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Interesting Information

Importance

  • She was Julius Caesar's mistress, through an affair
  • She was the mother of one of the chiefs in the assassination of Julius Caesar
  • She didn't behave and act like a typical Roman mistress
  • She didn't wait around for Caesar, she was bold, brave and wanted to make her opinion known
  • Contrasted stereotypes and ideologies about women in the ancient world
  • Heavily involved with political decisions
  • Servilia is invaluable to ancient sources

  • She was very unique compared to any other Ancient Roman woman and thus would be perfect to study in detail

THANKYOU!

Brutus

Julius Caesar

Servilia Caeponis

Women in the Ancient World

Areas of Debate with Historiography

Was Servilia Powerful?

Was Servilia involved in the Assassination of her lover?

Sources

  • Brutus was one of the chiefs in the assassination, and confided with Porcia. Possible that he confided with Servilia

  • One of the motives of Servilia could've been revenge as she got rejected by Julius Caesar in terms of marriage

  • My opinion is that Servilia was involved in the assassination with Brutus telling her the plans
  • Majority of women were powerless in Ancient Rome, this is not the case with Servilia because of her political prowess

  • Servilia ran consul meetings and spoke her mind when Cicero and Julius Caesar had political discussions, which in one case made Cicero angry

  • My opinion is Servilia was a prominent figure and had an influence on Julius Caesar's political discussions

"Primary Sources were substantially more useful than secondary"

Julius Caesar's Assassination

Servilia in "Rome"

"The most unique Roman mistress"

Primary

Secondary

Did the pearl and the love letter really exist?

Thesis Question-What if there was no affair and what affect would it have?

Primary Sources included:

  • Cicero's and Suetonious' Letters

-Provided closer and more intimate insight into the life of Servilia

-Showed her relationship and conversations with Julius Caesar

-Highlighted her political power

-Made reference to a love letter and pearl, which opens historiographical debate

Secondary Sources included:

  • 2005 TV Show "Rome":

-Information was incorrect

-Was made to entertain and dramatize the show rather than give information

-Cut corners and severed links

  • Richard Bauman Article:

-Although provided correct information, would be better to find from Cicero's (primary perspective)

  • We have no physical evidence of these two items existing, we'd have to rely on the word of Cicero and Suetonious

  • Cicero came into direct contact with Servilia on many occasions making his word more likely

  • These items could've been interpreted differently

  • My opinion is that the letter and pearl held a different meaning back then, to what it is

today

  • This question itself poses many different ones, i.e., Would the assassination still have occurred?, How much would've Rome been affected without Servilia's output?

  • All these questions have no conclusive answer, and are up to an individual's interpretation

  • In my opinion, they did indeed have an affair, with the sources from Cicero being too good to turn down

Cicero's Letters

Statue of Servilia

Depiction of Julius Caesar

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