Сервилия: Мать Брута и возлюбленная Цезаря

1st century BC Roman noblewoman and mother of Brutus

Servilia ( 100 BC – after 42 BC) was a Roman matron from a distinguished family, the Servilii Caepiones. She was the daughter of Quintus Servilius Caepio and Livia, thus the maternal half sister of Cato the Younger. She married Marcus Junius Brutus, with whom she had a son, the Brutus who, along with others in the Senate, assassinated Julius Caesar. After her first husband's death in 77, she married Decimus Junius Silanus, and with him had a son and three daughters. She gained fame as the mistress of Julius Caesar, whom her son Brutus and son in law Gaius Cassius Longinus would assassinate in 44 BC. Her affair with Caesar seems to have been publicly known in Rome at the time. Plutarch stated that she in turn was madly in love with Caesar. The relationship between the two probably started in 59 BC, after the death of Servilia's second husband although Plutarch implied it began when they were teenagers.

Servilia was a patrician who could trace her line back to Gaius Servilius Ahala, and was the of Livia and Quintus Servilius Caepio. Her parents had two other children, a younger Servilia and a Gnaeus Servilius Caepio; her father also likely had another son named Quintus Servilius Caepio from an earlier marriage. They divorced when she was three or four, and her mother then married Marcus Porcius Cato. From this union, Servilia's half brother, Cato the Younger, and half sister, Porcia, were born. However, her mother and stepfather both died before 91 BC. As a result, Servilia, her younger siblings, and her half siblings were all brought up in the house of their maternal uncle, Marcus Livius Drusus. He was assassinated during his tribunate in 91 BC, in his own atrium, when Servilia was nine. Her father was ambushed and killed in the immediately ensuing Social War, a war triggered by Drusus' assassination, mere months after her uncle's murder. After this she was probably brought up either by her other maternal uncle Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, her maternal grandmother Cornelia or her paternal aunt Servilia. At adulthood, Servilia became legally independent and gained a considerable estate. Servilia truly had great influence on her half brother Cato the Younger. He was considered to be tough and wild as a child, which frames Servilia as his equal in those respects. Her first daughter married Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus; An intimate relationship between the two probably started in 59, after the death of Servilia's second husband. The affair was well known and Servilia suffered no damage to her reputation because of this relationship. but it is widely accepted that Caesar held a deep affection for Servilia. Scholars speculate that it was Caesar's affections which allowed the affair to continue for as long as it did. Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being Brutus' real father, despite Caesar being only fifteen years old when Brutus was born. Ancient historians were sceptical of this possibility and "on the whole, scholars have rejected the possibility that Brutus was the love child of Servilia and Caesar on the grounds of chronology". Perhaps out of a desire to avoid offending Servilia, Caesar gave orders that Brutus should not be harmed if encountered after the Pompeian defeat at Pharsalus. When her son – Marcus Junius Brutus – divorced his wife Claudia to marry Cato's daughter Porcia in 45, she disapproved, having been instrumental in arranging the match and also disagreeing with the anti Caesarian stance taken by her half brother Cato. Servilia may also have been jealous of the affection that Brutus showed his new bride. Later that year, Caesar appointed her son urban praetor for 44.

After Caesar's assassination by a conspiracy which included Servilia's son – Brutus – and son in law – Gaius Cassius Longinus – on the Ides of March of 44 BC, It is unlikely she knew anything of the conspiracy, having been on good terms with Caesar until his death; regardless, she worked to protect her relatives from the ensuing political storm. Apart from Servilia, the only women in attendance were Porcia and Junia Tertia. Servilia worked extensively in 44 BC to ensure the safety of her family both by , and by contributing greatly to the discourses during their meetings. Cicero's letters detail other meetings of the senate that Servilia had called to discuss what actions should be taken which would protect her son and sons in law. Cicero described her as a 'nervous lady', which could be understood as politically cautious. Junia Secunda (married Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, future triumvir) A fictionalized Servilia appears in the Emperor series of novels by Conn Iggulden, who has portrayed her as a courtesan. Servilia is a character in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series.

A fictionalised version of Servilia was among the principal characters in the 2005 HBO television series Rome, played by Lindsay Duncan. The Servilia of HBO's Rome was depicted as instigating actor in the plot against Caesar's life; there is no historical evidence thereof. A similarly fictionalised Servilia makes an appearance in the 2005 six part mini series Empire, played by Trudie Styler. Natalie Medlock portrays Servilia in the 2018 Netflix television docudrama series Roman Empire.