Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus was the adoptive son of

Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus was a Roman statesman and consul (145 BC). Fabius was by adoption a member of the patrician gens Fabia, but by birth he was the eldest son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus and Papiria Masonis and the el ...

and the natural son of Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul in 169 BC)--hence the adoptive cognomen Servilianus. He was consul 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 ...

in 142 BC together with

Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus (c. 200 BC or before 178 BC – after 136 BC) was a Roman statesman. He was a son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus and brother of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus. First Calvus used to be a Praetor, later a ...

. He was the brother of Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul of 141 BC and censor in 125) and Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul in 140 BC). All three brothers were commanders in the Roman Province of

Hispania Ulterior Hispania Ulterior (English: "Further Hispania", or occasionally "Thither Hispania") was a region of Hispania during the Roman Republic, roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of modern Spain and extending to all of Lusitania (m ...

(Further Spain) and fought in the

Lusitanian War The Lusitanian War, called ''Pyrinos Polemos'' ("the Fiery War") in Greek, was a war of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians revo ...

. Servilianus was born into the

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 Servilia before his adoption. His early career is unknown, but it is speculated that he would have been elected

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 ...

by 145 BC. Servilianus was also a priest and member of the

College of Pontiffs The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other '' ...

. He wrote twelve books on sacred laws. After his election as consul in 142 BC, Servilianus was sent to

and was given command of the

. He took with him two legions and a number of allied forces, totaling 18,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry. He asked King Micipsa, the king of Numidia, for some elephants, and received ten elephants and 300 cavalry. Servilianus fought against

Viriathus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese and Spanish; died 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or w ...

, the leader of the Lusitanians. The story of this campaign was related by

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...

. As he was marching on Uticca with his army formed into divisions, Viriathus attacked him with 6,000 troops, but was repulsed. When the rest of the army arrived, Servilianus built a large camp, then moved against Viriathus and defeated him. However, the pursuit was disorderly and Viriathus rallied, driving the Romans into their camp, killing 3,000 in the process, and then attacked the camp until nightfall. He made daily incursions until he forced Servilianus to return to Uticca. Viriathus ran short of supplies and returned to Lusitania. Servilianus did not pursue him. Instead, he plundered Baeturia and seized five towns which had sided with Viriathus. The chiefs of a gang of robbers,

Curius and Apuleius Curius and Apuleius were chieftains of the Lusitanians, a proto- Celtic tribe from western Hispania. They were active at the last phase of the Lusitanian War. Biography Sources describe them as heading a gang of robbers that fought Quintus Fabiu ...

, attacked the Romans with 10,000 men. This threw off the Romans and they seized some booty. Servilianus soon recovered the booty. He captured Escadia, Gemella, and Obolcola, which had been garrisoned by Viriathus. He plundered some cities, but spared others. He captured 10,000 prisoners, beheading 500 of them and selling the others into slavery. He received the surrender of Conoba, a "captain of robbers" and released him and his men, but cut off their hands.

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

wrote that he cut off the right hands of deserters.

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...

, whose work was biased, wrote that he "cut off the hands of five hundred Lusitanian chiefs who had been tempted by his offer of an alliance and had been received in accordance with the law of surrender." Servilianus then went to winter camps. Servilianus then went after Viriathus. He besieged the city of Erisana, one of Viriathus' cities. Viriathus entered the town at night and at dawn he drove off the Romans who were working in the trenches. Servilianus lined up the rest of the army for battle, but was defeated and driven to some cliffs and pinned down. Viriathus took advantage of this to sue for peace on favourable terms. Servilianus agreed a treaty which allowed his followers <--Viriathus' followers?--> to keep the territory they already possessed. This was ratified by the Roman senate and Viriathus was declared a friend of Rome. The peace did not last long. Two years later his brother Quintus Servilius Caepio became consul and went to Hispania Ulterior. He was not happy with the peace and said that it was unworthy of the dignity of the Romans. He pressured the senate until he obtained the resumption of hostilities. Later in his career Servilianus could have probably been censor before presumably murdering his son because of his lack of chastity; being prosecuted and forced into exile; although this episode is still being discussed, theorizing that

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...

made a mistake and was in fact talking about

Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus (fl. 2nd century BC) was a Roman statesman of the patrician '' gens'' Fabia. He was consul in 116 BC. Family Eburnus was the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus, consul in 142 BC, himself adopted from the gen ...

, because

Pompeius Strabo Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (c. 135 – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as consul in 89 BC. He is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo, to distinguish him from his son, the famous Pompey the Great, or from Strabo the g ...

seems to have been the one prosecuting, a contemporary of the latter.Orosius, History against the Pagans, 5.16.8.

References

Bibliography

* Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Spanish Wars * Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1951) *Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''(1867) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabius Maximus Servilianus, Quintus 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman adoptees Servilianus, Quintus Roman governors of Hispania Senators of the Roman Republic Servilii Caepiones Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown