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
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
nomenServilius is a patronymic surname, derived from the
praenomenServius (meaning "one who keeps safe" or "preserves"), which must have been borne by the ancestor of the gens.[4][5]
Praenomina
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
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]
Gnaeus Servilius Caepio, quaestor around 105 BC, may have been the father of Servilia, the wife of
Appius Claudius Pulcher, who died in a shipwreck while still young.[37][38]
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.
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. Servilius
Q. 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. Servilius
C. 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
^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]
^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
^
abDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 793 ("
Servilia Gens").
^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 928 ("
Structus").
^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 528 ("
Servilius Priscus").
^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 83 ("
Ahala"), 448 ("
Axilla").
^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").
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).