Octavia and Mark Antony

Everything we're told about Octavian is that he shows her a great deal of honour. If you were cynical and I am, he uses her to his advantage in his propaganda war with Mark Antony. She's a mother, she continues to look after children who aren't even her own. We might see aspects of this as being a doormat, but for the Romans that was the correct behaviour for a Roman woman. They are immune from guardianship. This is a big freedom for Octavia. And as we'll see, she seems to have made use of that. It makes her independent of both Antony, because this is before their divorce, and Octavian too