Postumia (gens)

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]

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]

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 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]

• Aulus Postumius P. f. Albus Regillensis, nominated dictator in 498 BC, he led the Roman forces against the Latin League at the Battle of Lake Regillus. He was consul in 496.^{[21][22][23][24]}
• Spurius Postumius A. f. P. n. Albus Regillensis, consul in 466 BC, and subsequently one of the ambassadors sent to study Greek law. He was a member of the first decemvirate in 451. As a legate in 446, he commanded the center of the Roman line in an important victory over the Aequi and Volsci.^[25][26][27]
• Aulus Postumius A. f. P. n. Albus Regillensis, consul in 464 BC, fought against the Aequi. On a subsequent occasion he was sent as an ambassador to the Aequi, but was treated with contempt.^[28][29]
• Spurius Postumius S. f. A. n. Albus Regillensis, consular tribune in 432 BC.^[30]
• Publius Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus Regillensis, consular tribune in 414 BC, was killed in a mutiny after refusing to distribute the spoils of the town of Bolae, which the soldiers had been promised.^[31]
• Marcus Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus Regillensis, censor in 403 BC, imposed a fine on men who did not marry before they were elderly.^[32][33][34]
• Aulus Postumius Albinus Regillensis, consular tribune in 397 BC, intercepted a raiding party from Tarquinii, with a force made entirely of volunteers, as the tribunes of the plebs had prevented the regular levy.^[35]
• Spurius Postumius Albinus Regillensis, consular tribune in 394 BC, fought against the Aequi, whom he defeated after an initial setback.^[36]
• Spurius Postumius Albinus, consul in 334 BC, censor in 332, and magister equitum in 327. Consul for the second time in 321, during the Second Samnite War, he and his colleague were trapped at the Battle of the Caudine Forks, and their entire army forced to go under the yoke.^[37][38][39]
• Lucius Postumius L. f. Albinus, became Rex Sacrorum circa 275 BC.^[40]
• Aulus Postumius L. f. L. n. Albinus, father of Aulus Postumius Albinus, the consul of 242 BC.
• Aulus Postumius A. f. L. n. Albinus, consul in 242 BC, the final year of the First Punic War. The Pontifex Maximus forbade him to leave Rome in order to participate in the war, on the grounds that he was the Flamen Martialis. He was censor in 234.^{[41][42][43][27]}
• Lucius Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus, consul in 234 and 229 BC, fought against the Illyrians. He was praetor in 216, during the Second Punic War, and assigned the province of Cisalpine Gaul. He was elected consul for the third time in 215, but slain by the Boii before entering into office.^[44][45][46]
• Spurius Postumius L. f. A. n. Albinus, consul in 186 BC, the year that the senate took action to prohibit the worship of Bacchus at Rome, following a general panic over the secret and allegedly terrible rites.^{[47][48][49][50][51]}
• Aulus Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus Luscus, consul in 180 BC, fought against the Ligurians. As censor in 174 BC, he and his colleague expelled nine members of the senate, and degraded a number of equites. He was sent on a number of diplomatic missions, and was one of the commissioners sent to assist Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus restore order to Macedonia in 168.^[52][53]
• Spurius Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus Paullulus, praetor in 183 BC, was assigned the province of Sicily. He was consul in 174.^[54]
• Lucius Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus, praetor in 180 BC, was assigned the province of Hispania Ulterior, where he defeated the Vaccei and Lusitani, and received a triumph. Consul in 173 BC, he restored the Floralia, and dealt with land disputes in Campania. He served under Aemilius Paullus during the Third Macedonian War.^[55][56]
• Lucius Postumius S. f. L. n. Albinus, as curule aedile in 161 BC, gave the Megalesia. He was consul in 154, but died shortly after leaving Rome. A rumour circulated that he had been poisoned by his wife.^[57][58]
• Aulus Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus, served under Aemilius Paullus in 168 BC, he was given custody of Perseus. As consul in 151, he was imprisoned by the tribunes of the plebs for pursuing the levy with too much vigor. Later an ambassador to Greece, where he was well received, he wrote extensively in Greek, including a history of Rome, which was poorly regarded by other writers.^{[59][60][61][62]}
• Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus, a rhetorician whom Cicero describes in Brutus, as the author of many extant orations. He was consul in 148 BC, and during his year of office, much of the city was destroyed in a great fire.^[63][64]
• Lucius Postumius L. f. S. n. Albinus, triumvir monetalis in 131 BC.^[1]
• Spurius Postumius S. f. S. n. Albinus, consul in 110 BC, had command of the war against Jugurtha, but took no offensive action, either through indecision, susceptibility to the deceptions of the Numidian king, or, some alleged, bribery. He was subsequently condemned by the lex Mamilia, a law punishing those who had aided Jugurtha.^{[65][66][67][68]}
• Aulus Postumius S. f. S. n. Albinus, propraetor in 110 BC, was placed by his brother, the consul Spurius, in command of the Roman army in Numidia, but was tempted into an ambush and defeated by Jugurtha, and forced to submit, together with the survivors of his army.^[69]
• Aulus Postumius A. f. S. n. Albinus, an orator praised by Cicero, was consul in 99 BC.^[70][71][72]
• Aulus Postumius Albinus, commander of the Roman fleet in 89 BC, during the Social War, treated his men with such cruelty that they mutinied and slew him, claiming that he was plotting to betray them. When Sulla took charge of them, he made no effort to punish the killers.^[73][74]
• Aulus Postumius S. f. S. n. Albinus, triumvir monetalis in the late 90s BC, son of Spurius Postumius Albinus, the consul of 110.^[1]
• Aulus Postumius A. f. S. n. Albinus, triumvir monetalis in 81 BC, was a grandson of Spurius, the consul of 110.^[1]
• Aulus Postumius Albinus, placed in command of Sicily by Caesar in 48 BC.^[75]
• Decimus Junius (D. f. D. n.) Brutus Albinus, a descendant of the Junii Bruti, was adopted by Aulus Postumius Albinus, the consul of 99 BC, officially becoming Aulus Postumius Albinus, although more usually known as Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. Caesar placed him in command of his fleet during the Civil War, but Brutus would become one of his assassins.

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.^[106]

Footnotes

See also

• List of Roman gentes

References

Bibliography

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