 For example, the first emperor, known conventionally as Augustus, began life as , or Gaius Octavius, the son of Gaius Octavius.His ancestors had borne the same name for at least four generations.Although the Octavii were an old and distinguished plebeian family, the gens was not divided into "stirpes" and had no hereditary cognomina; Octavius' father had put down a slave revolt at Thurii and was sometimes given the surname "Thurinus" (a cognomen "ex virtute"), but this name was not passed down to the son.