Who is Servius Romanus you might ask? Well, in this episode we’re about to find out. But when we tell you it’ll be brief – we are telling only the truth! On the back of the putative introduction of pay for Roman soldiers in 406 BCE (a much disputed idea in scholarship), Rome is facing challenges from their neighbours. These challenges are coming from many directions, so it’s no doubt a relief when someone helps them out. Enter: Servius Romanus.

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Episode 149 – The Brief Life and Times of Servius Romanus

Siege at Veii!

Watch out Veii, Rome is coming for you! Veii seems to be well aware of the Roman threat, however, and might just be looking to call in the broader Etruscan peoples to support them. How will things pan out for Veii in the years 405 and 404? We consider the fairly limited details for your listening pleasure.

But what about the Volscians?

Rome is facing trouble on multiple fronts (perhaps indicated by the sheer number of military tribunes with consular power listed for both the years 405 and 404). It comes as no surprise that pursuing an aggressive policy against Veii opens the way for more conflict from the Volscii. Listen out for mentions of places including Ferentium, Ecetra, and Artena.

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Aerial photograph of the modern town of Artena in Lazio, Italy.
Photo by FrancescoSchiraldi85 via Wikimedia Commons.

Our Players for 405 BCE

Military Tribunes with Consular Power

• Titus Quinctius T. f. L. n. Capitolinus Barbatus (Pat)





• Quintus Quinctius (L. f. L. n.) Cincinnatus (Pat)





• Gaius Iulius Sp. f. Vopisci n. Iullus (Pat)





• Aulus Manlius A. f. Cn. n. Vulso Capitolinus (Pat)





• Lucius Furius L. f. Sp. n. Medullinus (Pat)





• Manius Aemilius Mam(ercus). f. M(arcus). n. Mamercinus (or Mamercus) (Pat)

Our Players for 404 BCE

Military Tribunes with Consular Power

• Gaius Valerius L. f. Vol. n. Potitus Volusus (Pat)





• Manius Sergius L. f. L. n. Fidenas (Pat)





• Publius Cornelius (M. f. M. n.) Maluginensis (Pat)





• Gnaeus Cornelius P. f. A. n. Cossus (Pat)





• Kaeso Fabius M. f. Q. n. Ambustus (Pat)





• Spurius Nautius Sp. f. Sp. n. Rutilus (Pat)

Things to listen out for

• Challenges with the extant source material





• The organisation of the Etruscan federation





• The Shrine of Voltuma (the Central Perk?)





• What’s going on with the politics of Sicily and Carthage?





• The intriguing modern history of Artena





• Military strategy re citadels in action





• Food security in the ancient world compared with climate change today





• A sneaky mention of Velitrae

Our Sources

• Dr Rad reads Livy, ab Urbe Condita, 4.60-61





• Dr G reads Diodorus Siculus 14.17.1; 14.19.1; Fasti Capitolini for 405 and 404 BCE





• Bradley, G. 2020. Early Rome to 290 BC (Edinburgh University Press).





• Broughton, T. R. S., Patterson, M. L. 1951. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic Volume 1: 509 B.C. – 100 B.C. (The American Philological Association)





• Cornell, T. J. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC) (Taylor & Francis)





• Forsythe, G. 2006. A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War(University of California Press) 





• Lomas, Kathryn (2018). The rise of Rome. History of the Ancient World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/9780674919938. ISBN978-0-674-65965-0. S2CID239349186.





• Ogilvie, R. M. 1965. A Commentary on Livy: Books 1-5 (Clarendon Press). 

Sound Credits

Our theme music was composed by Bettina Joy de Guzman.

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Painted terracotta Etruscan antefix depicting the head of Medusa. From the Portonaccio Temple at Veii, c. 510 BCE.
Held in National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, Rome.
Photo by Carole Raddato via Flickr.

Automated Transcript

Lightly edited for Latin terminology and to support our wonderful Australian accents!

Dr Rad 0:12
Welcome to the Partial Historians.

Dr G 0:15
We explore all the details of ancient Rome.

Dr Rad 0:20
Everything from political scandals to love affairs, the battles waged, and when citizens turn against each other. I’m Dr. Rad.

Dr G 0:30
And I’m Dr. G. We consider Rome as the Romans saw it by reading different ancient authors and comparing their accounts.

Dr Rad 0:41
Join us as we trace the journey of Rome from the founding of the city.

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Partial Historians. I am one of your hosts, Dr. Rad.

Dr G 1:02
And I am Dr. G.

Dr Rad 1:04
Welcome back, everybody! We are getting so very close to the turn of the century. Here, we’re edging our way closer and closer with every episode. In fact, I think this episode, we’re going to do two years in one episode, I’m just I just have a feeling.

Dr G 1:21
Look, I definitely have that feeling. But that might be because I have so many gaps in my source material.

Dr Rad 1:28
You’re not alone. I don’t have much in my particular source material this time. But we’re excited to be talking once more about ancient Rome listeners, and what was happening at this particularly interesting time in their history.

Dr G 1:43
It is 405 BCE. And that’s where we’ll, that’s where we’ll be starting out in this.

Dr Rad 1:50
But before we do that, Dr. G, I think we need to do a bit of a recap, because the last year was pretty significant.

Dr G 1:58
It was, but I’ll level with you. I can’t really remember. But I think that’s my source material.

Dr Rad 2:04
That’s the best way to remember that something was important!

Dr G 2:08
It was all about the vibe. Wasn’t it?

Dr Rad 2:10
Okay. So whilst there are, obviously, you know, some questions that we had, if we’re going to believe the account that we have from Livy, who is our major narrative source at this point for ancient Roman history, it was the year that military pay was introduced. That’s what we were talking about last time. Finally, there was an actual kind of more or less state funded military pay that was introduced in the previous episode, and everyone lost their collective minds.

Dr G 2:43
They did, because we also have what amounts to a dual or triple military sort of pronged situation where the Volscii are causing an issue. The Aequians might be also a problem. And then there’s also the issue with Veii.

Dr Rad 2:58
Yes, the Etruscans once again, rearing their ugly heads in the north.

Dr G 3:04
And I think we should put a big asterisk next to soldiers pay, because this seems to be in at best, maybe a one off payment for some difficult conditions being faced, and potentially the need to overwinter in a location rather than return home, stay warm at home and nice and cozy, and then go back out in springtime, which is the usual way that Roman campaigning seems to have operated.

Dr Rad 3:32
Yes, this is a chilly money situation. It may not even be money