Servilia gens

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The gens Servilia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of influence in the state down to the latest times of the Republic, and even in the imperial period. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was 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; 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.[1][2][3]

Origin[edit]

According to tradition, the Servilia gens was one of the 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 Servilius is a patronymic surname, derived from the praenomen Servius (meaning "one who keeps safe" or "preserves"), which must have been borne by the ancestor of the gens.[4][5]

Praenomina[edit]

The different branches of the Servilii each used slightly different sets of praenomina. The oldest stirpes used the praenomina Publius, Quintus, Spurius, and Gaius. The Servilii Caepiones used primarily Gnaeus and Quintus. The Servilii Gemini employed Gnaeus, Quintus, Publius, Gaius, and 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[edit]

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 cognomina appear under the Empire. The only surnames found on coins are those of Ahala, Caepio, Casca, and Rullus.[1][6]

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 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.[7]

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 dictatorship, in 435 BC, and which was also borne by his descendants.[8]

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, 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.[9]

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.[10][11][12]

Members[edit]

Servilii Prisci et Structi[edit]

Servilii Ahalae[edit]

Servilii Caepiones[edit]

Servilii Gemini[edit]

Servilii Vatiae[edit]

Servilii Rulli[edit]

Others[edit]

Descent of the Servilii of the late Republic[edit]

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.[61]

Stemma Caepionum et Geminorum
Cn. Servilius
Cn. ServiliusQ. Servilius
Cn. Servilius
Caepio
cos. 253 BC
Q. Servilius
Geminus
P. Servilius
Geminus
cos. 252,
248 BC
Cn. Servilius
Caepio
Cn. Servilius
Geminus
cos. 217 BC
C. Servilius
Geminus
pr. c. 220 BC
Cn. Servilius
Caepio
cos. 203 BC
C. Servilius
Geminus
cos. 203 BC,
dict. 202
M. Servilius
Pulex
Geminus
cos. 202 BC
Cn. Servilius
Caepio
cos. 169 BC
C. Servilius
(Geminus)
aed. pl. 173 BC
M. Servilius
(Geminus)
trib. mil. 181 BC
pont. 170
Q. Fabius
Maximus
Servilianus
cos. 142 BC
Cn. Servilius
Caepio
cos. 141 BC,
cens. 125
Q. Servilius
Caepio
cos. 140 BC
M. ServiliusC. Servilius
Vatia
pr. after 146 BC
Q. Fabius
Maximus
Eburnus
cos. 116 BC
Q. Servilius
Caepio
cos. 106 BC
C. Servilius
IIIvir mon.
93 BC
C. Servilius
(Vatia)
pr. 102 BC
P. Servilius
Vatia Isauricus
cos. 79 BC
cens. 55
M. Servilius
Vatia
IIIvir mon. 89 BC
Q. Servilius
Caepio
q. 103 BC
m. Livia
Cn. Servilius
Caepio
pr. 90 BC
C. Servilius
IIIvir mon. 63 BC
P. Servilius
Isauricus
cos. 48, 41 BC
Servilia
m. (1) M. Junius
Brutus
d. 77 BC
m. (2) D. Junius
Silanus
cos. 62 BC
Q. Servilius
Caepio
d. 59 BC
Servilia
m. L. Licinius
Lucullus
cos. 74 BC
P. Servilius
Vatia
pr. 25 BC
Servilia
m. M. Aemilius
Lepidus
M. Junius
Brutus
d. 42 BC
m. (1) Claudia
m. (2) Porcia
Junia
Prima
Junia
Secunda
m. M. Aemilius
Lepidus
IIIvir
Junia
Tertia
m. C. Cassius
Longinus
d. 42 BC
L. Licinius
Lucullus
M. Aemilius
Lepidus
d. 30 BC
m. Servilia
C. Cassius
Longinus
M'. Aemilius
Lepidus
cos. AD 11
Aemilia Lepida
ex. AD 20
m. (1) Mam. Aemilius Scaurus
cos. suf. AD 21
m. (2) P. Sulpicius Quirinius
cos. 12 BC
Aemilia Lepida
m. Ser. Sulpicius
Galba
cos. AD 33
Imp. 68–69
Aemilia
C. Livius
Ocella Galba
d. c. AD 48
Ser. Livius
Ocella Galba
d. c. AD 60

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The Fasti do not give him the surname Geminus, but do so for his brother, Marcus Servilius Pulex. Livy, however, refers to him as such several times.[44]
  2. ^ T.J. Cadoux distinguishes the unnamed brother from Gaius Casca, tribune of the plebs in 44 BC, who was probably not a Servilius. Appian was only aware of Publius, but incorrectly referred to him as Gaius, probably in confusion with the tribune. Cadoux's arguments for the existence of 3 Cascae – the two conspirators and the tribune – were accepted by Shackleton Bailey and Broughton.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 793 ("Servilia Gens").
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Fasti Capitolini, AE 1900, 83; 1904, 114; AE 1927, 101; 1940, 59, 60.
  3. ^ Gaius Plinius Secundus, Historia Naturalis, xxxiv. 13. s. 38.
  4. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, i. 30.
  5. ^ George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897).
  6. ^ Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, v. p. 308 ff.
  7. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 928 ("Structus").
  8. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 528 ("Servilius Priscus").
  9. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 83 ("Ahala"), 448 ("Axilla").
  10. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 533–535 ("Caepio"), vol. II, p. 239 ("Geminus"), vol. III, pp. 1232, 1233 ("Vatia").
  11. ^ Chase, pp. 111–113.
  12. ^ Cicero, Academica Priora, ii. 84.
  13. ^ CIL VI, 1279
  14. ^ Dionysius, vi. 40.
  15. ^ RE, vol. II A (2), col. 1809 (Servilius 84).
  16. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 27 (and note 1).
  17. ^ Livy, iii. 6, 7.
  18. ^ Dionysius, ix. 67, 68.
  19. ^ Orosius, ii. 12.
  20. ^ RE, vol. II A (2), col. 1803 (Servilius 73).
  21. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 34.
  22. ^ RE, vol. II A (2), cols. 1803, 1804 (Servilius 75).
  23. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 60, 61 (note 2).
  24. ^ Livy, vi. 22, 31, 36.
  25. ^ Livy, vi. 31.
  26. ^ Livy, vi. 38.
  27. ^ Diodorus Siculus, xv. 78.
  28. ^ Livy, ii. 49.
  29. ^ Livy, iv. 30; iv. 45, 46.
  30. ^ RE, vol. II A (2), cols. 1773–1775 (Servilius 37).
  31. ^ Broughton, vol. i, pp. 66 (and note 1), 71–73.
  32. ^ Livy, vii. 22, 38.
  33. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, xii. 5, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, ii. 16, In Verrem, i. 55.
  34. ^ Frontinus, De Aquaeductu, 8.
  35. ^ Velleius Paterculus, ii. 10.
  36. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, ii. 8.
  37. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, xii. 20.
  38. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 556, 558 (note 6).
  39. ^ Cicero, Pro Fonteio 14.
  40. ^ Livy, Epitome, 72.
  41. ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, ii. 14.
  42. ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Caesar", 21.
  43. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Caesar", 14, "The Life of Pompeius", 47.
  44. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 314 (note 1).
  45. ^ Valerius Maximus, i. 8. § 11.
  46. ^ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, p. 329.
  47. ^ Cassius Dio, xlviii. 28.
  48. ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, v. 58.
  49. ^ Livy, xxv. 3.
  50. ^ Broughton, vol. 1, pp. 271–272 (note 5).
  51. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Sulla", 9.
  52. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, iii. 71.
  53. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, v. 54.
  54. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, viii. 8 § 3, Epistulae ad Atticum, vi. 3. § 10.
  55. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xii. 7, Philippicae, iv. 6.
  56. ^ Cicero, Philippicae, 2.27
  57. ^ Suetonius, Life of Caesar, 82.1
  58. ^ Plutarch, Life of Caesar, 66.8
  59. ^ Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, vol. 3, pp. 194–195
  60. ^ Aelius Lampridius, "The Life of Commodus", 11.
  61. ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, "Servilius", p. 1778.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Marcus Tullius Cicero, Academica Priora, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, Epistulae ad Atticum, Epistulae ad Familiares, In Verrem, Philippicae, Pro Fonteio.
  • Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica (Library of History).
  • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia (Roman Antiquities).
  • Titus Livius (Livy), History of Rome.
  • Marcus Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History.
  • Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
  • Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), Historia Naturalis (Natural History).
  • Sextus Julius Frontinus, De Aquaeductu (On Aqueducts).
  • Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans.
  • Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, 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).
  • 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, 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).
  • August Pauly; Georg Wissowa; Wilhelm Kroll; Kurt Witte; Karl Mittelhaus; Konrat Ziegler, eds. (1894–1980). Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler.
  • George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
  • Broughton, T. Robert S. (1952–1986). The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. American Philological Association.
  • Michael Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, Cambridge University Press (1974).