Servilia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Died | |
| Known for | Wife of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor, possibly fiancée of Octavian |
| Spouse | Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor |
| Parents |
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Servilia (sometimes called Servilia Isaurica [1] or Servilia Vatia) was an ancient Roman woman who was the wife of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor, the son of the triumvir and Pontifex maximus Lepidus. She may also have been the same Servilia who was at one time engaged to Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus).
Servilia was the daughter of Caesarian consul Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus [2] and Junia Prima, the eldest daughter of Servilia Caepionis, a mistress of Julius Caesar and prominent woman of the late republic. This made her the niece of Junia Secunda, Junia Tertia, Marcus Junius Silanus and Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar's assassin. [3]
Isaurica was likely the same Servilia who was engaged to Octavian as a young girl, (although it is possible that that girl was actually a sister of hers, as all women who shared fathers had the same name in Republican Rome). [4] This was likely a politically motivated betrothal, since her father was one of Octavian's supporters and her mother, Junia Prima, was a sister-in-law of the triumvir Lepidus (married to Junia Secunda), thus the marriage would have strengthened Octavian's bonds with the two. Nonetheless, he eventually rejected Servilia and married Claudia instead. Servilia's later union with Lepidus was possibly proposed by her mother and the triumvirs in an attempt to soothe any ill feelings created by Octavian's rejection. [5]
In 31 BC, her husband led a plot to assassinate Octavian, motivated by the banishment of his father (and possibly the scorning of his wife). He had tried to restore his exiled father to a position of authority but was caught and condemned to death. [5] When her husband was killed, she committed suicide, the method of which is stated in ancient sources to have been swallowing hot coals [6] [7] or alternatively drinking to death, possibly due to coal-eating being regarded as too Gothic. [8] Suicide by a widow was considered a great sign of devotion in Rome at the time. [9] It has been proposed that her manner of death might have been misattributed to her cousin-once-removed Porcia historically. [10]
In the past historians sometimes believed that the Servilia and Augustus had actually married, but it is widely agreed upon today that they were only ever engaged. [11] [12] It has been proposed that the character of Lavinia in The Aeneid was in part intended to represent Servilia. [13]
Servilia appears Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, first in The October Horse where Octavian promises her father to marry to get him on his side, when this is decided she is still too young to marry so Octavian plans to wait out the engagement until he can find someone he is actually in love with. [14] In In the 2007 novel Antony and Cleopatra by Australian author Colleen McCullough, Servilia is mentioned several times. She is described as a virgin who Octavian has little interest in and knows she will marry Lepidus instead. [15]
Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Roman Empire.
This article concerns the period 49 BC – 40 BC.
Marcus Junius Brutus was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was retained as his legal name. He is often referred to simply as Brutus.
The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created at the end of the Roman republic for Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a term of five years; it was renewed in 37 BC for another five years before expiring in 32 BC. Constituted by the lex Titia, the triumvirs were given broad powers to make or repeal legislation, issue judicial punishments without due process or right of appeal, and appoint all other magistrates. The triumvirs also split the Roman world into three sets of provinces.
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was a Roman general and statesman who formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Octavian and Mark Antony during the final years of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously been a close ally of Julius Caesar. He was also the last pontifex maximus before the Roman Empire, and (presumably) the last interrex and magister equitum to hold military command.
Servilia was a Roman matron from a distinguished family, the Servilii Caepiones. She was the daughter of Quintus Servilius Caepio and Livia, thus the maternal half-sister of Cato the Younger. She married Marcus Junius Brutus, with whom she had a son, the Brutus who, along with others in the Senate, assassinated Julius Caesar. After her first husband's death in 77 BC, she married Decimus Junius Silanus, and with him had a son and three daughters.
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger or Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor was a son of triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and his wife Junia Secunda, a half-sister of Caesar's assassin and friend Brutus. Lepidus was executed by Octavian, the future Roman Emperor, in 30 BC, as a leader in a conspiracy against him. Velleius says that his wife Servilia committed suicide after her husband's death by swallowing burning hot coals.
Lucius Pinarius Scarpus was a Roman who lived during the late Republic and the early Empire. He served as the Roman governor of Cyrene, Libya during the War of Actium. He was originally loyal to Mark Antony, but eventually switched sides and joined Octavian following the latter's victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.
Junia Tertia, also called Tertulla, was the third daughter of Servilia and her second husband Decimus Junius Silanus, and later the wife of Gaius Cassius Longinus.
Claudia was the daughter of Fulvia by her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. She was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and half-sister of his sons Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius.
Decimus Junius Silanus was a consul of the Roman Republic. He may have been the son of Marcus Junius Silanus, consul in 109 BC. He was the stepfather of Marcus Junius Brutus, having married Brutus' mother, Servilia.
Publius Servilius Isauricus was a Roman senator who served as consul in 48 BC together with Julius Caesar. He is generally regarded as a puppet of Caesar, having a long friendship with the Dictator.
The Liberators' civil war was started by the Second Triumvirate to avenge Julius Caesar's assassination. The war was fought by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian against the forces of Caesar's assassins, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, referred to as the Liberatores. The latter were defeated by the Triumvirs at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC, and committed suicide. Brutus committed suicide after the second part of the battle.
The October Horse is the sixth novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. It was first published in November 2002 by Century in UK and Simon & Schuster in USA.
The Bellum Siculum was an Ancient Roman civil war waged between 42 BC and 36 BC by the forces of the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey, the last surviving son of Pompey the Great and the last leader of the Optimate faction. The war consisted of mostly a number of naval engagements throughout the Mediterranean Sea and a land campaign primarily in Sicily that eventually ended in a victory for the Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey's death. The conflict is notable as the last stand of any organised opposition to the Triumvirate.
Marcus Junius Brutus was a plebeian tribune of the Roman Republic in 83 BC and the founder of the colony in Capua. He was an associate of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who led a revolt against the senate after the death of Sulla. He was captured by Pompey and treacherously executed. He was the father of a homonymous son, who assassinated Julius Caesar in 44.
Junia, called Junia Secunda by modern historians to distinguish her from her sisters, was an ancient Roman woman who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the sister of Marcus Brutus, and was married to the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.
Antonia was a Roman noblewoman who married the Greek nobleman Pythodoros of Tralles. She has been identified as the daughter of the general Mark Antony, presumably by his second wife Antonia Hybrida Minor. Theodor Mommsen was the first historian to identify Pythodoros' wife as the same woman as the daughter of Antony who was engaged to a son of the triumvir Lepidus. Mommsen's view has found wide acceptance but is not without its detractors.
Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus was a Roman senator and consul in 25 BC as the colleague of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the emperor Augustus.
Servilia's pearl was a pearl given by Julius Caesar to his favourite mistress Servilia. It was described by imperial biographer Suetonius to be a lone large black pearl worth six million sesterces, making it perhaps the most valuable gem of all time. It may also be the first known individual pearl recorded in human history.
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