Quintus Servilius Priscus Fidenas (prior to 463 BC390 BC) was a political figure and military leader in the Roman Republic who served as dictator in 435 BC and in 418 BC.

Family

Servilius belonged to the large and influential Servilia gens and through his filiation he was the son of Publius Servilius Priscus, consul in 463 BC and possibly grandson of Spurius Servilius Structus, consul in 476 BC. He is most likely the father of Quintus Servilius Fidenas who was elected six times as

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 ...

Career

Augur/Pontifex

Servilius was appointed to replace Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis in his religious functions, when the later died in 439 BC. As the only two sources mentioning this event are in disagreement if the office was that of an

Augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying i ...

or that of a Pontifex maximus it remains unclear which religious office Servilius held.

First Dictatorship

Although he had never held the consulship Servilius was appointed as dictator in 435 BC. The year had seen the escalation of the war with the Fidenates and a dictator was deemed necessary to finish the war. He selected the former consul Postumus Aebutius Helva Cornicen as his ''

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 ...

,'' or vice-dictator, and successfully defeated and captured Fidenae.

Commission of 428 BC

Servilius career would remain closely attached to Fidenae and when the Fidenates were suspected of having supported the Veientane in raids against Rome in 428 BC, Servilius were appointed by the senate to be part of a special commission sent to investigate the matter. He was joined in this commission by former consul Lucius Sergius Fidenas and another former dictator, Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus.

Second Dictatorship

In 418 BC Servilius was appointed to his second dictatorship. The appointment came after his former commission colleague, Lucius Sergius Fidenas, had been defeated by the combined forced of the Aequi and Labicani. Servilius appointed a relative and consular tribune of this year, Gaius Servilius Axilla, as his ''magister equitum''. This dictatorship, like his first, was a great success, and Servilius went on to defeat the Aequi and capture Labici.

Death

He is listed as having died in 390 BC and that he was succeeded by

Marcus Furius Fusus Marcus Furius Fusus was a Tribuni militum consulari potestate, consular tribune of the Roman Republic in 403 BC. Furius belonged to the Furia gens, an old and powerful Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician Gens, gentes of the Republic which had ris ...

in his religious office as augur or pontifex.Broughton, vol i, pp.96 Considering that 390 BC was in the close aftermath of the semi-legendary Battle of Allia, it is possible that Servilius was killed in the conflict or the following sack/siege of Rome, or that he simply died of unrelated causes in the same year as the events.

References

Citations

Sources

Livy, "

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

", Book IV Dessau, Hermann, '' Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae'', 9338 ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'', 6.37161 '' Fasti Capitolini'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Priscus, Quintus, Fidenas 390 BC deaths 5th-century BC Romans Ancient Roman dictators Priscus, Quintus, Fidenas Year of birth unknown