Octavia | |
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Written by | Anonymous |
Original language | Classical Latin |
Subject | Divorce of Nero and Octavia |
Genre | Fabula praetexta (Tragedy based on Roman subjects) |
Setting | Imperial Rome |
Octavia is a Roman tragedy that focuses on three days in the year 62 AD during which the Emperor Nero divorced and exiled his wife Claudia Octavia and married another (Poppaea Sabina). The play also deals with the irascibility of Nero and his inability to take heed of the philosopher Seneca's advice to rein in his passions.
In the past, the play's authorship was attributed to Seneca, but modern scholarship generally discredits this. It is presumed to have been written later in the Flavian period during the 1st century, after the deaths of both Nero and Seneca.