Editing Servius Tullius (section)

===Birth===
Claims of divine ancestry and divine favour were often attached to charismatic individuals who rose "as if from nowhere" to become dynasts, tyrants and hero-founders in the ancient Mediterranean world.<ref>Cornell, 132–133: these include [[Caeculus]], legendary founder of [[Praeneste]]: dynastic founders such as [[Sargon of Akkad|Sargon]], [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] and [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy Soter]]: and tyrants and usurpers such as [[Cypselus]], [[Agathocles of Syracuse|Agathocles]] and [[Hiero II of Syracuse|Hiero II]].</ref> Yet all these legends offer the father as divine, the mother – virgin or not – as princess of a ruling house, never as slave. The disembodied phallus and its impregnation of a virgin slave of Royal birth are unique to Servius.<ref>Servius' extraordinary paternity and maternity as native Roman founder-traditions are discussed in Wiseman, T. P.  ''Remus: A Roman Myth''.  New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995, 58–60.</ref> Livy and Dionysius ignore or reject the tales of Servius' supernatural virgin birth; though his parents came from a conquered people, both are of noble stock. His ancestry is an accident of fate, and his character and virtues are entirely Roman. He acts on behalf of the Roman people, not for personal gain; these Roman virtues are likely to find favour with the gods, and win the rewards of good fortune.<ref>Cornell, 130–133.</ref>

The details of Servius' servile birth, miraculous conception and links with divine Fortuna were doubtless embellished after his own time, but the core may have been propagated during his reign.<ref>[[Alexandre Grandazzi|Grandazzi]], 45.</ref> His unconstitutional and seemingly reluctant accession, and his direct appeal to the Roman masses over the heads of the senate may have been interpreted as signs of tyranny. Under these circumstances, an extraordinary personal charisma must have been central to his success. When Servius expanded Rome's influence and boundaries, and reorganised its citizenship and armies, his "new Rome" was still centered on the ''Comitium'', the ''[[Casa Romuli]]'' or "hut" of Romulus. Servius became a second Romulus, a benefactor to his people, part human, part divine;<ref>Grandazzi, 206–211.</ref> but his slave origins remain without parallel, and make him all the more remarkable: for Cornell, this is "the most important single fact about him".<ref>Cornell, 131, 146.</ref> The story of his servile birth evidently circulated far beyond Rome; [[Mithridates VI of Pontus]] sneered that Rome had made kings of ''servos vernasque Tuscorum'' (Etruscan slaves and domestic servants).<ref>Cornell, p. 132.</ref>