Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus

Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus ( – 44 BC), was a politician and general of the Roman Republic and a member of the plebeian branch of the gens Servilii. He was elected consul for 79 BC with Appius Claudius Pulcher as his consular collegae. From 78 to 74 BC, as proconsul of Cilicia, he fought against the Cilician Pirates and Isaurian hill tribes in Asia Minor. He was granted the agnomen Isauricus for his victories over the Isaurians. Upon returning to Rome he celebrated a triumph for his victories.

Early career and supporter of Sulla Isauricus was the son of Gaius Servilius Vatia and a member of the plebeian branch of the gens Servilii, while his mother was Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus.

A traditionalist, he was among the group of young Roman nobles who killed Lucius Appuleius Saturninus in the Curia Hostilia after his failed revolt. It has been conjectured that he served as plebeian tribune in 97 BC. He held the office of praetor in 90 BC, following which he was given a propraetoreal governorship in 89 BC, with his province being either Corsica et Sardinia or Cilicia. Because of victories in his province, Isauricus was awarded a triumph in 88 BC upon his return to Rome.

In 88 BC, with the support of the consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Isauricus put himself forward as Sulla's preferred candidate for the consular elections of 87 BC, but was defeated in the subsequent election by Lucius Cornelius Cinna, a supporter of Gaius Marius. In 87 BC, he was one of Sulla's lieutenants in Italy, and he attempted to stop the return of Gaius Marius and his supporters, but was driven from Ariminum by Marcus Marius Gratidianus, who took command of his army. Sometime after this defeat he fled Italy to join Sulla in Greece.

In 84 BC, Isauricus returned to Italy with Sulla. He fought under Sulla in the First Battle of Clusium. Later, in September of 82 BC, Vatia Isauricus was one of Metellus's lieutenants at the Second Battle of Clusium. Sulla won the war and became Dictator, in 79 BC, he appointed Vatia Isauricus as consul alongside Appius Claudius Pulcher. While Isauricus was still consul designate, he opposed the awarding of a triumph to the young Pompey.

Campaign against the pirates

After his consulship Vatia Isauricus was assigned the post of proconsular governor of Cilicia with the responsibility of clearing out the pirates which had been ravaging shipping for many years. His command lasted from 78 until 74 BC. The first year (78) he allocated to the military preparations, the following two years he fought a combined naval and land campaign against pirates and the Isauri in Cilicia. In 77 and 76 he achieved a number of naval victories against the pirates off the Cilician coast, and was able to occupy the Lycian and Pamphylian coasts. After the pirates fled to their fortified strongholds, Vatia Isauricus began attacking their coastal fortresses. He captured the town of Olympos, the stronghold of brigand Zenicetus.

In 75 BC, he advanced across the Taurus Mountains, the first time a Roman army crossed these mountains, and succeeded in defeating the Isaurian hill tribes along the northern slopes. He laid siege to their principal town, Isaura, and managed to capture it after diverting the course of a river, thereby depriving the defenders in the town of their only source of water, after which they surrendered. By 74 BC, Vatia Isauricus had organized the territory he had conquered and incorporated it into the province of Cilicia.

Upon his return to Rome, in 74 BC, he was granted a triumph, as well as being awarded the agnomen Isauricus for his victories in Isauria. After parading the captured pirates in his triumph, he deposited the entire war booty he had captured into the treasury and, unlike his peers, kept none for himself, a feat for which he was widely acclaimed.

Later career By now, Vatia Isauricus was considered one of the leading members of the Roman Senate, and sometime prior to 76 BC, Vatia Isauricus was admitted to the College of Pontiffs. In 70 BC he served as one of the judges in the trial of Gaius Verres. In 66 BC he supported the proposal of Gaius Manilius to give Pompey the command of the renewed war against the pirates.

From 55 to 44 BC Vatia Isauricus was the Princeps Senatus. Due to his being close to 80 years of age, he took no part in the civil wars. He died in the early summer of 44 BC.

Vatia Isauricus was the father of the consul of 48 BC and 41 BC, Publius Servilius Isauricus. He also had a daughter named Servilia.