Postumus

• I M. Curtius Postumus, a friend of Cicero, and the accuser of Murena, Cic. Fam. 13, 5, 2 sq.—
• II C. Rabirius Postumus, defended by Cicero, Cic. Rab. Post. 1, 1 sqq.—
• III Ursidius Postumus, to whom is addressed the sixth satire of Juvenal, Juv. 6, 21; 38; 377.

which signifies a person born after the death of his father, was originally a praenomen (Varr. L.L. 5.60, ed. Muller), but was also used as a cognomen, of which several instances occur in the persons mentioned below.

a Roman, to whom Horace addresses one of his odes (2.14). Nothing is known of him, but he may have been the same person as the Postumus to whom Propertius addresses one of his elegies (3.12).

stands second on the list of the thirty tyrants enumerated by Trebellius Pollio [see Aureolus]. His full name was M. Cassianus Latinius Postumus. Of humble origin, he owed his advancement to merit, was nominated by Valerian, who entertained the strongest conviction of his worth, governor of Gaul, and was entrusted specially with the defence of the Rhenish frontier. By his aid Gallienus was enabled to repulse for some years the attacks of the barbarians; but on setting out for Illyria (A. D. 257), in order to quell the insurrection of Ingenuus [Ingenuus], he committed his son Saloninus to the guardianship of Silvanus. Postumus, feeling slighted by this arrangement, took advantage of the disaffection of the troops towards the royal family, raised the standard of rebellion, assumed the style and title of emperor, and drove Saloninus to take refuge in Colonia Agrippina, where he was besieged, and eventually put to death upon the capture of the city. These events took place in A. D. 258 and 259, while Valerian was prosecuting his unfortunate campaign against the Persians. Whatever guilt may attach to the circumstances under which Postumus established his sway--and these are differently represented by different authorities, since Pollio declares that he was urged on by the discontent of the army and the provincials rather than by any ambition of his own, denying, at the same time, that he had any hand in the death of the youth whom he represents as having been actually consigned to his protection--it seems certain that he exercised his power with firmness, moderation, and skill. Not only were the efforts of Gallienus to take vengeance for his son signally frustrated; but while the nominal sovereign was indulging in slothful pleasures, the pretender, beloved by all to whom his influence extended, maintained a strong and just government, and preserved Gaul from the devastation of the warlike tribes upon the eastern border. Hence the titles of Imperator and Germanicus Maximus, which recur upon the medals of several successive years, are in this case something better than a mere empty boast. At length, however, his fickle subjects became weary of submitting to the strict and well-regulated discipline enforced in all departments of the state, rallied round a new adventurer named Laelianus [Laelianus; Lollianus], and Postumus, who assuredly may claim the highest place among the numerous pageants of royalty that sprung up and disappeared with such rapidity during this disturbed epoch, was slain A. D. 267, in the tenth year of his reign. The number of coins still extant bearing the effigy of this prince, and the skilful workmanship displayed in the gold pieces especially, prove that the arts of peace were not despised in his court, while the letters S. C. stamped after the usual fashion upon the brass money, seem to indicate that he had surrounded himself with a body of counsellors, whom he chose to consider the true Roman senate.

All questions connected with this reign have been investigated, with much diligence, accuracy, and learning, by Brequigny in the Mémoires de l' Academie de Sciences et Belles-Lettres, vol. xxx. p. 338, &c. There is also a dissertation on the Life of Postumus by Ioach. Meierus, preserved in Walterek Elect. p. 203. The chief ancient authorities are, Trebell. Poll. Trig. Tyrann. ii.; Aurel.

Vict. de Caes. 33, Epit. 32; Eutrop. 9.7; Orcs. 7.22; Zosim. 1.38; Zonar. 12.24. From inscriptions and medals we obtain the name given above, M. Cassianus Latinius Postumus, but Victor terms him Cassius Labienus Postumus, while Pollio uniformly designates him as Postumius, and erroneously limits the duration of his power to seven years. [W.R]

son of the foregoing, is mentioned by Trebellius Pollio, who presses in his name to swell the number of the 30 tyrants, stating that having received first the title of Caesar, and subsequently that of Augustus, he was slain along with his father. But when we recollect that notwithstanding the multitude of coins still existing of the elder Postumus, not one has been found commemorating the dignities of the younger, we are led with Eckhel to doubt the testimony of a writer notoriously inaccurate, and to conclude that no such person ever existed, or at all events that he was never invested with the title of Augustus or Caesar. (Trebell. Pollio. Trig. Tyr. iii.; Eckhel, vol. vii. p. 447.) It must not, however, be concealed, that in addition to the pieces described by Goltzius, which every numismatologist rejects as spurious, there are to be found in some cabinets two very rare medals, one in gold, the other in billon, bearing upon the obverse the head of the elder Postumus, with the legend IMP. C. POSTUMUS. P. F. AUG., and on the reverse the bust of a more juvenile personage, with a radiated crown, and the words INVICTO. AUG. Whether we are justified in regarding this as a representation of the younger Postumus, is a question which can hardly be answered with certainty, but the arguments adduced to prove the affirmative are far from being conclusive. (See Mionnet, Medailles Romaines, vol. ii. p. 70.) A cut of the billon coin is placed below.

[W.R]

a rhetorician, mentioned by the elder Seneca. (Controv. 21.)

[Agrippa, p.78.]

1, 2. Qu. and CN. Curtii Postumi, two brothers, were argentarii, with whom Verres had pecuniary dealings. One of these, Quintus, who is called by Cicero a sodalis of Verres, was afterwards a judex quaestionis in the trial of Verres. (Cic. Ver. 1.39, 61.)

3. M. Curtius Postumus, was recommended by Cicero to Caesar in B. C. 54 for the post of tribune of the soldiers, which he obtained. (Cic. ad Q. Fr. 2.15.3, 3.1.3.) On the breaking out of the civil war, in B. C. 49, he espoused with zeal the cause of Caesar, and was, on that account, a disagreeable guest to Cicero, whom he visited at his Formian villa. He appears to have entertained the hope of obtaining, through Caesar's influence, some of the higher dignities in the state (dibaphun, cogitat). It appears that Atticus was afraid lest Curtius should prevent him from leaving Italy about this time. (Cic. Att. 9.2, a, 5, 6, 10.13.3, ad Fam. 2.16.7.) When Cicero had returned to Rome, after the defeat of the Pompeians, and considered it advisable to cultivate the friendship of Caesar, he renewed his acquaintance with Curtius, and accordingly speaks of him as one of his friends in B. C. 46; but in the following year he writes with indignation to Atticus that Curtius thinks of becoming a candidate for the consulship (ad Fam. 6.12.2, ad Att. 12.49.). After Caesar's death Curtius attacked with vehemence those persons, like Cicero, who rejoiced at Caesar's death, but defended his acts (ad Att. 14.9.2). Instead of Curtius Postumus, we frequently find Curtius Postumius in many manuscripts and editions of Cicero.

one of the consules suffecti in A. D. 183.

was one of the judices at the trial of Milo in B. C. 52, and had previously suffered injuries from Clodius. (Cic. pro Mil. 27.) He appears to have been praetor in Sicily in B. C. 50 and 49, and in the latter year the senate appointed Postumius as his successor (ad Att. 7.5.2). [Postumius, No. 7.] He is again mentioned as the governor of Sicily, with the title of proconsul, in B. C. 45 (ad Fam. 6.8.3, 6.9).

a paramour of Mutilia Prisca, who had great influence with Livia, the mother of Tiberius, and whom Sejanus employed to injure Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus, in the opinion of Livia, A. D. 23. (Tac. Ann. 4.12.) In an inscription (Gruter, 113, 1) we find mention made of a C. Julius Sex. f. Postmuus, who was praefect of Egypt under Claudius: he was probably the son of the preceding.

[Poenius.]

whom Cicero defended in B. C. 54 in an oration, still extant, was a Roman eques, and the son of C. Curius, a wealthy farmer of the public revenues. He was born after the death of his father, who had married the sister of C. Rabirius, whom Cicero had defended in B. C. 63, when he was accused by T. Labienus; and he was adopted by his uncle Rabirius, whose name he consequently assumed. The younger Rabirius carried on a profitable business as a money-lender, and had among his debtors Ptolemy Auletes, who had been compelled to borrow large sums of money, in order to purchase the support of the leading men at Rome, to keep him on the throne. To pay his Roman creditors, Ptolemy was obliged to oppress his subjects; and his exactions became at length so intolerable, that the Egyptians expelled him from the kingdom. He accordingly fled to Rome in B. C. 57, and Rabirius and his other creditors supplied him with the means of corrupting the Roman nobles, as they had no hopes of regaining their money except by his restoration to the throne. Ptolemy at length obtained his object, and Gabinius, the proconsul of Syria, encouraged by Pompey, marched with a Roman army into Egypt in B. C. 55. Ptolemy thus regained his kingdom. Rabirius forthwith repaired to Alexandria, and was invested by the king with the office of Dioecctes, or chief treasurer, no doubt with the sanction of Gaoinius. In this office he had to amass money both for himself and Gabinius; but his extortions were so terrible, that Ptolemy had him apprehended, either to secure him against the wrath of the people, or to satisfy their indignation, lest they should drive him again from his kingdom. Rabirius escaped from prison, probably through the connivance of the king, and returned to Rome. But here a trial awaited him. Gabinius was accused of extortion (rcpetundae) under the provisions of the lex Julia, passed in the consulship of Caesar, B. C. 59, and was condemned to pay a considerable fine. As Gabinius was unable to pay this sum, a suit was instituted under the same law against Rabirius, who was liable to make up the deficiency, if it could be proved that he had received any of the money of which Gabinius had illegally become possessed. The suit against Rabirius was, therefore, a supplementary appendage to the cause of Gabinius. The accuser, the praetor, and the judices, were the same; and as Cicero had defended Gabinius, he also performed the same office for Rabirius. (Cic. pro Rabirio Postumo, passim.) The issue of the trial is not mentioned; but as the judices had condemned Gabinius, they probably did not spare his tool. We may therefore conclude that he went into banishment, like his patron, and was recalled by Caesar from exile. At all events, we find him serving under Caesar in B. C. 46, who sent him from Africa into Sicily, in order to obtain provisions for the army. (Hirt. B. Afr. 8.)

a Roman eques, said by Cicero to have been poisoned by P. Clodius, because he was unwilling to sell his house to the latter. (Cic. pro Dom. 44, 50, de Harusp. Resp. 14.)

consul suffectus, A. D. 5, conquered the Dalmatians in A. D. 10, and received, in consequence, the honour of the triumphal ornaments. (D. C. 56.15; Vell. 2.116 ; Flor. 4.12.11.)

, the second of the so-called Thirty Tyrants. While acting as governor of Gaul under Valerian in A.D. 258, he caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, and, being a very able ruler, maintained himself in power in Gaul for nearly ten years; but was slain by his own soldiers in A.D. 267, Labienus being proclaimed in his place (Trebell. Poll. Trig. Tyr. ii.).