Gnaeus Octavius Gnaeus Octavius ( died 87 BC ) was a Roman senator who was elected consul of the Roman Republic in 87 BC alongside Lucius Cornelius Cinna . He died during the chaos that accompanied the capture of Rome by Cinna and Gaius Marius . Early career . Gnaeus Octavius was a member of the Plebeian gens Octavia . His father , also called Gnaeus Octavius , was Consul in 128 BC , while his uncle , Marcus Octavius , was a key figure in opposition to the reforms of Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BC . He was distantly related to Gaius Octavius , father of the future emperor Augustus . Although at some point he had failed to be elected aedile , in around 90 BC , Octavius was elected Praetor , and in the following year ( 89 BC ) was given a propraetor eal command in one of the eastern provinces . In 88 BC he was back in Rome where he was elected to be consul for the upcoming year ( 87 BC ) . While consul designate , he was made to swear an oath alongside his colleague , the popularist senator Lucius Cornelius Cinna , that he would uphold the changes instituted by the current consul , Sulla , and not strip Sulla of his lawful command of the First Mithridatic War . A scrupulously religious man , Octavius kept his oath . Octavius was not a natural supporter of Sulla ; he disliked both Sulla ’ s march on Rome , as well as Sulla ’ s personal vendetta against Gaius Marius which resulted in Marius ’ exile . However , he was a conservative member of the Senate , and was distrustful of Cinna ’ s popularist programme . These political differences saw the two consuls almost immediately begin quarrelling in 87 BC over policy , with Cinna determined to grant Roman citizenship to all people in Italy , and to enrol the new citizens and freedmen across all of the Roman tribes . He also proposed the recall of Marius and all his supporters . The new enfranchisement was strenuously opposed by Octavius , eloquently and energetically speaking against it in the Senate . Conflict with Cinna . Things came to a head when the Plebeian tribunes who supported Octavius vetoed the law in the Tribal Assembly . Cinna and his supporters began using violence to intimidate the tribunes to withdraw their veto , leading to a full scale riot in the Roman forum . Octavius quickly gathered an armed group of supporters and attacked Cinna , who was forced to flee the city . During the fight , Octavius ’ men openly murdering a large number of newly enfranchised citizens , with Octavius using his authority as consul to justify the murders . Octavius then illegally stripped Cinna of his consulship and his citizenship , and had elected in his stead Lucius Cornelius Merula . Hearing that Cinna had gained the support of the army of Appius Claudius at Nola , Octavius and the Senate began preparing Rome to withstand a siege , whilst sending out appeals to the various promagistrate s to come to the assistance of the Senate . Pompeius Strabo was initially unwilling to cooperate with Octavius , but eventually moved his troops to the vicinity of Rome , just outside the Colline Gate . When Cinna and Marius began their siege of Rome , Octavius attempted to drive a wedge in their ranks by offering all the Italian allies who were supporting Cinna the citizenship if they surrendered by the end of 87 . Strabo in the meantime , playing a double game with both Octavius and Cinna , attempted to convince Octavius to enter into negotiations with Cinna . An attack by the Marian forces took the Janiculum , but they were repulsed by Octavius and Strabo , but Octavius suffered serious losses . The losses incurred by Octavius and the sudden death of Strabo soon after saw his army become increasingly demoralized . He lost 6 , 000 troops in the battle , while Strabo had lost some 11 , 000 , both through the fighting and a plague that was running through his army . Due to the fear of famine in Rome , Octavius joined his men to Strabo ’ s units , positioned outside the gates , after which he fled from Rome . Meeting up with Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius and Publius Licinius Crassus ( who had eventually obeyed Octavius ’ plea to return to Rome ) at the Alban Hills , he was frustrated when they began to negotiate with Cinna , even going so far recognizing Cinna as consul . Fearful at these turn of events , and at news that the Senate was also contemplating coming to terms with Cinna , he fell out with Metellus Pius , who had initially refused his soldier ’ s demands that he take command from Octavius . The army ’ s apparent disloyalty finally convinced Octavius to return to Rome . Death and reputation . Although he tried to continue the resistance against Cinna , Octavius was unable to prevent the Senate from coming to terms with Cinna who entered Rome as consul . Although Cinna gave a vague promise that no harm would come to Octavius , Octavius was persuaded by a group of colleagues to abandon the forum and set himself up on the Janiculum as consul in protest against the recognition of Cinna , accompanied by a small number of nobles and a tiny remnant of his military forces . He refused to escape when Marcius Censorinus and a small cavalry force stormed the Janiculum , capturing him . Octavius was then beheaded by Censorinus who took his head to Cinna , before nailing it to the Rostra . Octavius was said to have held to strict principles in his politics and was known for his honesty . Plutarch , who discusses him in his lives of Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla , describes Gnaeus Octavius ' character as " reputable " . Unfortunately , he was also slow in action , which contributed to his ultimate failure against Cinna . He had at least one son , Lucius Octavius , became Consul in 75 BC .