Servilia

1. The wife of Q. Lutatius Catulas, consul, B. C. 102. Their daughter Lutatia married the orator Q. Hortensius, whence Cicero calls Servilia the socrus of Hortensius (Cic. Ver. 2.8.)

2. The mother of M. Junius Brutus, the murderer of Caesar. She was the daughter of Livia, the sister of the celebrated M. Livius Drusus, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 91. Her mother Livia was married twice; first to M. Cato, by whom she had M. Cato Uticensis, and next to Q. Servilius Caepio, by whom she became the mother of this Servilia, and of her sister spoken of below. Servilia. herself was married twice; first to M. Junius Brutus [Brutus, No. 20], by whom she became the mother of the murderer of Caesar, and secondly to D. Junius Silanus, consul B. C. 62. This Servilia was the favourite mistress of the dictator Caesar, and seems to have fascinated him more by her genius than her personal charms. Caesar's love for her is mentioned as early as B. C. 63 (Plut. Cat. 24, Brut. 5), and continued, apparently unabated, to the time of his death, nearly twenty years afterwards. The scandal-mongers at Rome related various tales about her, which we may safely disbelieve. Thus she is said to have introduced her own daughter, Junia Tertia, to Caesar's embraces, when her own charms were growing faded; and it was further currently reported that Brutus was Servilia's son by Caesar. The latter tale, at least, we can prove to be false, as Caesar was only fifteen years older than Brutus, the former having been born in B. C. 100, and the latter in B. C. 85. Caesar made Servilia a present of several confiscated estates after the civil wars. She survived both her lover and her son. After the battle of Philippi Antony sent her the ashes of her son. The triumvirs left her unmolested, and Atticus assisted and consoled her in her troubles. (Suet. Cues. 50 ; Plut. Cat. 24, Brut. 2, 5, 53 ; Appian, App. BC 2.112, 4.135; Cic. Fam. 12.7, ad Att. 14.21, 15.11, 12; Corn. Nep. Att. 11 ; Drumann, Geschichtc Roms, vol. iv. p. 15, &c.)

3. The sister of No. 2, was the second wife of L. Lucullus, consul B. C. 74, who married her on his return from the Mithridatic War, after he had divorced his first wife, Clodia. She bore Lucullus a son, but, like her sister, she was faithless to her husband; and the latter, after putting up with her conduct for some time from regard to M. Cato Uticensis, her half-brother, at length divorced her. On the breaking out of the civil war in B. C. 49, she accompanied M. Cato, with her child, to Sicily, and from thence to Asia, where Cato left her behind in Rhodes, while he went to join Pompey. (Plut. Luc. 38, Cat. 24, 54 ; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, vol. iv. p. 174.)

4. The daughter of Barea Soranus, accused and condemned with her father in A. D. 66. [Barea.]

originally patrician, but subsequently plebeian also. The Servilia gens was one of the Alban houses removed to Rome by Tullus Hostilius, and enrolled by him among the patricians (Liv. 1.30.) It was, consequently, one of the minores gentes. 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 honours of the gens (Plin. Nat. 34.13. s. 38). The Servilia gens was very 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 P. Servilius Priscus Structus, in B. C. 495, and the last of the name who appears in the consular Fasti is Q. Servilius Silanus, in A. D. 189, thus occupying a prominent position in the Roman state for nearly seven hundred years. 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 Filenas), RULL'US, Structus, Tucca, Vatia (with the agnomen Isauricus). The cognomens of the Servilii under the empire are given below. A few persons of the name are mentioned without any cognomen : they are spoken of under Servilius. The only surnames found on coins are those of Ahala, Caepio, Casca, Rullus. There are likewise several coins of the Servilia gens, which bear no surname upon them : of these two specimens are annexed, but it is quite impossible to determine to whom they refer. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 308, &c.)

(1) The daughter of Q. Servilius Caepio and the daughter of Livia, the sister of the celebrated M. Livius Drusus, tribune of the plebs in B.C. 91. Servilia was married twice: first to M. Iunius Brutus, by whom she became the mother of the murderer of Caesar, and secondly to D. Iunius Silanus, consul in 62.

(2) Sister of the preceding, was the second wife of L. Lucullus, consul in 74.