The gens Servilia was a patrician (ancient Rome), patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Roman Republic, Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the Fasti consulares, consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of influence in the state down to the latest times of the Republic, and even in the Roman Empire, imperial period. The first member of the gens who obtained the Roman consul, consulship was Publius Servilius Priscus Structus (consul 495 BC), Publius Servilius Priscus Structus in 495 BC, and the last of the name who appears in the consular Fasti is Quintus Servilius Silanus, in AD 189, thus occupying a prominent position in the Roman state for nearly seven hundred years. Like other Roman gentes, the Servilii of course had their own sacra (ancient Rome), sacra; and they are said to have worshipped a ''triens'', or copper coin, which is reported to have increased or diminished in size at various times, thus indicating the increase or diminution of the honors of the gens. Although the Servilii were originally patricians, in the later Republic there were also plebeian Servilii.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 793 ("s:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Servilia gens, Servilia Gens").''Fasti Capitolini'', ; 1904, 114; ; 1940, 59, 60.

Origin

According to tradition, the Servilia gens was one of the Alban people, Alban houses removed to Rome by Tullus Hostilius, and enrolled by him among the patricians. It was, consequently, one of the ''gentes minores''. The Nomen gentilicium, nomen ''Servilius'' is a patronymic surname, derived from the praenomen ''Servius (praenomen), Servius'' (meaning "one who keeps safe" or "preserves"), which must have been borne by the ancestor of the gens.

Praenomina

The different branches of the Servilii each used slightly different sets of praenomen, praenomina. The oldest stirpes used the praenomina ''Publius (praenomen), Publius, Quintus (praenomen), Quintus, Spurius (praenomen), Spurius'', and ''Gaius (praenomen), Gaius''. The Servilii Caepiones used primarily ''Gnaeus (praenomen), Gnaeus'' and ''Quintus''. The Servilii Gemini employed ''Gnaeus, Quintus, Publius, Gaius'', and ''Marcus (praenomen), Marcus''. The ancestors of the gens must have used the praenomen ''Servius'', but the family no longer used it in historical times.

Branches and cognomina

The Servilii were divided into numerous families; of these the names in the Republican period are ''Ahala, Axilla, Caepio, Casca, Geminus, Glaucia, Globulus, Priscus'' (with the agnomen ''Fidenas''), ''Rullus, Structus, Tucca'', and ''Vatia'' (with the agnomen ''Isauricus''). The Structi, Prisci, Ahalae, and Caepiones were patricians; the Gemini originally patrician, and later plebeian; the Vatiae and Cascae plebeians. Other cognomen, cognomina appear under the Empire. The only surnames found on coins are those of ''Ahala, Caepio, Casca'', and ''Rullus''. The cognomen ''Structus'' almost always occurs in connection with those of ''Priscus'' or ''Ahala''. The only two Structi who are mentioned with this cognomen are Spurius Servilius Structus, who was tribuni militum consulari potestate, consular tribune in 368 BC, and Spurius Servilius Structus, consul in 476 BC. The fact that ''Structus'' appears in two of the oldest stirpes of the Servilii, neither of which clearly predates the other, could indicate that persons bearing this surname were ancestral to both great houses. The Prisci ("antique") were an ancient family of the Servilia gens, and filled the highest offices of the state during the early years of the Republic. They also bore the agnomen of ''Structus'', which is always appended to their name in the Fasti, till it was supplanted by that of ''Fidenas'', which was first obtained by Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus, who took Fidenae in his Roman dictator, dictatorship, in 435 BC, and which was also borne by his descendants. ''Ahala'', of which ''Axilla'' is merely another form, is a diminutive of ''ala'', a wing. A popular legend related that the name was first given to Gaius Servilius Ahala, Gaius Servilius, magister equitum in 439 BC, because he hid the knife with which he slew Spurius Maelius in his armpit (also ''ala''). However, this does not appear to be the case, since the name had been in use by the family for at least a generation before that event. The surnames ''Caepio'' and ''Geminus'' appear almost simultaneously in the middle of the third century BC, with the consuls of 253 and 252. Each was the grandson of a Gnaeus Servilius, suggesting that the two cognomina belonged to two branches of the same family. ''Caepio'', an onion, belongs to a large class of surnames derived from ordinary objects, while ''Geminus'' originally denoted a twin, and was typically given to the younger of two brothers. In a discussion concerning appearances, Cicero mentions a certain Quintus Servilius Geminus, who was frequently mistaken for his brother, Publius, the consul of 252 BC. The Servilii Vatiae ("cross-legged") seem to be descended from the Gemini.

Members

Servilii Prisci et Structi

* Publius Servilius Priscus Structus, consul in 495 BC, defeated the Sabines and the Aurunci. * Quintus Servilius (Priscus Structus), magister equitum in 494 BC. * Spurius Servilius Structus (consul 476 BC), Spurius (or Gaius) Servilius (P. f.?) Structus, consul in 476 BC, repulsed in his attempt to retake the Janiculum from the Etruscan culture, Etruscans. * Quintus Servilius Priscus (consul 468 BC), Quintus Servilius (Structus?) Priscus, consul in 468 and 466 BC. * Publius Servilius Priscus (consul 463 BC), Publius Servilius Sp. f. P. n. Priscus, consul in 463 BC, was carried off in his consulship by the great plague which raged at Rome in this year. * Quintus Servilius Priscus Fidenas, Quintus Servilius P. f. Sp. n. Priscus, dictator in 435 and 418 BC, captured the town of Fidenae, thereby obtaining the surname ''Fidenas''. * Quintus Servilius Fidenas (consular tribune 402 BC), Quintus Servilius Q. f. P. n. Fidenas, tribuni militum consulari potestate, consular tribune in 402, 398, 395, 390, 388, and 386 BC. * Quintus Servilius Q. f. Q. n. Fidenas, consular tribune in 382, 378, and 369 BC. * Spurius Servilius Priscus, censor in 378 BC. * Gaius Servilius Structus, grandfather of the consular tribune in 368 BC. * Gaius Servilius C. f. Structus, father of the consular tribune in 368 BC. * Spurius Servilius C. f. C. n. Structus, consular tribune in 368 BC.

Servilii Ahalae

* Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala, consul in 478 BC, died in his year of office. * Gaius Servilius Ahala, allegedly ''magister equitum'' in 439 BC, slew Spurius Maelius. * Quintus Servilius C. f. Ahala, father of Gaius Servilius Axilla, consular tribune from 419 to 417 BC. * Gaius Servilius Axilla, Gaius Servilius Q. f. C. n. Axilla, consul in 427 BC, consular tribune in 419, 418 and 417 BC, and magister equitum in 418. * Publius Servilius Q. f. (C. n.) Ahala, father of Gaius, the magister equitum of 408 BC. * Gaius Servilius Ahala (consular tribune 408 BC), Gaius Servilius P. f. Q. n. Ahala, consular tribune in 408, 407, and 402 BC, and magister equitum in 408. * Gaius Servilius Ahala (magister equitum 389 BC), Gaius Servilius Ahala, magister equitum in 389 and 385 BC. * Quintus Servilius Q. f. Ahala, father of Quintus Servilius Ahala, the consul of 365 BC. * Quintus Servilius Ahala (consul 365 BC), Quintus Servilius Q. f. Q. n. Ahala, consul in 365 and 362 BC, and dictator in 360. * Quintus Servilius Q. f. Q. n. Ahala, ''magister equitum'' in 351 and consul in 342 BC.

Servilii Caepiones

* Gnaeus Servilius, grandfather of the consul of 253 BC. * Gnaeus Servilius Cn. f., father of the consul of 253 BC. * Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul 253 BC), Gnaeus Servilius Cn. f. Cn. n. Caepio, consul in 253 BC, during the First Punic War, sailed to the coast of Africa with his colleague, Gaius Sempronius Blaesus (consul 253 BC), Gaius Sempronius Blaesus. * Gnaeus Servilius Cn. f. Cn. n. Caepio, father of the consul of 203 BC. * Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul 203 BC), Gnaeus Servilius Cn. f. Cn. n. Caepio, consul in 203 BC, during the Second Punic War. * Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul 169 BC), Gnaeus Servilius Cn. f. Cn. n. Caepio, consul in 169 BC. * Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus, Quintus Fabius Q. f. Q. n. Maximus Servilianus, son of Gnaeus Servilius Caepio, the consul of 169 BC, and brother of Gnaeus, consul in 141, and Quintus, consul in 140, was adopted by Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus. He was consul in 142 BC. * Gnaeus Servilius Cn. f. Cn. n. Caepio, consul in 141 and censor in 125 BC. * Servilia (wife of Catulus), Servilia, wife of Quintus Lutatius Catulus (consul 102 BC), Quintus Lutatius Catulus. * Servilia (wife of Drusus), Servilia, wife of Marcus Livius Drusus (consul), Marcus Livius Drusus. * Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul 140 BC), Quintus Servilius Cn. f. Cn. n. Caepio, consul in 140 BC, during the Lusitanian War. * Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul 106 BC), Quintus Servilius Q. f. Cn. n. Caepio, consul in 106 BC, during the Cimbrian War. His army was annihilated at the Battle of Arausio in 105. * Gnaeus Servilius Caepio, quaestor around 105 BC, may have been the father of Servilia, the wife of Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 54 BC), Appius Claudius Pulcher, who died in a shipwreck while still young. * Quintus Servilius Caepio (quaestor 103 BC), Quintus Servilius (Q. f. Q. n.) Caepio, quaestor ''urbanus'' in 103 BC, was killed in an ambush at Ascoli Piceno, Asculum in Picenum, at the beginning of the Social War (91–87 BC), Social War. * Servilia (mother of Brutus), Servilia Q. f. Q. n., mistress of Julius Caesar and mother of Marcus Brutus, the tyrannicide. * Servilia (wife of Lucullus), Servilia Q. f. Q. n., married Lucullus, the conqueror of Mithradates Eupator, Mithridates. * Quintus Servilius Caepio (adoptive father of Brutus), Quintus Servilius Caepio, adoptive father of Brutus. He probably married a daughter of the orator Quintus Hortensius, Hortensius. * Servilius Caepio, military tribune during the war against Spartacus, in 72 BC. * Servilius Caepio (fiancé of Julia), Servilius Caepio, a supporter of Julius Caesar, Caesar, to whose daughter, Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar), Julia, he was once betrothed. * Marcus Junius Brutus, Quintus Servilius Q. f. Caepio Brutus, the name taken by Marcus Junius Brutus, the tyrannicide, when he was adopted by his uncle, the military tribune of 72 BC.

Servilii Gemini

* Gnaeus Servilius, grandfather of Publius Servilius Geminus, the consul of 252 and 248 BC. Possibly the same Gnaeus Servilius who was the ancestor of the Caepiones. * Quintus Servilius Cn. f., father of Quintus and Publius Servilius Geminus. * Publius Servilius Geminus, Publius Servilius Q. f. Cn. n. Geminus, consul in 252 and 248 BC, during the First Punic War. * Quintus Servilius Q. f. Cn. n. Geminus, twin brother of the consul Publius Servilius Geminus. * Gnaeus Servilius Geminus, Gnaeus Servilius P. f. Q. n. Geminus, consul in 217 BC, slain at the Battle of Cannae in 216. * Gaius Servilius Geminus (prisoner of war), Gaius Servilius P. f. (Geminus), praetor before 218 BC, taken prisoner by the Boii that year. Either he or his sons went over to the plebeians. * Gaius Servilius Geminus (consul), Gaius Servilius C. f. P. n. (Geminus), consul in 203 and dictator in 202 BC, and later pontifex maximus. * Marcus Servilius Pulex Geminus, Marcus Servilius C. f. P. n. Pulex Geminus, consul in 202 BC. * Marcus Servilius, Marcus Servilius M. f. (Geminus), consul in AD 3.

Servilii Vatiae

* Marcus Servilius, grandfather of the consul of 79 BC. * Gaius Servilius Vatia, Gaius Servilius M. f. Vatia, father of the consul of 79 BC. * Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, Publius Servilius C. f. M. n. Vatia, surnamed ''Isauricus'', consul in 79 and censor in 55 BC, triumphed over the Isauria, Isauri. * Publius Servilius Isauricus, Publius Servilius P. f. C. n. Isauricus, consul in 48 and 41 BC. * Servilia (wife of Lepidus), Servilia P. f. P. n., betrothed to Augustus, Octavian until the formation of the Second Triumvirate, second triumvirate in 43 BC.

Servilii Rulli

* Publius Servilius M. f. Rullus, ''triumvir monetalis'' in 100 BC. * Publius Servilius Rullus, Publius Servilius P. f. M. n. Rullus, tribune of the plebs in 63 BC, proposed an agrarian law. * Publius Servilius Rullus (cavalry leader), Publius Servilius (P. f. P. n.) Rullus, one of the generals of Augustus, Octavian against Mark Antony after the Perusine War, Perusinian War, in 40 BC.

Others

* Gaius Servilius Tucca, consul in 284 BC. * Gaius Servilius Casca, tribune of the plebs in 212 BC, failed to intervene on behalf of his relative, Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis. The authenticity of his cognomen has been doubted. * Gaius Servilius Glaucia, praetor in 100 BC, a supporter of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, with whom he perished. * Quintus Servilius, praetor in 90 BC, was slain by the inhabitants of Asculum on the outbreak of the Social War (91–87 BC), Social War. * Servilius, praetor in 88 BC, tried to dissuade Sulla from marching onto Rome, only to be mistreated by Sulla's soldiers. * Publius Servilius, an ''eques, magister'' of one of the companies that farmed the taxes in Sicilia (Roman province), Sicilia during the administration of Verres. * Publius Servilius Globulus, tribune of the plebs in 67 BC, and propraetor of Asia (Roman province), Asia in 63. * Gaius Servilius, a Roman citizen in Sicilia, publicly scourged by Verres. * Marcus Servilius, accused of ''repetundae'' in 51 BC. * Marcus Servilius, tribune of the plebs in 44 BC, praised by Cicero as a ''vir fortissimus''. * Publius Servilius Casca Longus, one of Caesar's assassins, died shortly after the Battle of Philippi, in 42 BC. * (Servilius) Casca, brother of Publius Longus, and like him a conspirator against Caesar. * Marcus Servilius Nonianus, consul in AD 35, and one of the most celebrated orators and historians of his time. * Damocrates, Servilius Damocrates, a physician at Rome during the first century. * Marcia Servilia Sorana, Servilia, daughter of Barea Soranus, accused and condemned with her father in AD 66. * Quintus Servilius Pudens, consul in AD 166. * Marcus Servilius Silanus, consul in AD 188. * Quintus Servilius Silanus, consul in AD 189.

Descent of the Servilii of the late Republic

This family tree depicts the Servilii Caepiones, Gemini, and Vatiae, from the third century BC to their known descendants in imperial times, extending down to the family of the emperor Galba. The chart is based on one by Friedrich Münzer.''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', "Servilius", p. 1778.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''Academica Priora'', ''De Finibus, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum'', ''Epistulae ad Atticum'', ''Epistulae ad Familiares'', ''In Verrem'', ''Philippicae'', ''Pro Fonteio''. * Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica, Bibliotheca Historica'' (Library of History). * Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (Roman Antiquities). * Titus Livius (Livy), ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri, History of Rome''. * Marcus Velleius Paterculus, ''Compendium of Roman History''. * Valerius Maximus, ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings). * Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), ''Natural History (Pliny), Historia Naturalis'' (Natural History). * Sextus Julius Frontinus, ''De aquaeductu, De Aquaeductu'' (On Aqueducts). * Plutarchus, ''Parallel Lives, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans''. * Suetonius, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''The Twelve Caesars, De Vita Caesarum'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). * Appianus Alexandrinus (Appian), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War). * Cassius Dio, ''Roman History''. * Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, ''Historia Augusta'' (Augustan History). * Orosius, Paulus Orosius, ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos'' (History Against the Pagans). * Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, ''Doctrina Numorum Veterum'' (The Study of Ancient Coins, 1792–1798). * ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''L'Année épigraphique'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present). * * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897). * * Michael Crawford, ''Roman Republican Coinage'', Cambridge University Press (1974). {{Refend Alba Longa Roman gentes Servilii,