Gaius Servilius Geminus ( 218–203 BC) was a Roman senator. After holding the office of

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

, he in 218 BC was the member of a triumviral commission for the creation of the

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

of Placentia (

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

) and

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

Cisalpine Gaul Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts ( Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was ...

. The

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

against Carthage had just broken out, and the commissioners were surprised by an uprising of the Gallic

Boii The Boii (Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; grc, Βόιοι) were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy), Pannonia (Hungary), parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia (after whom the ...

and Insubres, caused by news that the Carthaginian general

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...

was approaching. Servilius and the others took refuge at

Mutina Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' ( municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and sea ...

, but were lured out and captured. For many years they were presumed dead, but Servilius survived and remained a prisoner, alongside his colleague Gaius Lutatius Catulus (consul in 220 BC), for the next 15 years. They were released and returned to Rome in 203 BC by Servilius's son of the same name, who was consul that year. Although Gaius Servilius's father,

Publius Servilius Geminus Publius may refer to: Roman name * Publius (praenomen) * Ancient Romans with the name: ** Publius Valerius Publicola (died 503 BC), Roman consul, co-founder of the Republic **Publius Clodius Pulcher (c. 93 BC – 52 BC), Republican politician ...

(consul in 252 BC), was a patrician, his two sons, Gaius Servilius (consul in 203) and Marcus Servilius Pulex Geminus (consul in 202), were

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins ...

. It is unclear whether it was the elder Gaius or his sons who made the transition.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Geminus, Gaius 3rd-century BC Roman praetors Roman patricians Roman prisoners of war Geminus, Gaius Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown