Postumia gens

The gens Postumia was an ancient and noble Patrician family at Rome. Throughout the history of the Republic, the Postumii frequently occupied the chief magistracies of the Roman state, beginning with Publius Postumius Tubertus, consul in 505 BC, the fifth year of the Republic. Although like much of the old Roman aristocracy, the Postumii faded for a time into obscurity under the Empire, individuals bearing the name of Postumius again filled a number of important offices from the second century AD to the end of the Western Empire.[2]

Denarius issued by Aulus Postumius Albinus, moneyer in 96 BC. The obverse depicts a head of Diana, inscribed Roma, while the reverse features three horsemen trampling a fallen enemy.[1]

Origin

The nomen Postumius is a patronymic surname, derived from the praenomen Postumus, which presumably belonged to the ancestor of the gens. That name is derived from the Latin adjective, postremus, meaning "last" or "hindmost," originally indicating a last-born or youngest child. However, its meaning has long been confounded with that of posthumous, indicating a child born after the death of the father; this misunderstanding is fostered by the fact that a posthumous child is also necessarily the youngest.[3]

Praenomina

The most prominent families of the Postumii during the early Republic favored the praenomina Aulus, Spurius, and Lucius, with Marcus, Publius, and Quintus receiving lesser use. Other names are occasionally found toward the end of the Republic, including Gaius, Gnaeus, and Titus.

Branches and cognomina

The earliest family of the Postumii to occur in history bore the cognomen Tubertus, derived from tuber, a lump or swelling. But by far the greatest family of the Postumii bore the surname Albus, white, which in later generations became Albinus, whitish. This family flourished from the beginning of the Republic down to its end, in the first century BC, and for a century all of its members bore the agnomen Regillensis, in memory of the Battle of Lake Regillus, where the Roman dictator Aulus Postumius Albus won everlasting renown by defeating the Latin League, led by Octavius Mamilius and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, and securing the future of the Republic.[lower-roman 1][2][4][5]

In the later Republic other surnames are found among the Postumii, including Megellus; Pyrgensis, from the Etruscan city of Pyrgi; Tempsanus, from Temesa, a city of Magna Graecia; and Tympanus, from tympanum, a drum. A few of Postumii without cognomina are known from various sources.[2][6][7]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Postumii Tuberti

Postumii Albi et Albini

Denarius issued by Aulus Postumius Albinus, moneyer in 81 BC. The obverse with the legend HISPAN refers to Lucius Postumius Albinus, who was awarded a triumph for his victories in Spain.[1]

Postumii Megelli

Others

  • Postumia, one of the Vestals, was accused of unchastity in 420 BC, apparently due to her taste in fashionable clothing and unseemly gregariousness. Although reprimanded by the Pontifex Maximus for her lack of humility, she was acquitted of the charges.[87][88][89]
  • Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis, a publican during the Second Punic War, was tried for peculatio (embezzlement) and fraud in 212 BC. He was condemned despite considerable support from the other publicani and one of the tribunes of the plebs, but went into exile before sentence could be passed.[90]
  • Lucius Postumius Tympanus, quaestor in 194 BC, fell in battle against the Boii.[91]
  • Lucius Postumius Tempsanus, praetor in 185 BC, was sent to deal with an insurrection in the neighborhood of Tarentum, which he put down with great severity. He also sought out fugitives alleged to have celebrated the Bacchanalia, after the panic attending the discovery of the rites at Rome.[92]
  • Aulus Postumius, one of the military tribunes in 180 BC.[93]
  • Gaius Postumius, military tribune in 168 BC.[94]
  • Postumius, divined that Sulla would succeed in his endeavours, either before a battle with the Samnites in 90 BC, or during his march on Rome in 88. Postumius volunteered to be placed in chains, and put to death if he proved mistaken.[95][96][97]
  • Marcus Postumius, a quaestor serving under Verres during his administration of Sicily in 73 BC.[98]
  • Gnaeus Postumius, supported the prosecution of Lucius Licinius Murena by Servius Sulpicius Rufus, in 63 BC.[99]
  • Titus Postumius, praised by Cicero as an orator of some merit. He may be the same Postumius who refused the command in Sicily in 49 BC.[100]
  • Postumius, a partisan of Pompeius on the outbreak of the Civil War in 49 BC, was appointed to the government of Sicily, but refused to take up the office unless accompanied by Cato.[101]
  • Postumius, a legate of Caesar in 48 BC. Caesar sent him to Italy in order to arrange the passage of his army.[102]
  • Publius Postumius, a friend of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the consul of 51 BC.[103]
  • Quintus Postumius, a Roman senator who, having initially supported Marcus Antonius, wavered and thought of going over to Octavian in 31 BC. Antonius had him murdered.[104]
  • Gaius Postumius Pollio, an architect, and probably the builder of the temple of Apollo at Tarracina. He was the master of Gaius Cocceius, who after receiving his freedom built the temple of Augustus at Puteoli.[105]
  • Lucius Postumius Q. f. Sergius Fabullus, a contemporary of Marcus Aurelius, the equestrian husband of Manlia Silana.[106][107]
  • Marcus Postumius Festus, consul suffectus in AD 160, and ancestor of Titus Flavius Postumius Varus, praetor urbanus in AD 271.[108]
  • Titus Flavius Postumius Varus, consul circa AD 250, and praetor urbanus in 271.[108][109]
  • Titus Flavius Postumius Quietus, consul in AD 272.[109]
  • Titus Flavius Postumius Titianus, consul in an uncertain year, and a second time AD 301.[109]
  • Rufius Postumius Festus, consul in AD 472.[110]

Descent of the Postumii Albini

This chart shows the probable descent of the Postumii Albini, from the sixth century BC to the end of the Republic. The chart is based on one found in the Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.[111]

Stemma Postumiorum Albinorum
P. Postumius
Albus
A. Postumius
Albus Regillensis
dict. 498 BC
cos. 496
S. Postumius
Albus Regillensis
cos. 466 BC
Xvir 451
A. Postumius
Albinus Regillensis
cos. 464 BC
S. Postumius
Albus Regillensis
cos. trib. 432 BC
P. Postumius
Albinus Regillensis
cos. trib. 414 BC
M. Postumius
Albinus Regillensis
cens. 403 BC
A. Postumius
Albinus Regillensis
cos. trib. 397 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus Regillensis
cos. trib. 394 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus Caudinus
cos. 334, 321 BC
cens. 332
mag. eq. 327
L. Postumius
Albinus
L. Postumius
Albinus
rex sacr. c. 275 BC
A. Postumius
Albinus
A. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 242 BC
cens. 234
A. Postumius
Albinus
L. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 234, 229 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus
A. Postumius
Albinus Luscus
cos. 180 BC
cens. 174
S. Postumius
Albinus Paullulus
cos. 174 BC
L. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 173 BC
L. Postumius
Albinus Tympanus
q. 194 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 186 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus (Magnus)
A. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 151 BC
L. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 154 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus Magnus
cos. 148 BC
S. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 110 BC
A. Postumius
Albinus
propr. 110 BC
A. Postumius
Albinus
cos. 99 BC
L. Postumius
Albinus
IIIvir monet. 131 BC
fl. mart.
S. Postumius
Albinus
A. Postumius
Albinus
IIIvir monet. 88 BC
L. Postumius
Albinus
pr. 90 BC
A. Postumius
Albinus
IIIvir monet. 81 BC
A. Postumius
Albinus
leg. Caes. 48 BC
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See also

Footnotes

  1. Niebuhr suggests that the Postumii bore the surname Regillensis as a result of having come from the town of Regillum, rather than from the battle. This is how the same cognomen came to be used by the early Claudii, who were residents of Regillum. Livy states that Scipio Africanus was the first to acquire a surname as the result of his military feats. However, the Romans themselves believed that the Postumii bore the surname Regillensis as a consequence of the battle, while the Claudii obtained it from their residence.

References

  1. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 281, 335, 389.
  2. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 510 ("Postumia Gens").
  3. Chase, pp. 111, 131, 150.
  4. Chase, pp. 109, 110.
  5. Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. i, p. 556.
  6. Chase, pp. 113, 114.
  7. New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. tympanum.
  8. Livy, ii. 16.
  9. Dionysius, v. 37–39, 44–47, vi. 69.
  10. Plutarch, "The Life of Publicola", 20.
  11. Zonaras, vii. 13.
  12. Pliny the Elder, xv. 29.
  13. Cicero, De Legibus, ii. 23.
  14. Livy, iv. 23, 26–29.
  15. Diodorus Siculus, xii. 26.
  16. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 721, ff.
  17. Plutarch, "The Life of Camillus", 2.
  18. Valerius Maximus, ii. 7. § 6.
  19. Gellius, xvii. 21.
  20. Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. ii, pp. 452 ff.
  21. Livy, ii. 19–21.
  22. Dionysius, vi. 2. ff.
  23. Valerius Maximus, i. 8. § 1.
  24. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 2, iii. 5.
  25. Livy, iii. 2, 31, 33, 70.
  26. Dionysius, ix. 60, x. 52, 56.
  27. Fasti Capitolini, AE 1900, 83; 1904, 114; AE 1927, 101; 1940, 59, 60.
  28. Livy, iii. 4, 5, 25.
  29. Dionysius, ix. 62, 65.
  30. Livy, iv. 25, 27.
  31. Livy, iv. 49, 50.
  32. Valerius Maximus, ii. 9. § 1.
  33. Plutarch, "The Life of Camillus", 2.
  34. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, s. v. uxorium.
  35. Livy, v. 16.
  36. Livy, v. 26, 28.
  37. Livy, viii. 16, 17, 23, ix. 1–10.
  38. Appian, Bellum Samniticum, 2–6.
  39. Cicero, De Officiis, iii. 30, Cato, 12.
  40. Pliny the Elder, xi. 186.
  41. Livy, Epitome, 19, xxiii. 13.
  42. Eutropius, ii. 27.
  43. Valerius Maximus, i. 1. § 2.
  44. Livy, xxii. 35, xxiii. 24.
  45. Polybius, iii. 106, 118.
  46. Cicero, Tusculanae Quaestiones, i. 37.
  47. Livy, xxxvii. 47, 50, xxxix. 6, 11, ff, xl. 42.
  48. Valerius Maximus, vi. 3. § 7.
  49. Pliny the Elder, xxxiii. 10.
  50. Cicero, Cato, 3.
  51. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 344.
  52. Livy, xxxix. 7, 23, xl. 35, 41, xli. 32, xlii. 10, 35, xiv. 17.
  53. Polybius, xxvi. 9.
  54. Livy, xxxix. 45, xli. 26, xlii. 2.
  55. Livy, xl. 35, 44, 47, 48, 50, xli. 3, 11, 33, xlii. 1, 9, 35, xliii. 16, xliv. 41, xlv. 27.
  56. Ovid, Fasti, v. 329.
  57. Obsequens, 76.
  58. Valerius Maximus, vi. 3. § 8.
  59. Cicero, Academica Priora, ii. 45, Epistulae ad Atticum, xiii. 30, 32, Brutus, 21.
  60. Polybius, xxxiii. 1, 11, xxv. 3, xl. 6.
  61. Livy, xlv. 4, 28, Epitome, 48.
  62. Orosius, iv. 21.
  63. Cicero, Brutus, c. 25.
  64. Obsequens, 78.
  65. Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 35, 36, 39, 44.
  66. Orosius, iv. 15.
  67. Eutropius, iv. 26.
  68. Cicero, Brutus, 34.
  69. Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 36–38.
  70. Pliny the Elder, viii. 7.
  71. Obsequens, 106.
  72. Cicero, Brutus, 35, Post Reditum in Quirites, 5.
  73. Livy, Epitome, 75.
  74. Plutarch, "The Life of Sulla", 6.
  75. Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 93.
  76. Salmon, p. 385 n. 5.
  77. Appian, Bellum Civile, ii. 48.
  78. Livy, ix. 44, x. 26, 27, 32–34, 36, 37, 47, Epitome xi.
  79. Diodorus Siculus, xx. 90.
  80. Dionysius, xvi. 15–18.
  81. Frontinus, Strategemata, i. 8. § 3.
  82. Polybius, i. 17–20.
  83. Zonaras, viii. 10.
  84. Diodorus Siculus, xxiii. 5.
  85. Orosius, iv. 7.
  86. Livy, Epitome, xvi.
  87. Livy, iv. 44.
  88. Plutarch, Moralia, ii. "De capienda ex inimicis utilitate" (How to Profit from One's Enemies), 6.
  89. Broughton, vol. I, p. 71.
  90. Livy, xxv. 3, 4.
  91. Livy, xxxiv. 47.
  92. Livy, xxxix. 23, 29, 41.
  93. Livy, xl. 41.
  94. Livy, xlv. 6.
  95. Plutarch, "The Life of Sulla", 9.
  96. Cicero, De Divinatione, i. 33.
  97. Valerius Maximus, i. 6. § 4.
  98. Cicero, In Verrem, ii. 18.
  99. Cicero, Pro Murena, 26, 27, 33
  100. Cicero, Brutus, i. 33.
  101. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, vii. 15. § 2, xv. 2. § 3, Epistulae ad Familiares, vi. 12. § 2, xiii. 69.
  102. Appian, Bellum Civile, ii. 58.
  103. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, iv. 12. § 2.
  104. Cassius Dio, l. 13.
  105. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 440, 441 (2nd edition).
  106. Rodríguez, Las Ciudades Romanas en el Alto Guadalquivir, p. 97.
  107. Alföldy, Flamines Provinciae Hispaniae Citerioris p. 95.
  108. Palmer, Studies of the Northern Campus Martius in Ancient Rome, p. 43.
  109. Mennen, Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193–284 pp. 121, 122.
  110. Jones and Robert, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Parts 395–527, p. 467.
  111. PW, "Postumius", pp. 915, 916.

Bibliography

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