Aulus Postumius Albinus (consul 151 BC)

Last updated

Aulus Postumius Albinus was a statesman of the Roman Republic, notably consul in 151 BC. He was also a historian and wrote the Annals in Greek.

Contents

Apparently the son of Aulus Postumius Albinus Luscus, he was praetor in 155 BC, and consul in 151 BC with Lucius Licinius Lucullus. [1] [2] He and his colleague were thrown into prison by the tribunes for conducting the levies with too much severity. [3] [4] [5] He was one of the ambassadors sent in 153 BC to make peace between Attalus and Prusias, and accompanied Lucius Mummius Achaicus into Greece in 146 BC as one of his legates. [6] There was a statue erected to his honor on the isthmus. [7]

Albinus was well acquainted with Greek literature, and wrote in that language a poem and a Roman history, the latter of which is mentioned by several ancient writers. Polybius speaks of him as a vain, arid lightheaded man, who disparaged his own people, and was indifferently devoted to the study of Greek literature. [8] He relates a tale of him and Cato the Elder, who reproved Albinus sharply because in the preface to his history he begged the pardon of his readers, if he should make any mistakes in writing in a foreign language; Cato reminded him that he was not compelled to write at all, but that if he chose to write, he had no business to ask for the indulgence of his readers. This tale is also related by Aulus Gellius, [9] Macrobius, [10] Plutarch, [11] and the Suda . [12] Polybius also relates that he retreated to Thebes, when the battle was fought at Phocis, on the plea of indisposition, but afterwards wrote an account of it to the Senate as if he had been present. [13]

Cicero speaks with rather more respect of his literary merits; he calls him a "learned man" (doctus homo). [14] Macrobius quotes a passage from the first book of the Annals of Albinus respecting Brutus, and as he uses the words of Albinus, it has been supposed that the Greek history may have been translated into Latin. [15] A work of Albinus, on the arrival of Aeneas in Italy, is referred to by Servius, and the author of the work "De Origine Gentis Romanae". [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

The gens Sulpicia was one of the most ancient patrician families at ancient Rome, and produced a succession of distinguished men, from the foundation of the Republic to the imperial period. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus, in 500 BC, only nine years after the expulsion of the Tarquins, and the last of the name who appears on the consular list was Sextus Sulpicius Tertullus in AD 158. Although originally patrician, the family also possessed plebeian members, some of whom may have been descended from freedmen of the gens.

Licinia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.

Flamen Martialis High priest of Mars in ancient Rome

In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Martialis was the high priest of the official state cult of Mars, the god of war. He was one of the flamines maiores, the three high priests who were the most important of the fifteen flamens. The Flamen Martialis would have led public rites on the days sacred to Mars. Among his duties was the ritual brandishing of the sacred spears of Mars when the Roman army was preparing for war.

Critolaus of Phaselis was a Greek philosopher of the Peripatetic school. He was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BC, where their doctrines fascinated the citizens, but frightened the more conservative statesmen. None of his writings survive. He was interested in rhetoric and ethics, and considered pleasure to be an evil. He maintained the Aristotelian doctrine of the eternity of the world, and of the human race in general, directing his arguments against the Stoics.

Cornelia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any other gens. At least seventy-five consuls under the Republic were members of this family, beginning with Servius Cornelius Maluginensis in 485 BC. Together with the Aemilii, Claudii, Fabii, Manlii, and Valerii, the Cornelii were almost certainly numbered among the gentes maiores, the most important and powerful families of Rome, who for centuries dominated the Republican magistracies. All of the major branches of the Cornelian gens were patrician, but there were also plebeian Cornelii, at least some of whom were descended from freedmen.

The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentilius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.

Didia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Didia, or Deidia, as the name is spelled on coins, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the final century of the Republic. According to Cicero, they were novi homines. Titus Didius obtained the consulship in 98 BC, a dignity shared by no other Didii until imperial times.

Sempronius Asellio was an early Roman historian and one of the first writers of historiographic work in Latin. He was a military tribune of P. Scipio Aemilianus Africanus at the siege of Numantia in Hispania in 134 BC. Later he joined the circle of writers centred on Scipio Aemilianus. Asellio wrote the history of the events in which he was engaged, and thus preceded Caesar in his more famous accounts of his military campaigns.

Minucia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Minucia was an ancient Roman family, which flourished from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The gens was apparently of patrician origin, but was better known by its plebeian branches. The first of the Minucii to hold the consulship was Marcus Minucius Augurinus, elected consul in 497 BC.

Porcia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Porcia, rarely written Portia, was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to achieve the consulship was Marcus Porcius Cato in 195 BC, and from then until imperial times, the Porcii regularly occupied the highest offices of the Roman state.

Aulus Postumius Albinus Luscus was a politician of Ancient Rome, of patrician rank, of the 2nd century BC. He was curule aedile in 187 BC, when he exhibited the Great Games, praetor in 185 BC, and consul in 180 BC. In his consulship he conducted the war against the Ligurians.

Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC.

Postumia gens Ancient Roman family

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.

Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga was Roman consul in 234 and 228 BC. Spurius Carvilius Ruga, the schoolteacher, was his freedman.

Antia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Antia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The Antii emerged at the end of the second century BC, and were of little importance during the Republic, but they continued into the third century, obtaining the consulship in AD 94 and 105.

Hostilia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Hostilia was an ancient family at Rome, which traced its origin to the time of Romulus. The most famous member of the gens was Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome; however, all of the Hostilii known from the time of the Republic were plebeians. Several of the Hostilii were distinguished during the Punic Wars. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Aulus Hostilius Mancinus in 170 BC.

Gnaeus Gellius

Gnaeus Gellius was a Roman historian. Very little is known about his life and work, which has only survived in scattered fragments. He continued the historical tradition set by Fabius Pictor of writing a year-by-year history of Rome from mythological times to his day. However, with about a hundred books, Gellius' Annales were massively more developed than the other Roman annalists, and was only surpassed by Livy's gigantic History of Rome.

The gens Fannia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the second century BC. The first member of this gens to attain the consulship was Gaius Fannius Strabo, in 161 BC.

The gens Mummia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned after the Second Punic War, and within a generation, Lucius Mummius Achaicus became the first of the family to obtain the consulship. Although they were never numerous, Mummii continued to fill the highest offices of the state through the third century AD.

Marcus Porcius M. f. M. n. Cato was the father of Cato the Younger. His promising political career was cut short by his sudden death, early in the first century BC.

References

  1. ↑ Cicero, Acad. ii. 45
  2. ↑ Polybius, xxxiii. 1
  3. ↑ Livy, Epit. 48
  4. ↑ Polybius, xxxv. 3
  5. ↑ Orosius, iv. 21
  6. ↑ Polybius, xxxiii. 11
  7. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum xiii. 30, 32
  8. ↑ Polybius, xl. 6
  9. ↑ Aulus Gellius, xi. 8
  10. ↑ Macrobius, Preface to Saturnalia
  11. ↑ Plutarch, Cato 12
  12. ↑ Suda , s. v.Αὖλος Ποστόμιος
  13. ↑ Smith, William (1867), "Aulus Postumius Albinus (18)", in Smith, William (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology , 1, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, p. 92, archived from the original on 2011-06-06, retrieved 2008-06-15
  14. ↑ Cicero, Acad. ii. 45, Brut. 21
  15. ↑ Macrobius, Saturnalia ii. 16
  16. ↑ Servius, ad Virg. Aen. ix. 710
  17. ↑ Krause, Vitae et Fragm. Veterum Historicorum Romanorum, p. 127, &c.
Preceded by
Marcus Claudius Marcellus
Lucius Valerius Flaccus
 Roman consul
151 BC
With: Lucius Licinius Lucullus 		Succeeded by

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Albinus (18)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . 1. p. 92.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.