Childhood (c.100–c.88)

Stories about the Younger Cato as a child may give some insight into the childhood of his older half-sister, Servilia. She grew up in a rich household, the headquarters of her uncle M. Drusus’s intense political activity. Her academic and social education will have been given by slaves, freedmen, and male and female relations. Drusus, who was trying to enfranchise the Italians, was murdered in his home. Servilia’s father Q. Caepio was killed in war. Servilia and her siblings were left probably to the care of a grandmother, Cornelia. A circle of kin, especially women, was available to provide support, role models, and an involvement with politics.