Marcus Servilius was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

who was active during the reigns of the emperors

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

. He was ordinary consul in AD 3 as the colleague of Lucius Aelius Lamia. Servilius was the son of Marcus Servilius,

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate ...

in 43 BC. Both were descended from Gaius Servilius Geminus, the

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

who had renounced his patrician status.Syme, "Servilius Nonianus", p. 409 The consul Servilius married the daughter of the Nonius whom

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

proscribed over the possession of a gem. Their son was the historian Servilius Nonianus, himself consul in AD 35.

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

twice mentions Servilius in passing. The first time was when the emperor Tiberius assigned to him the entire estate of Patuleius, a wealthy

equites The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

, even though Patuleius had made the emperor heir to part of his fortune; this gift came in the year 17. In doing this, Tiberius commented that "noble rank ought to have the support of wealth", suggesting that Servilius was relatively impoverished compared to other senators. The second mention was when Aemilia Lepida, ex-wife of

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BC – AD 21), also translated as Cyrenius, was a Roman aristocrat. After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, ...

, was on trial for adultery, attempted murder through poison, and use of astrology against the Imperial house. The emperor Tiberius, who presided over the case, compelled Servilius to provide testimony to defend Quirinius.

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

notes an inscription from Pisidian Antioch that suggests Servilius and Quirinius were possibly friends: the inscription records the two men as successive honorary ''duoviri'' of the city. "Quirinius had been

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

's legate governing the province Galatia-Pamphylia," Syme writes. "What then was the rank and function that explains the honouring of Servilius? Perhaps a legate under Quirinius in his war against the Homonadenses. Perhaps rather governor of Galatia -- either before or after his consulship."Syme, "Servilius Nonianus", p. 412 Little is known about the rest of his life, nor when Servilius died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius, Marcus Imperial Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Empire Marcus