OCTAVYEN. Gaius Octavius, 63 B.C.-A.D. 14, was given the added names Julius Caesar when his uncle Julius Caesar adopted him into the clan. His mother, Atia, was Julius Caesar's niece, and Caesar made Octavius his chief heir. After Caesar's murder in 44 B.C., the Senate recognized him as Caesar's adopted son under the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavius. When he won the war of Mutina in 43 B.C., he tried to win Antony over to his interests by agreeing to his sister's marriage with Antony, but when the latter refused to leave Cleopatra, their rivalry broke out. Octavius defeated Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. and became master of Egypt. He was given the title Augustus in 27 B.C. The emperor appears to have been popular during the Middle Ages. Three Middle English Octavyan romances are extant: one South-English version and two North-English versions, all dated c. 1350.
The Dreamer asks one of the kennel men leading the hounds, "Who hunts in the forest?" The man replies, "The Emperor Octavyen," BD 365-369. Skeat (I: 472-473) identifies the emperor with Edward III because Chaucer refers to the emperor as "this king," apparently meaning "the reigning king," BD 1314. [Cesar2]
Octavyen, the ME variant of Latin Octavius, the name of Augustus's paternal clan, appears in final rhyming position, BD 368.