Bruttiani

Slaves whose duty it was to wait on Roman magistrates. The name is commonly explained as due to the fact that these slaves were originally taken from among the Bruttians, because this people remained steadfastly faithful to Hannibal (Aul. Gell. x. 3. 19); but both Strabo (vi. 2. 4) and Diodorus (xvi. 15) state that the word signifies in the Lucanian dialect “revolted slaves.”