Quintus Servilius Caepio ( 68–58 BC) was a Roman aristocrat, and the adoptive father of

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) 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 reta ...

, the assassin of

Julius 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

Biography

Geiger conjectured that Caepio was a son of

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 ...

, from an unknown wife before

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

. This would make the younger Caepio an elder half-brother of Servilia the mother of Brutus, and a different man from Cato the Younger's half brother Servilius Caepio. Marshall found Geiger's argument compelling, as did Strachan, but Treggiari was skeptical. According to a tentative reconstruction of his life, Caepio may have held the

quaestor A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...

ship by about 69 BC, which would have given him senatorial rank. He then served as a deputy (''

legatus A legate (Latin: , ) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in comman ...

'') to the general

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

in the campaign against the

Cilician pirates Cilician pirates dominated the Mediterranean Sea from the 2nd century BC until their suppression by Pompey in 67–66 BC. Because there were notorious pirate strongholds in Cilicia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), the term ...

and then in the Mithridatic War. By 59 BC, he had adopted his relative

. In 58 BC, he appears for the last time in history as a creditor of

Quintus Tullius Cicero Quintus Tullius Cicero ( , ; 102 BC – 43 BC) was a Roman statesman and military leader, as well as the younger brother of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, so ...

, and probably died not long after. He is believed to have been married to a daughter of

Quintus Hortensius Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a Roman lawyer, an orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'', after a fam ...

, (possibly the orator

Hortensia ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...

) since an inscription describes Hortensius son Hortalus as Brutus' uncle.

Identification with Julia's fiancé

In 59 BC a Servilius Caepio supported

against the other consul of that year, Marcus Bibulus, and was by that time betrothed to Caesar's daughter Julia, but in the end she was given instead to Caesar's ally, Pompey. This Caepio was then promised to Pompey's own daughter, but it is unknown if the union ever cemented. This reconstruction depends on the identity of several Servilii and Caepiones in scattered mentions, which is doubted by Treggiari. Pelling also doubts the identity of the Julia's betrothed with Brutus's adoptive father.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Caepio, Quintus 1st-century BC Romans Family of Marcus Junius Brutus Family of Servilia (mother of Brutus)

Quintus Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus (praenomen), Quintus'', a common Latin language, Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is ...

Year of birth unknown