In his eleventh opera, _Servilia_, Rimsky-Korsakov makes one of his rare excursions in search of a subject outside Russian folk-lore or history. The libretto is based upon a drama by his favourite author Mey, but the scene of the plot is laid in Rome. In _Servilia_ Rimsky-Korsakov returns once more to the declamatory style, as exemplified in _Mozart and Salieri_, without, however, entirely abandoning the use of the _leitmotif_. The first performance of the work took place at the Maryinsky Theatre in the autumn of 1902. Servilia's passionate love for the Tribune Valerius Rusticus, from which she suddenly turns on her conversion to Christianity in the last act of the opera, offers considerable opportunities for psychological delineation. But "the inward strife between her pagan passion and ascetic instincts," says Cheshikin, "is not enacted on the stage; it takes place chiefly behind the scenes and the spectator is shown only the result." It is not surprising that the success of the opera does not lie in the delineation of the heroine but in certain interesting details, and especially in the skilful use of local colour. The Hymn to Athena in the first act; the Anacreontic song for Montanus in the second act (in the Mixolydian), with its characteristic figures of accompaniment for flute; the Dance of the Mænads; and a graceful Spinning-song for female voices in the third act, are the most successful numbers in the work. On the whole, _Servilia_ is regarded by Russian critics as a retrograde step after _Sadko_ and _Tsar Saltan_.