[3] Hailing from Velitrae, he was a descendant of an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia.

His grandfather, Gaius Octavius, fought as a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War.

How they met is not known, although Atia's family on her father's side (the Atii Balbi) lived close to Velitrae, which was the ancestral home of the Octavii.

[5] Octavius' victory over the slaves in Thurii led him to give his son, then a few years old, the cognomen of "Thurinus".

According to Cicero, due to Octavius' successful term as in Macedonia, he was likely to have won the support necessary to stand for election as consul.

[citation needed] His career is summarized in an inscription erected by his son on the forum he built in Rome:[7]