Macstrna

Macstrna is the man with the knife. In the François Tomb at Vulci he is painted cutting the bonds from Caile Vipinas while the rest of the Vulcian band falls on champions from Volsinii, Sovana and Rome — the decisive act of the whole frieze. What makes him more than a figure in a painting is the emperor Claudius, who knew Etruscan antiquities well and told the Senate that this Mastarna, companion of Caelius Vibenna, was the man Rome remembered as its sixth king, Servius Tullius. The equation is ancient and considered, and it is recorded here as Claudius's claim rather than acted on by merging the records.

Variant accounts

• Claudius identified Macstrna with Servius Tullius.In his speech on admitting Gallic notables to the Senate, the emperor Claudius — himself a student of Etruscan antiquities — states that the Mastarna of the Vulcian tradition was the man the Romans called Servius Tullius. The identification is an ancient claim by a well-informed author, not a modern conjecture, but it is a claim: the registry records it here and does not merge this figure with any Roman king record.The emperor Claudius, equating Mastarna with Servius Tullius. (primary)

Domains

• war
• kingship and sovereignty

Relations

• companion: Caile VipinasCompanion of Caile Vipinas, whom he frees in the tomb frieze and with whom Claudius pairs him.François Tomb, Vulci — Macstrna frees the bound Caile Vipinas. (archaeological); The emperor Claudius, on Caelius Vibenna and his companion Mastarna. (primary)

Sources

• Macstrna is an Etruscan figure painted in the François Tomb at Vulci cutting free the bound Caile Vipinas; the emperor Claudius names him the companion of Caelius Vibenna and identifies him with the Roman king Servius Tullius.: François Tomb, Vulci, battle frieze. (archaeological); The emperor Claudius, on the adventures of Caelius Vibenna and his companion Mastarna, whom he equates with Servius Tullius. (primary)