What is "octavius"

Octavius is a Latin personal name, or praenomen, and also the nomen of the Roman gens Octavia. It may refer to any of various members of that gens.

Octavius is an early writing in defense of Christianity by Marcus Minucius Felix. It is written in the form of a dialogue between the pagan Caecilius Natalis and the Christian Octavius Januarius, a provincial lawyer, the friend and fellow-student of the author.

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. A late inscription gives the abbreviation Oct.

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 B.C. Members of gens Mamilia afterward came to Rome, and the name must have been used by the ancestors of the Octavii and perhaps the Octacilii, but examples of the praenomen are scarce. It must have been used from on occasion throughout the Roman Republic and well into imperial times. The name was used by gens Maecia, and an Octavia Valeria Vera lived at Ticinum in the 2nd or 3rd century; and indeed, the name has survived to the present day.

Octavius (1809–1831) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career that lasted from April 1812 to May 1814 he ran thirteen times and won four races. He recorded his most important success when winning the Derby. Octavius remained in training for two more seasons, his best subsequent performance coming when he won the Epsom Gold Cup as a four-year-old in 1813. At the end of 1814 Octavius was retired to stud where he had moderate success as a sire of winners.