Gaius Servilius Ahala
Gaius Servilius Ahala was a legendary hero of ancient Rome. He was said to have saved Rome from Spurius Maelius in 439 BC, by killing him with a dagger concealed under an armpit. However, this was likely an aetological myth invented to explain the Servilian cognomen "Ahala"/"Axilla", which means "armpit" and is likely of Etruscan origin.
The fasti list a "C. Servilius Structus Ahala" as consul in 478 BC, and so another version of the myth made Servilius Master of Horse acting on the orders of Cincinnatus.
Livy (bks. 4 and 5) also mentions Servilius serving as consul (427 BC) and as military tribune several times, the last in 402 BC, but the randomness of Servilius' appearances is one of the points that cast doubt on his historicity.
Plutarch life of Brutus says that Brutus' mother Servilia was a descendant of Servilius Ahala, and the ancestral example was an inspiration for his assassination of Julius Caesar.
Referenced By
List of Ancient Romans
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