Marcus Atius

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Marcus Atius Balbus (105 BC–51 BC) was the son and heir of an elder Marcus Atius Balbus (148 BC–87 BC) and Pompeia. Pompeia was a sister to consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, father of triumvir Pompey. The family of the elder Balbus came from a Roman senatorial family plebs status from Aricia (modern Ariccia, Italy). ‘Balbus’ in Latin means stammer. The younger Balbus was born and raised in Aricia. In villas, relatives would display masks in memory of their ancestors.

Balbus married Julia Minor, second eldest sister of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. Julia bore Balbus three daughters and they were:

Atia Balba Prima - mother of Quintus Pedius who served as a general and consul.
Atia Balba Caesonia - mother of Octavia Minor (fourth wife of triumvir Mark Antony) and of first Emperor Augustus.
Atia Balba Tertia - mother of Lucius Pinarius, who was a political supporter of Mark Antony.

He served as a praetor in 62 BC and he managed to obtain the government of Sardinia. Under Caesar in 59 BC, Balbus was appointed along with Pompey on a board of commissioners under Julian Law to divide estates in Campania among the commoners. Cicero stated that Pompey would say as a joke about Balbus, that he was not a person of any importance.