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

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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

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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

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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.[i][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

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

Postumii Tuberti

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Postumii Albi et Albini

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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

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Others

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Descent of the Postumii Albini

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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. Albus
A. Albus Regillensis
dict. 498 BC
cos. 496
Sp. Albus Regillensis
cos. 466 BC
Xvir 451
A. Albinus Regillensis
cos. 464 BC
Sp. Albus Regillensis
cos. trib. 432 BC
P. Albinus Regillensis
cos. trib. 414 BC
M. Albinus Regillensis
cens. 403 BC
A. Albinus Regillensis
cos. trib. 397 BC
Sp. Albinus Regillensis
cos. trib. 394 BC
Sp. Albinus Caudinus
cos. 334, 321 BC
L. Albinus
L. Albinus
rex sacr. c. 275 BC
A. Albinus
A. Albinus (A.f.L.n.)
cos. 242 BC
A. AlbinusL. Albinus (A.f.A.n.)
cos. 234, 229 BC
(Sp.) Albinus
A. Albinus Luscus
(A.f.A.n.)
cos. 180 BC
Sp. Albinus Paullulus
(A.f.A.n.)
cos. 174 BC
L. Albinus (A.f.A.n.)
cos. 173 BC
L. Albinus Tympanus
q. 194 BC
Sp. Albinus (L.f.A.n.)
cos. 186 BC
Albinus
A. Albinus (A.f.A.n.)
cos. 151 BC
Sp. AlbinusL. Albinus (Sp.f.L.n.)
cos. 154 BC
Sp. Albinus Magnus
cos. 148 BC
Sp. Albinus
cos. 110 BC
A. Albinus
cos. 99 BC
L. Albinus
mon. 131 BC
fl. mart.
Sp. Albinus
A. Albinus (Sp.f.Sp.n.)
mon. 88 BC
A. Albinus (A.f.Sp.n.)
mon. 81 BC
L. Albinus
pr. 90 BC
A. Albinus
leg. Caes. 48 BC
D. Junius
Brutus Albinus

See also

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Footnotes

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  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

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  1. ^ a b c d e Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 281, 335, 389.
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ Obsequens, 106.
  71. ^ Cicero, Brutus, § 35 s. 135, Post Reditum in Quirites, 11.
  72. ^ Livy, Epitome, 75.
  73. ^ Pliny the Elder, viii. 7.
  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. ^ Livy, Perochiae, 73.
  99. ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 42.
  100. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, ii. 18.
  101. ^ Cicero, Pro Murena, 26, 27, 33
  102. ^ Cicero, Brutus, i. 33.
  103. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, vii. 15. § 2, xv. 2. § 3, Epistulae ad Familiares, vi. 12. § 2, xiii. 69.
  104. ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, ii. 58.
  105. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, iv. 12. § 2.
  106. ^ Cassius Dio, l. 13.
  107. ^ Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 440, 441 (2nd edition).
  108. ^ Rodríguez, Las Ciudades Romanas en el Alto Guadalquivir, p. 97.
  109. ^ Alföldy, Flamines Provinciae Hispaniae Citerioris p. 95.
  110. ^ a b Palmer, Studies of the Northern Campus Martius in Ancient Rome, p. 43.
  111. ^ a b c Mennen, Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193–284 pp. 121, 122.
  112. ^ Jones and Robert, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Parts 395–527, p. 467.
  113. ^ PW, "Postumius", pp. 915, 916.

Bibliography

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