Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus was the adoptive son of

Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus was a Roman statesman and consul (145 BC). Fabius was by adoption a member of the patrician gens Fabia, but by birth he was the eldest son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus and Papiria Masonis and the eld ...

and the natural son of Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul in 169 BC)--hence the adoptive cognomen Servilianus. He was consul of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

in 142 BC together with

Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus (c. 200 BC or before 178 BC – after 136 BC) was a Roman statesman. He was a son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus and brother of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus. First Calvus used to be a Praetor, later a ...

. He was the brother of Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul of 141 BC and censor in 125) and

Quintus Servilius Caepio Quintus Servilius Caepio may refer to: * Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul 140 BC) * Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul 106 BC) * Quintus Servilius Caepio (quaestor 103 BC) * Quintus Servilius Caepio (adoptive father of Brutus) * Quintus Servilius ...

(consul in 140 BC). All three brothers were commanders in the Roman Province of

Hispania Ulterior Hispania Ulterior (English: "Further Hispania", or occasionally "Thither Hispania") was a Roman province located in Hispania (on the Iberian Peninsula) during the Roman Republic, roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of moder ...

(Further Spain) and fought in the

Lusitanian War The Lusitanian Wars, called ''Pyrinos Polemos'' ("the Fiery War") in Greek, were wars of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians re ...

. Servilianus was born into the patrician gens Servilia before his adoption. His early career is unknown, but it is speculated that he would have been elected

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 ...

by 145 BC. Servilianus was also a priest and member of the

College of Pontiffs The College of Pontiffs (; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Rome, ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the Religion in ancient Rome, state religion. The college consisted of the ''pontifex maximus'' an ...

. He wrote twelve books on sacred laws. After his election as consul in 142 BC, Servilianus was sent to

and was given command of the

. He took with him two legions and a number of allied forces, totaling 18,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry. He asked King Micipsa, the king of Numidia, for some elephants, and received ten elephants and 300 cavalry. Servilianus fought against

Viriathus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, Spanish; died 139 Anno Domini, BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanians, Lusitanian people that resisted Roman Republic, Roma ...

, the leader of the Lusitanians. The story of this campaign was related by

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

. As he was marching on Uticca with his army formed into divisions, Viriathus attacked him with 6,000 troops, but was repulsed. When the rest of the army arrived, Servilianus built a large camp, then moved against Viriathus and defeated him. However, the pursuit was disorderly and Viriathus rallied, driving the Romans into their camp, killing 3,000 in the process, and then attacked the camp until nightfall. He made daily incursions until he forced Servilianus to return to Uticca. Viriathus ran short of supplies and returned to Lusitania. Servilianus did not pursue him. Instead, he plundered Baeturia and seized five towns which had sided with Viriathus. The chiefs of a gang of robbers,

Curius and Apuleius Curius and Apuleius were chieftains of the Lusitanians, a proto-Celtic tribe from western Hispania. They were active at the last phase of the Lusitanian War. Biography Sources describe them as heading a gang of robbers that fought Quintus Fabiu ...

, attacked the Romans with 10,000 men. This threw off the Romans and they seized some booty. Servilianus soon recovered the booty. He captured Escadia, Gemella, and Obolcola, which had been garrisoned by Viriathus. He plundered some cities, but spared others. He captured 10,000 prisoners, beheading 500 of them and selling the others into slavery. He received the surrender of Conoba, a "captain of robbers" and released him and his men, but cut off their hands.

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube frontier ...

wrote that he cut off the right hands of deserters.

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

, whose work was biased, wrote that he "cut off the hands of five hundred Lusitanian chiefs who had been tempted by his offer of an alliance and had been received in accordance with the law of surrender." Servilianus then went to winter camps. Servilianus then went after Viriathus. He besieged the city of Erisana, one of Viriathus' cities. Viriathus entered the town at night and at dawn he drove off the Romans who were working in the trenches. Servilianus lined up the rest of the army for battle, but was defeated and driven to some cliffs and pinned down. Viriathus took advantage of this to sue for peace on favourable terms. Servilianus agreed a treaty which allowed his followers <--Viriathus' followers?--> to keep the territory they already possessed. This was ratified by the Roman senate and Viriathus was declared a friend of Rome. The peace did not last long. Two years later his brother Quintus Servilius Caepio became consul and went to Hispania Ulterior. He was not happy with the peace and said that it was unworthy of the dignity of the Romans. He pressured the senate until he obtained the resumption of hostilities. Later in his career Servilianus could have probably been censor before presumably murdering his son because of his lack of chastity; being prosecuted and forced into exile; although this episode is still being discussed, theorizing that

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worke ...

made a mistake and was in fact talking about

Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus (fl. 2nd century BC) was a Roman statesman of the patrician ''gens'' Fabia. He was consul in 116 BC. Family Eburnus was the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus, consul in 142 BC, himself adopted from the g ...

, because

Pompeius Strabo Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo ( – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as consul in 89 BC. He is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo, to distinguish him from his son, the famous Pompey the Great, or from Strabo the geograp ...

seems to have been the one prosecuting, a contemporary of the latter.Orosius, History against the Pagans, 5.16.8.

References

Bibliography

* Appian, Roman History, Book 6, The Spanish Wars * Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1951) *Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''(1867) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabius Maximus Servilianus, Quintus 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman adoptees Servilianus, Quintus Roman governors of Hispania Senators of the Roman Republic Servilii Caepiones Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown