Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala (died 478 BC) was a Roman senator from the early

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, who held the office of

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

in 478 BC. During his term of office he commanded two legions in a war against the

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

. His lack of success and the heavy casualties incurred by the army led Servilius to avoided pitched battles and revert to skirmishing with the enemy. Servilius's colleague in office,

Lucius Aemilius Mamercus Lucius Aemilius Mamercus was a Roman statesman who served as consul three times: in 484, 478 and 473 BC.Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'', 2.42 In 484 BC, as consul, Aemilius led the Roman forces in battle against the Volsci and Aequi. The Romans were ...

, waged war with greater success against the

Veii Veii (also Veius; ) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the city-st ...

.Dionysius
9.16
/ref> According to the ''

Fasti Capitolini The ''Fasti Capitolini'', or Capitoline Fasti, are a list of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, extending from the early fifth century BC down to the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Together with similar lists found at Rom ...

'', Servilius died in office, and was replaced by one Esquilinus. Servilius's name is confused in the ancient sources.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

calls him Gaius Servilius simply; the ''Fasti Capitolini'' add Structus Ahala and the suffect Esquilinus;

Dionysius The name Dionysius (; ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; ) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name of the Greek god, Dionysus, parallel ...

has Gaius Sergius; and

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...

, Gaius Cornelius Lentulus. Johannes Weber, following the evidence of Dionysius and Diodorus, argued that the name of Servilius is a later interpolation, and that the consul of 478 was confused in the sources with Servilius Structus, consul just two years later, in 476 BC. He also considered that the surname 'Ahala', which is only attested by the Capitoline ''Fasti'', was retrojected from the later figure of

Gaius Servilius Ahala Gaius Servilius Ahala ( 439 BC) was a 5th-century BC politician of ancient Rome, considered by many later writers to have been a hero. His fame rested on the contention that he saved Rome from Spurius Maelius in 439 BC by killing him with a dagg ...

, the famous murderer of

Spurius Maelius Spurius Maelius (died 439 BC) was a wealthy Roman plebeian who was slain because he was suspected of intending to make himself king. Biography During a severe famine, Spurius Maelius bought up a large amount of wheat and sold it at a low price to ...

. Weber was ultimately inclined to accept Diodorus's Lentulus as belonging to the best tradition. Broughton, on the other hand, accepted "Servilius" as authentic and regarded Dionysius's Sergius as a corruption. He also rejected Diodorus's "Gaius Cornelius Lentulus", since the Lentuli appear much later in history and they never used the name "Gaius". Ridley considers the matter uncertain.

Endnotes

References

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Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

, ''Roman Antiquities'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Structus Ahala, Gaius 5th-century BC deaths 5th-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman generals Structus Ahala, Gaius