SERVIUS HONORATUS, MAURUS (or MARms), Roman grammarian and commentator on Virgil, flourished at the end of the 4th century A.D. He is one of the interlocutors in the Saturnalia of Macrobius, and allusions in that work and a letter from Symmachus to Servius show that he was a pagan. He was one of the most favourable examples of the Roman "grammatici" and the most learned man of his time. He is chiefly known for his commentary on Virgil, which has come down to us in two distinct forms. The first is a comparatively short commentary, definitely attributed to Servius in the superscription in the mss. and by other evidence. A second class of mss. (all going back to the loth or nth century) presents a much expanded com mentary, mostly clearly of ancient origin.
The real Servian commentary practically gives the only com plete extant edition of a classic author written before the de struction of the empire. It is constructed very much on the prin ciple of a modern edition, and is partly founded on the extensive Virgilian literature of preceding times, much of which is known only from the fragments and facts preserved in the commentary.
The notices of Virgil's text supply valuable information concern ing the ancient recensions of Virgil. Besides the Virgilian commentary, other works of Servius are extant: a collection of notes on the grammar (Ars) of Aelius Donatus; a treatise on metrical endings (De finalibus) ; and a tract on the different metres (De centum metres).
Editions of the Virgilian commentary by G. Fabricius (1551) ; P. Daniel, who first published the enlarged commentary (I600) ; and G. Thilo and H. Hagen (1878-1902). See E. Thomas, Essai sur Servius (188o) ; 0. Ribbeck's Virgil ; Journal of Philology, x. (1882) ; W. A. Baehrens, Cornelius Labeo (Leipzig, 1918). The smaller works are in Keil's Grammatici Latini, vol. iv.