A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

12. C.Octavius, son of the preceding, and great-grandfather of Augustus, lived in the time of the second Punic war, in which he served as tribune of the soldiers. He was present at the fatal battle of Cannae (B. C. 216), and was one of the few who survived the engagement. When the Carthaginians were forcing into the lesser Roman camp, Octavius and another tribune, Sempronius Tuditanus, cut their way through the enemy, with a few soldiers, and arrived in safety at Canusium. (Frontin. Strat. 4.5.7; comp. Liv. 22.52.) Octavius also served in Sicily under the praetor L. Aemilius Papus (B. C. 205), but what part he took in the other campaigns in the war is not mentioned. When M. Antonius wished to throw contempt upon Augustus, he called this C. Octavius a freedman and a rope-maker (restio), but whether he or his family ever had any thing to do with a manufactory of ropes, is quite uncertain. (Suet. Aug. 2.)