Postumia gens

The gens Postumia was a noble patrician family at ancient 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

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.[113]

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

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.
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  35. Livy, v. 16.
  36. Livy, v. 26, 28.
  37. Livy, viii. 16, 17, 23, ix. 1–10.
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  49. Pliny the Elder, xxxiii. 10.
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  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.
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  70. Obsequens, 106.
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  79. Diodorus Siculus, xx. 90.
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  81. Frontinus, Strategemata, i. 8. § 3.
  82. Polybius, i. 17–20.
  83. Zonaras, viii. 10.
  84. Diodorus Siculus, xxiii. 5.
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  87. Livy, iv. 44.
  88. Plutarch, Moralia, ii. "De capienda ex inimicis utilitate" (How to Profit from One's Enemies), 6.
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  90. Livy, xxv. 3, 4.
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  93. Livy, xl. 41.
  94. Livy, xlv. 6.
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  99. Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 42.
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  106. Cassius Dio, l. 13.
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Bibliography

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