Working hypotheses on Cesar inheritance.

Julius Caesar’s murder opened the way to the rise of Octavianus, the nephew of Julia the younger – one of the sisters of the dictator – and hence his grandnephew: the young man was chosen to inherit most of his belongings and, above all, he was adopted as son. It is not usually held in the due account that Octavianus was not the only, although the main, heir: in addition to him, two of his relatives – Lucius Pinarius and Quintus Pedius, following Suetonius – were destined to receive one third of the assets. In the first part of this paper the author tries to identify and to outline these characters, aiming at the comprehension of their familial and political framework; in the second he intends to show how even seemingly marginal figures – such as the two secondary Caesarean heirs – could give an important contribution in the understanding of the events and dynamics of the late Roman Republican history. Pinarius and Pedius’ careers and background allow, indeed, to realize that political advance was strictly connected with a continuous search for advantageous alliances, which were established through marriage unions. It appears that, although they were part of families aligned and linked to Caesar to the point of being considered in the testamentary disposition, they probably chose not to follow Octavianus’ faction. This demonstrates that parental ties did not prevent to align with other groups, even divergent.

Keywords: Caesar, inheritance, Augustus, Quintus Paedius, Pinarius Scarpus.