Spurius Servilius Structus was a

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

in 476 BC.

Titus Livius 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 ...

, ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'', ii. 51. Following their defeat of the Roman army at the

Battle of the Cremera The Battle of the Cremera was fought between the Roman Republic and the Etruscan city of Veii, in . It most likely occurred on 18 July, although Ovid gives a different date of 13 February. Background Since the overthrow of the Roman monarchy ...

in 477 BC, the

Veientes Veii (also Veius; ) was an important ancient Etruscan civilization, Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the Comuni of the Province of Rome, comune of Rome ...

marched on Rome and had occupied the

Janiculum The Janiculum (; ), occasionally known as the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the pro ...

. There they remained at the beginning of Servilius' consulship. Both consuls, Servilius and his colleague

Aulus Verginius Aulus (abbreviated A.) is one of the small group of common forenames found in the culture of ancient Rome. The name was traditionally connected with Latin ''aula'', ''olla'', "palace", but this is most likely a false etymology. ''Aulus'' in fact p ...

, remained in Rome to deal with the threat. The Veientes marched from the Janiculum and crossed the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

, and assaulted the camp of Servilius. His force successfully repulsed the Veientes, who retreated to the Janiculum. The following morning Servilius' army took position at the foot of the Janiculum, and marched up the slope to attack the enemy. The battle went badly for the Romans, until a force led by the other consul Verginius attacked the Veientes from the rear, whereupon the Veientes were cut off and soundly defeated. In 475 BC, immediately after Servilius' term as consul had ended, the

tribunes Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

Lucius Caedicius and Titus Statius brought charges against him for his poor conduct of the war against the Veientes. According to Livy, Servilius spoke boldly in defence of the charges. In particular, Servilius upbraided the assembly for convicting

Titus Menenius Lanatus Titus Menenius Lanatus (died 476 BC) was a Roman patrician who was elected consul for the year 477 BC. He unsuccessfully fought the Veiientes, and was later prosecuted by the tribunes of the plebs for his failure to prevent the disaster of the ...

the previous year, leading to his death from shame. Servilius' consular colleague, Verginius, also spoke in Servilius' defence, and Servilius was acquitted. In the same year Servilius served as

legate Legate may refer to: People * Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr * Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor * William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur Political and religious offices *Legatus, a hig ...

under the consul

Publius Valerius Poplicola Publius Valerius Poplicola or Publicola (died 503 BC) was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year o ...

. Broughton, vol i. pp.28

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Structus, Spurius 5th-century BC Roman consuls Structus, Spurius