press, 1989).ISBN 0-19-814731-7,ISBN 978-0-19-814731-2

• Mary White, Singer (1948). "The Problem of Octavia Minor and Octavia Maior".Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.79. The Johns Hopkins University Press:268–274.doi:10.2307/283365.JSTOR 283365.

• 1st-century BC births
• 1st-century BC Roman women
• 1st-century BC Romans
• Octavii Rufi
• Family of Augustus

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Year of death unknown