Quintus Servilius Caepio ( 68–58 BC) was a Roman aristocrat, and the adoptive father of Brutus, the assassin of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

Biography

Geiger conjectured that Caepio was a son of Quintus Servilius Caepio, from an unknown wife before

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14. Livia was the ...

. This would make the younger Caepio an elder half-brother of Servilia the mother of Brutus, and a different man from

Cato the Younger Marcus Porcius Cato "Uticensis" ("of Utica"; ; 95 BC – April 46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger ( la, Cato Minor), was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic. His conservative principles were focused on the ...

's half brother Servilius Caepio. Marshall found Geiger's argument compelling, as did Strachan, but Treggiari was skeptical. According to a tentative reconstruction of his life, Caepio may have held the

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

ship by about 69 BC, which would have given him

senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

rank. He then served as a deputy (''

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 ...

'') to the general

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

in the campaign against the Cilician pirates and then in the Mithridatic War. By 59 BC, he had adopted his relative Brutus. In 58 BC, he appears for the last time in history as a creditor of

Quintus Tullius Cicero Quintus Tullius Cicero ( , ; 102 – 43 BC) was a Roman statesman and military leader, the younger brother of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, some south-eas ...

, and probably died not long after. He is believed to have been married to a daughter of

Quintus Hortensius Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a famous Roman lawyer, a renowned orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'' ...

, (possibly the orator Hortensia) since an inscription describes Hortensius son Hortalus as Brutus' uncle.

Identification with Julia's fiancé

In 59 BC a Servilius Caepio supported

against the other consul of that year, Marcus Bibulus, and was by that time betrothed to Caesar's daughter Julia, but in the end she was given instead to Caesar's ally, Pompey. This Caepio was then promised to Pompey's own daughter, but it is unknown if the union ever cemented. This reconstruction depends on the identity of several Servilii and Caepiones in scattered mentions, which is doubted by Treggiari. Pelling also doubts the identity of the Julia's betrothed with Brutus's adoptive father.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Caepio, Quintus 1st-century BC Romans Family of Marcus Junius Brutus Family of Servilia (mother of Brutus) Quintus Year of birth unknown