Octavius (praenomen)
Introduction '''Octavius''' is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. 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, the prince of Tusculum, and son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, 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 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 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'', ''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.
See also * Roman naming conventions
References
Bibliography * Titus Livius (Livy), ''History of Rome''. * Theodor Mommsen ''et alii'', ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''L'Année épigraphique'' (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).