Vatia Isauricus, P. Servilius
1.
A Roman consul in B.C. 79, who was sent in the following year as proconsul to Cilicia, in
order to clear the seas of the pirates, whose ravages now spread far and wide. He carried on
the war with great ability and success, and from his conquest of the Isauri he obtained the
surname of Isauricus. After giving Cilicia the organization of a Roman province he entered
Rome in triumph in 74. After his return Servilius took a leading part in public affairs. In
70 he was one of the
iudices at the trial of Verres; in 66 he supported
the rogation of Manilius for conferring upon Pompey the command of the war against the
pirates; in 63 he was a candidate for the dignity of Pontifex Maximus, but was defeated by
Iulius Caesar; in the same year he spoke in the Senate in favour of inflicting the extreme
penalty upon the Catilinarian conspirators; in 57 he joined the other nobles in procuring
Cicero's recall from banishment; in 56 he opposed the restoration of Ptolemy to his kingdom;
and in 55 he was censor with M. Valerius Messala Niger. He took no part in the Civil Wars,
probably on account of his advanced age, and died in 44.
2.
A Roman praetor, in B.C. 54, who belonged originally to the aristocratic party, but
espoused Caesar's side on the breaking out of the Civil War, and was consul with Caesar in
48. In 46 he governed the province of Asia as proconsul, during which time Cicero wrote to
him several letters. After the death of Caesar in 44, he supported Cicero and the rest of the
aristocratic party, in opposition to Antony; but became reconciled to Antony, and was again
consul in 41.
