Gnaeus Servilius Geminus

Gnaeus Servilius Geminus († August 2, 216 BC near Cannae ) was 217 BC. BC Roman consul . The following year he was one of the highest-ranking Romans who fell against Hannibal in the battle of Cannae .

origin

Gnaeus Servilius Geminus came from the patrician family of the Servilians . From his filiation recorded in the Fasti Capitolini only the information that he was the grandson of a Quintus Servilius has survived . He was probably the son of the consuls of 252 and 248 BC. BC, Publius Servilius Geminus .

consulate

In the sources, Gnaeus Servilius Geminus is only mentioned in the last two years of his life, when he was first mentioned in the early phase of the Second Punic War in 217 BC. Fought as consul and in the following year as proconsul against Hannibal. Since he was a patrician, he received as a consular colleague a member of a plebeian gens, Gaius Flaminius , a controversial personality whose picture was probably already painted in the darkest colors by the oldest Roman historian Quintus Fabius Pictor .

The two main sources, Polybius and Titus Livius , provide quite different information about the assumption of office and the action of the consuls against Hannibal, who was advancing further into Italy . Polybios reports that the two consuls jointly organized levies for their legions and brought together federal armies; At the beginning of spring, Flaminius and his army took up positions in Arretium (today Arezzo ) and Servilius in Ariminum (today Rimini ) in order to await the Punians from these two locations. According to Livius, on the other hand, Flaminius secretly left for Ariminum before the beginning of the consulate on the Ides of March, where he had ordered the troops assigned to him to be able to take over his office there undisturbed, since when he took office in Rome - as was usual - he had disabilities feared on the part of the Senate. Despite the anger of the senators, Flaminius stuck to his plan and, according to Livy, declared war on the gods. Only then did he and his troops move to Arretium. Servilius, on the other hand, entered his consulate regularly in Rome and directed religious reconciliation measures by the gods in order to atone for the iniquity of Flaminius. In modern research, the version of the reliable Polybios is usually given preference.

The consuls' task was to protect Italy, south of their position, from another advance by Hannibal. They were so close that one consul could, if necessary, unite his army with that of the other in a relatively short time. However, the great Punic general took a path that was surprising for the Romans. On a route that is not exactly known, he probably marched from Bononia (today Bologna ) over the Apennines and through a marshland of the Arno to Faesulae (today Fiesole ). Therefore he was now closer to the two consuls Flaminius, whom he inflicted a crushing defeat in the battle of Lake Trasimeno , in which Flaminius himself fell.

When Servilius heard of Hannibal's incursion into Etruria , he immediately left Ariminum to help his colleague, but was too late. 4,000 horsemen sent ahead by him, who were under the command of Gaius Centenius , were partly killed and partly captured by the Carthaginian general Maharbal and his cavalry shortly after Flaminius' defeat . While Hannibal was traveling through Umbria to Picenum , Servilius did not get involved in any engagement with him. In Narnia (today Narni ) he met the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , who was elected by an extraordinary popular resolution due to the crisis situation, and handed over his legions to him. Fabius had Servilius pointed out in a sharp manner , just without lictors appearing before him. By this he meant that his election as dictator had revoked the consul's authority. In response to the news that cargo ships loaded with supplies for the Roman army in Spain had been intercepted by a Carthaginian fleet near Cosa , Servilius was sent to Rome to hunt down the enemy ships with the squadron there and to manage the coast defense of Italy.

With 120 five-oarers, Servilius pursued the Punic ships that had already penetrated as far as the area of ​​Pisae (today Pisa ), which, however, escaped to Carthage . Servilius sailed via Lilybaeum (today Marsala ) in Sicily to North Africa, extorted ten talents of silver ransom from the inhabitants of the Cercina Islands off the Tunisian coast (today Kerkenna Islands ) and then turned back to Sicily, taking the small volcanic island on the way Kossura (now Pantelleria ) occupied.

From Lilybaeum Servilius returned to Italy by land and took over together with the suffect consul Marcus Atilius Regulus for the remainder of the year 217 BC. Back in command of the land troops in Apulia , since Fabius' dictatorship had come to an end.

Role in the battle of Cannae

After their consulate expired, Servilius and Atilius remained in their position with an extended empire and only gave the enemy small skirmishes, but not a major battle, until the consuls of 216 BC. BC, Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro , arrived at them. As a proconsul, Servilius then took part with the consuls in the battle of Cannae and was thus the highest-ranking Roman military leader after them. Polybius claims that Atilius, like Servilius, took part in the fighting, while Livius explains that Atilius went back to Rome, citing his old age. In this case, the ancient historian Friedrich Münzer considers Livy's version to be more credible.

In the battle of Cannae, the consul Terentius Varro commanded the left wing and the other consul Aemilius Paullus the right wing. The heavily armed infantrymen of the Roman center were under the command of Servilius. While the participation of Servilius is only briefly mentioned in most of the battle reports of the surviving sources, he plays a more important role in that of the historian Appian . But Ennius had already ascribed a major role to Servilius in his historical epic; the proconsul is said to have urged Aemilius Paullus to adopt a cautious tactic. However, this view is contrary to the older tradition. It is undisputed that Servilius was killed in the catastrophic defeat of the Romans against Hannibal, as did Aemilius Paullus, Marcus Minucius Rufus , the former equestrian leader of the dictator Fabius, and many other military leaders of Rome.

literature

• Friedrich Münzer : Servilius 61). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II A, 2, Stuttgart 1923, Sp. 1794 f.

Remarks

1. ↑ The date of death refers to the pre-Julian Roman calendar .
2. ^ Friedrich Münzer : Servilius 61). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II A, 2, Stuttgart 1923, column 1794.
3. ↑ Polybios 3, 75, 5-8 and 3, 77, 1f.
4. ↑ Livy 21, 63, 1–15 and 22, 1, 5–20.
5. ↑ For example Friedrich Münzer: Flaminius 2). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VI, 2, Stuttgart 1909, column 2500.
6. ^ Friedrich Münzer: Servilius 61). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II A, 2, Stuttgart 1923, column 1794.
7. ↑ Serge Lancel: Hannibal , German 1998, p. 155ff.
8. ↑ Polybios 3, 86, 1-3; Livy 22: 8, 1; Appian , Hannibalica 10; Zonaras 8, 25.
9. ↑ So Polybios (3, 88, 8); According to Livius (22, 11, 5) the meeting of Servilius and Fabius took place in the Ocriculum (today Otricoli ) near Narnia .
10. ↑ Polybios 3, 88, 8; Livy 22:11, 2--12, 1; Appian, Hannibalica 12; Plutarch , Fabius 4, 3.
11. ↑ Polybios 3, 96, 8-13; Livy 22:31, 1-7; Zonaras 8, 26.
12. ↑ Polybios 3, 96, 14; Livy 22:31, 7; Appian, Hannibalica 16.
13. ↑ Polybios 3, 106, 2-11; 3, 107, 7; Livy 22, 32, 1-3; 22, 33, 9-11 and ö.
14. ↑ Polybios 3, 109, 1; 3, 114, 6; 3, 116, 11; Livy 22:40, 6; on this Friedrich Münzer: Servilius 61). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II A, 2, Stuttgart 1923, column 1795.
15. ↑ Ennius, Annales 268–286.
16. ↑ Polybios 3, 116, 11; Livy 22:49, 16; among others