Gaius Servilius Geminus (died 180 BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

statesman who served as

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

in 203 BC,

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 tim ...

in 202 BC (the last in 120 years), and '' Pontifex Maximus'' from 183 BC to 180 BC.

Heritage

Geminus was the son of Gaius Servilius Geminus, a

Roman magistrate The Roman magistrates were elected officials in Ancient Rome. During the period of the Roman Kingdom, the King of Rome was the principal executive magistrate.Abbott, 8 His power, in practice, was absolute. He was the chief priest, lawgiver, j ...

. He was a member of '' gens Servilia'', a

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 ...

family.

Early career

In 212 BC Geminus was sent to Etruria to buy grain for the troops of the Roman garrison in

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

, then

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

by Hannibal. He successfully penetrated into the city and delivered supplies. In 210 BC he was elected

Pontifex A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was la ...

in place of

Titus Otacilius Crassus Titus Otacilius Crassus was a Roman statesman and general during the middle era of the Roman Republic. He was one of the two consuls of 261 BCE, serving with Lucius Valerius Flaccus. During his consulship, he and his consular colleague Flaccus fo ...

and in 209 BC was chosen as

Aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to ...

. He was selected to serve as '' magister equitum'', while exercising his position as Aedile, under dictator Titus Manlius Torquatus. In 206 BC he became

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 vari ...

and obtained

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

as a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

.Livy, 28.10

Consulship and later career

Geminus was elected consul, alongside Gnaeus Servilius Caepio, in 203 BC, and obtained Etruria as a

. From there he went to Cisalpine Gaul where his father of the same name was held as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

since 218 BC. In 202 BC Geminus was named

by his brother

Marcus Servilius Pulex Geminus __NoToC__ Marcus Servilius Pulex Geminus was a Roman statesman during the Second Punic War, and the early decades of the second century BC. He was a renowned warrior, whose martial prowess was commemorated on coins issued by several of his descend ...

to hold elections. He was the last person to hold that position until

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla ha ...

in 82 or 81 BC. In 201 BC he served as one of

Decemviri The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...

responsible for the distribution of land among veterans who fought with Scipio Africanus. In 183 BC Geminus was elected '' Pontifex Maximus'', replacing Publius Licinius Crassus Dives.

References

Bibliography

Friedrich Münzer Friedrich Münzer (22 April 1868 – 20 October 1942) was a German classical scholar noted for the development of prosopography, particularly for his demonstrations of how family relationships in ancient Rome connected to political struggles. He d ...

: ''Servilius 60''. In: '' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' (RE). Band II A,2, Stuttgart 1923, Sp. 1792–1794. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Geminus, Gaius 180 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Roman consuls 3rd-century BC Roman praetors 2nd-century BC clergy 2nd-century BC Romans Plebeian aediles Magistri equitum (Roman Republic) Pontifices Pontifices maximi of the Roman Republic Ancient Roman dictators Roman governors of Sicily Geminus, Gaius Year of birth unknown