Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the sixth king of Rome in ancient tradition, conventionally assigned a reign of 578–535 BCE. Later writers credited him with important changes in civic and military organisation. Accounts of his origins and the precise reforms are not contemporary documentary records.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus connected Servius with a captive woman from Corniculum raised in Tarquin’s household. Emperor Claudius presented an Etruscan tradition identifying him as Mastarna, an associate of Caelius Vibenna. The François Tomb paintings are important for comparing these traditions, but do not resolve every contradiction.
Reforms traditionally associated with Servius include: - territorial allocation of citizens to tribes; four urban tribes were associated with the king, while the number and establishment of rural tribes remain disputed; - a property census and five classes, distinguished from citizens with minimal property; - military duties related to wealth and the ability to provide equipment; - centuriate organisation and voting that favoured wealthy groups.
Livy describes 193 centuries, including 80 first-class infantry centuries, 18 cavalry centuries and other groups. This is a later scheme that cannot simply be projected into the sixth century BCE. The entire first class did not serve in the cavalry. Monetary assessments in asses may likewise reflect later conditions rather than the original measure of wealth.
Tradition credited the king with fortifying Rome. However, the major surviving stretches of the so-called Servian Wall belong chiefly to the fourth century BCE, not directly to his reign. Earlier defences and later rebuilding must be distinguished.
The reforms’ historical importance lies in the growing role of territorial and property-based organisation alongside kinship. Their dating, sequence and attribution to one king remain subjects of research.
Fresco from the tomb of Francois of Vulci depicting Mastarna (Etruscan name Servius Tullius). 2nd floor. IV century BC,Villa Albani,Rome
Servian wall at Termini station. Modern look.
Page with images of Roman kings from the book "Portrait of Ancient Rome" by Totti Pompilio.1633Related topics
Literature and sources
1. Belkin M. V., Verzhbitsky K. V. Istoriya Drevnego Rima [History of Ancient Rome]. Training manual. 2nd ed., ispr. and add. - St. Petersburg: SPbU,2007 2. Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Roman antiquities/ in 3 volumes, Moscow: Rubezhi XXI,2005 3. History of the ancient world. East, Greece, Rome. textbook / I. A. Ladynin [et al.]. - Moscow: Slovo: Eksmo,2004 4. Kovalev S. I. Istoriya Rima [History of Rome]. New edition, revised and expanded/Ed. by Prof. E. D. Frolov. - St. Petersburg.:"Polygon Publishing House. 2002. 5. Mashkin N. A. Istoriya Drevnego Rima [History of Ancient Rome], Moscow: Vysshaya shkola Publ.,2006 6. Titus Livy. Istoriya Rima ot osnovaniya goroda [History of Rome from the foundation of the city].
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