Social War's-Q Servilius Caepio:Son of a disgraced general, father to Servilia and grandpa to Brutus

Supposedly the descendant of the Brutus who chased tyrants out of Rome hundreds of years before. Son of a consul and general and related to the Gens Caecilia on his mother's side. Sounds like he is gonna set the ancient world on fire...



But his life was more like another type of fire...



Talk about being a born loser. Just like his dad, also named Servilius, our Servilius would lose an entire army (though, you could say that his dad lost 2 armies on account of his unwillingness to work with his Sr officer due to him being a novus homo) while fighting what he would have considered inferiors, due to his massive ego. Though, unlike his pops, whom was banished from Rome and forbidden fire and water within eight hundred miles of the city, the younger Servilius would die in battle along with his troops at the hands of the Marsi during the second year of the Social Wars.



Good thing nothing could further besmirch his good name. Oh, other than his daughter Servilia being a known adultress and lover of Julius Caesar. She was said to be "The love of Caesar's life"! Whoever said that never saw Julius look into a mirror.


(Not bad, JC!)

Oh yeah, and his grandson betraying and then murdering that great man (though you could say that was an act of honor) after Caesar had saved his life (and was even rumored to be his actual father).

(Insert Image of Ryro's Eid Mar here: Image missing)

Before the social war and his untimely demise, in 103 BCE Servilius was made quaestor urbanus which put him in charge of the Roman treasury and in charge of minting coins.
Happy to say that in the last Nomos Obols auction I was able to nab one such coin:


Q. Servilius Caepio, 100 BC. Denarius (Silver, 19.5 mm, 3.87 g, 11 h), Rome. PISO · / CAEPIO · Q Laureate head of Saturn to right; behind, harpa; below, trident. Rev. AD · FRV · EMV / EX · S · C Two quaestors seated left on stools between two wheat stalks. Babelon (Calpurnia) 5. Crawford 330/1a. Sydenham 603. Die-break on obverse, otherwise, very fine.

From the Trausnitz Collection, ex G. Hirsch 187, 19 September 1995, 865

Purchased from Nomos Obols Feb 2021

"This silver denarius was minted in Rome by Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus and Quintus Servilius Caepio in 100 BC. It was a special issue, authorised by the Senate and minted by the quaestors.
The obverse portrays Saturn, the god of agriculture, with a laurel wreath and braided beard. Behind him is a harpa (a sickle-shaped sword) and below him a trident. Around Saturn is the inscription 'PISO. CAEPIO. Q', referring to the quaestors.
Q. Caepio was a quaestor (financial official) who objected to a proposal to let the people buy corn at a reduced rate. The proposal was carried, and the Senate ordered the quaestors to strike this special issue in order to comply with the measure."

So please post your coins of Servilius, the Social war, reverse of coins that look like two guys roasting hot dogs over an open fire, thoughts or anything else related!

 

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Nice coin and writeup, @Ryro ... ooooo, and MAPS!

MARSIC WAR


RR AR Quinarius 89 BCE M Porcius Cato Liber Bacchus - Victory- Crawford 343-2. Sear 248



RR Titurius Sabinus 89 BCE AR Denarius Tarpeia buried shields S 251 Cr 344-2a


GRANDSON


Roman Republic 54 BCE
AR Denarius, 18.3mm, 3.7g
Moneyer: Marcus Iunius Brutus (aka Quintus Servillius Caepio Brutus)
Obv: Bare hd of L. Iunius Brutus (Consul 509 BCE), Bearded r, BRVTVS behind
Rev: Bare hd of C. Servilius Ahala (Master of the Horse 439 BCE), bearded r, AHALA behind
Ref: Sear 398, Crawford 433/2,
from collection W. Esty CKXSUB 613

 

Very nice! LOVE the ancient scratches on the face of Brutus
Cato the younger was Servilia's half brother:

M. Porcius Cato
Quinarius (89 BCE). Rome.
Obv: M CATO.
Head of Liber right, wearing ivy-wreath; control (if any) below not visible.
Rev: VICTRIX.
Victory seated right, holding patera and palm branch.
Crawford 343/2b (2a for type without control).
Weight: 1.38 g.

 

Historically a very interesting coin!


The populist "cheap grain" law referred to on the coin (AD FRVmentum EMVndum = "for buying grain") was sponsored by Gaius Marius via his ally and tribune of the plebs, Saturninus. Marius had been elected consul for the 6th time, and they also had an allied praetor, Glaucia - the elections had been rigged by bribery and even murder. The trio simultaneously sponsored an agrarian law designed to give land to Marius's veterans. These laws were hugely contentious and their passage was preceded by much violence, some of it sponsored by Caepio and other senators. I figure that must be Caepio on the right saying "Sorry, I tried, don't blame me!!"

Here's an earlier (103 BCE) Saturninus coin:


At the end of the year, Saturninus was again elected tribune, but the brutal assassination of Gaius Memmius to make way for Glaucia's election as consul went too far, and the Senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum directing Marius to defend the State. Marius defeated a mob fighting for Saturninus and tried to spare Saturninus by securing him in the Curia, but he was killed by members of the aristocratic party who climbed onto the roof and pelted him with heavy roof tiles. Glaucia was dragged out of the house he had hidden in and was also killed.

All this forms the climax to Colleen McCullough's wonderful book, The First Man in Rome.

 

I like your Saturninus, @Severus Alexander !

I read that book... fun read.


RR 104 BC Saturninus Roma Saturn holding Sickle Quad 2 dots-V Sear 193 Craw 317-3a var


Here is C Memmius (probly a son), and from the Social War...


RR L and C Memmius L F Galeria 87 BCE AR Denarius Saturn harpa EX S C Venus driving Biga Cupid flying above, Sear 262 Crawford 349-1

 

Wonderful toning and excellent background to the importance of the coin! As well, I didn't know that Saturninus had coins! One more for the list. Thanks so much SA!
Speaking of Marius, talk about a twist of irony here: As mentioned at the top, Q Servilius's dad had refused to work with the more Sr general due to him being a novus homo "new man" which led to both of their armies being destroyed.
Well, Jr was given co-command with Marius, the same man whose lex agraria he was against as well as Marius being a novus homo, (who, rightly, thought he should be given sole command) and tried giving Marius commands! Which Marius promptly ignored leaving Caepio alone. This ultimately leading to the ambush and massacre of Servilius and all his men.
On a side note, kinda funny that he had to make a coin commemorating a bill he stood against.
Oh, and another silly side note; 100 BCE (some say 101) is generally the year agreed upon as the year of Julius Caesar's birth. Soooo much history for one little inconspicuous coin to contain
Here's another Servilius coin from that year. However, we know very little about this Servilius, other than it being assumed that he is the father of the tribune of the plebs, Servilius Rullus, who opposed Cisero in 63 BCE on the lex Servilia:


P. Servilius M. f. Rullus

AR Denarius. Rome, 100 BCE. Helmeted bust of Minerva left wearing aegis, RVLLI behind / Victory, holding palm frond and reins, driving galloping biga right, P below; SERVILI M F in exergue. Crawford 328/1; Sydenham 601; Servilia 14.

 

Nice coin, @Ryro , I like the cracks. Is the coin in pieces or are they still connected? Very cool.

I have one of those:


RR Servius Rullus MF Rufus 100 BCE AR Den Minerva Victory Biga Sear 207 Craw 328-1 Left

 

Very nice! FUN reverse ta boot!
Poor thing was busted in the mail when my dad ordered it. It was a gift from him when I first started collecting.

 

Educational write-up, @Ryro! Sounds like the dude wasn't the sort of "flaming youth" KISS would sing about.



My only social-war-related coin is this denarius of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, of which everyone seems to have an example.


L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 BC.
Roman AR denarius, 3.68 g, 18.1 mm, 8 h.
Rome, 90 BC.
Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right; ΨXXXVIII behind.
Rev: Horseman right with palm-branch in left hand and reins in right hand; CVII above, L·PISO FRVGI / ROMA monogram below.
Refs: Ghey, Leins & Crawford 340.1.84; RSC Calpurnia 11; Sydenham (CRR) 664b; BMCRR 1928; Sear 235.
Notes: Double die match to BMC specimen.