Gaius Octavius
Most of the Octavii of the Republic were descended from Gnaeus Octavius Rufus, who had two sons, Gnaeus and Gaius. The descendants of the younger Gnaeus held many of the higher magistracies, but the descendants of Gaius remained simple equites, who did not rise to any importance. The great-grandfather of Augustus served as a military tribune during the Second Punic War, and survived the Battle of Cannae; however, when Marcus Antonius wished to throw contempt upon Augustus, he called this Gaius Octavius a freedman and a "restio", or rope-maker. The first of this family who was enrolled among the senators was Gaius Octavius, the father of Augustus. It is quite uncertain whether the ancestors of Augustus had anything to do with rope-making. During the Republic, none of the Octavii of this stirps bore any cognomen other than "Rufus", and even this is rarely mentioned. The surname, which means "red," may have been obtained by one of the Octavii because he had red hair.