Gaius Servilius Ahala was a three time

consular tribune A consular tribune was putatively a type of magistrate in the early Roman Republic. According to Roman tradition, colleges of consular tribunes held office throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC during the so-called "Conflict of the Or ...

, in 408, 407 and 402 and one-time

magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nomi ...

, in 408 BC, of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

. Servilius belonged to the

Servilia gens The gens Servilia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of influ ...

, and old and prominent

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

of the early Republic which rose to prominence in the middle of the 5th century BC. Filiations give us that Servilius father was named Publius and grandfather was named Quintus. Servilius father can be assumed to be the otherwise unattested Publius Servilius Ahala. Servilius grandfather could either be an otherwise unattested Quintus Servilius Ahala, the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

in 435 Quintus Servilius Priscus, or Quintus Servilius Priscus the consul in 468 BC. It is unclear if Servilius had any children of his own, but

Gaius Servilius Ahala Gaius Servilius Ahala ( 439 BC) was a 5th-century BC politician of ancient Rome, considered by many later writers to have been a hero. His fame rested on the contention that he saved Rome from Spurius Maelius in 439 BC by killing him with a dagge ...

, magister equitum in 389 BC, is a possible son and

Spurius Servilius Structus Spurius Servilius Structus was a Roman consul in 476 BC.Titus Livius, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', ii. 51. Following their defeat of the Roman army at the Battle of the Cremera in 477 BC, the Veientes marched on Rome and had occupied the Janiculum. T ...

, consular tribune in 368 BC, is a possible grandson.

Career

Servilius first held the ''

imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from ''auctoritas'' and ''potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic an ...

'' in 408 BC as one of the three elected consular tribunes for that year. His colleague in the office was Gaius Julius Iulus and Publius Cornelius Cossus. The year saw war with the Aequi and Volscians. Servilius, deeming his colleagues as incapable of handling the situation circumvented them by appointing a dictator,

Publius Cornelius Rutilus Cossus Publius Cornelius Rutilus Cossus was a statesman and military commander from the early Roman Republic who served as Dictator in 408 BC. Family Cossus belonged to the gens Cornelia, one of the most important patrician gentes of the Republic. H ...

. The newly appointed dictator, overtaking the imperium from the consulars, appointed Servilius as his second (''magister equitum'') and successfully campaigned against both the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early his ...

and

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

Chronograph of 354 The ''Chronograph of 354'' (or "Chronography"), also known as the ''Calendar of 354'', is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrato ...

(Iulo et Cosso) Servilius gamble by going against his consular colleagues seems to have resulted in few if any visible repercussions as he was again elected as consular tribune the following year, in 407 BC. This new college consisted of four members with his new colleagues being

Lucius Furius Medullinus Lucius Furius Medullinus (c. 445 BC – c. 375 BC), of the patrician '' gens Furia'', was a politician and general of the Roman Republic who was consul twice and Consular Tribune seven times. First two consulships Medullinus was elected consul for ...

Gaius Valerius Potitus Volusus Gaius Valerius Potitus Volusus was a consul in 410 BC and consular tribune in 415, 407 and 404 BC of the Roman Republic. Valerius belonged to the Valeria gens, one of the oldest and possibly the most influential and powerful patrician gens of t ...

and

Numerius Fabius Vibulanus __NOTOC__ Numerius (or Gnaeus) Fabius Vibulanus ( 421–407 BC) was a Roman senator and military commander. As consul in 421 BC, he campaigned successfully against the Aequi, for which he was awarded an ovation. During his term in office, Fabius ...

. This new and very experienced college (all had held the imperium on several occasions previously) could not repeat the success of the previous year and were defeated by the Volsci resulting in the loss of Verrugo. The following year Servilius would again serve the Republic in its military endeavours against the Volsci. Servilius served under the consular tribune

Numerius Fabius Ambustus Numerius (or Gnaeus) Fabius Ambustus ( 406–390 BC) was an ancient Roman commander who was the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, and brother to Caeso and Quintus. In 406 BC, he and his forces captured the Volscian city of Anxur (modern Terracina ...

Anxur Terracina is an Italian city and ''comune'' of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity. History Ancient times Terracina appears in anci ...

, most likely as a ''

legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

.'' A few years later, in 402 BC, Servilius would be elected for a third and final term as consular tribune. He shared the office with five others,

Quintus Servilius Fidenas Quintus Servilius Fidenas was a prominent early Roman politician who achieved the position of Consular tribune six times throughout a sixteen-year period. Quintus Servilius was a member of the illustrious gens Servilia, a patrician family which h ...

(a distant relative), Lucius Verginius Triocostus Esquilinus,

Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus ( 490–488 BC) was a Roman politician, and consul in 490 BC. Family He was a member of the ''gens Sulpicia'', specifically he was among the Sulpicii Camerini. His father Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus ...

Aulus Manlius Vulso Capitolinus Aulus Manlius Vulso Capitolinus was a consular tribune of the Roman Republic in 405, 402 and 397 BC. Manlius belonged to the Manlia gens, one of the oldest patrician gentes of the Republic. Manlius' father, taken from filiations, was named Aulu ...

and

Manius Sergius Fidenas Manius Sergius Fidenas was a consular tribune of the Roman Republic in 404 and 402 BC. Sergius belonged to the Sergia gens, a young patrician gentes of the Republic which had first risen to become ''consulares'' with Lucius Sergius Fidenas in 43 ...

. The year would again see strife within the consular college. This internal strife would result in the defeat of Sergius at Veii by a combined force of the Veientanes and Faliscans when his colleague and political rival Verginius refused him aid. Servilius, in similar fashion to his actions during 408 BC, went against his colleagues, with the aid of the senate, and forced the whole college (including himself) to abdicate in favour of a newly elected college of tribunes. There is some confusion in regards to the identity of the

who served as ''magister equitum'' in 389 BC under the dictator

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; c. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of the patrician class. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of ''Second Founder ...

. This co-dictator could possibly be the elder Servilius being appointed for a second time to the role or potentially an otherwise unattested son or relative of his. The classicists Broughton favours the view of them as two different individuals.

Cognomen

Servilius differs, as several of his contemporaries among the consular tribunes, in regards to his

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

. Most sources agree on "Ahala" as his main identifying cognomen while a few, for example the Chronograph of 354, uses the cognomen "Structus". Thus Servilius can be named in three different ways: Gaius Servilius Ahala, Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala or Gaius Servilius Structus. The consensus favors either of the options containing "Ahala" with Broughton having him simply named Gaius Servilius Ahala.Broughton, vol i, pp.78

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Ahala, Gaius 5th-century BC Romans Roman consular tribunes Ahala, Gaius

Career

Cognomen

See also

References