This article concerns the period 119 BC – 110 BC.
Year 110 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufus and Albinus and the First Year of Yuanfeng. The denomination 110 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adherbal, succeeded him. Jugurtha arranged to have Hiempsal killed and, after a civil war, defeated and killed Adherbal in 112 BC.
The Jugurthine War was an armed conflict between the Roman Republic and king Jugurtha of Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating to modern Algeria. Jugurtha was the nephew and adopted son of Micipsa, king of Numidia, whom he succeeded on the throne, overcoming his rivals through assassination, war, and bribery.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus was an ancient Roman statesman and general, he was a leader of the Optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. He was a bitter political opponent of Gaius Marius. He was consul in 109 BC, in that capacity he commanded the Roman forces in Africa during the Jugurthine War. In 107 BC, he was displaced from his command by Marius. On his return he was granted a triumph and the cognomen Numidicus. He later became a censor, entering into exile in opposition to Marius. Metellus Numidicus enjoyed a reputation for integrity in an era when Roman politics was increasingly corrupt.
The Battle of the Muthul was fought at the Muthul River in Numidia in 109 BC. The Numidians, led by their king Jugurtha, fought a Roman army commanded by the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. The battle was fought during the Jugurthine War, a war between King Jugurtha of Numidia and the Roman Republic. The battle was indecisive - it took the Romans four more years to defeat Jugurtha who was captured by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 105 and executed during Marius' Triumphal parade a year later (104). The Roman historian Publius Rutilius Rufus distinguished himself during the battle, while Gaius Marius' military genius shone through for the first time, saving the day for the Romans.
The siege of Thala, part of the Jugurthine War, was an investment of the Numidian town of Thala by a Roman army. The Romans were commanded by the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus, the Thalans by an unknown Numidian commander. The Romans main objective was to capture the Numidian king Jugurtha who was reported to be in Thala, but he escaped before the legions reached the fortress town. Metellus then besieged the town to get hold of one of Jugurtha's treasuries which was stored in Thala. The fortress town was besieged for forty days after which most of its inhabitants committed suicide by setting fire to the town.
Lucius Postumius Albinus was a Roman politician and general of the 3rd century BC who was elected consul three times. Most of our knowledge about his career and his demise comes from Livy's Ab Urbe Condita.
Aulus Postumius Albinus was a Roman senator and military commander. In 110 BC, he went to serve on the staff of his brother, Spurius, in the war against the Numidian king Jugurtha. Left in charge of the troops during the winter, Aulus decided on a rash foray which involved the army in a humiliating defeat and surrender. The disaster led to the establishment of a commission which condemned several prominent aristocrats of collusion with the enemy during the war. Aulus himself was seemingly not condemned, and went on to be elected consul a decade later, in 99 BC. In 89, Aulus held command of a fleet during the Social War in Italy, but proved to be an unpopular commander and was murdered by his troops.
Aulus Postumius may refer to a number of different people from Roman history:
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was an ancient Roman who, according to Livy, was Roman dictator in 498 or 496 BC, when he conquered the Latins in the great Battle of Lake Regillus and subsequently celebrated a triumph. Many of the coins of the Postumii Albi commemorate this victory of their ancestor, as in the one pictured. Roman folklore related that Castor and Pollux were seen fighting in this battle on the side of the Romans, whence the dictator afterwards promised a temple to Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum.
Aulus Postumius Albinus was a politician of Ancient Rome, of patrician rank, of the 3rd century BC.
Spurius Postumius Albinus was a politician of ancient Rome, of patrician rank, of the 2nd century BC. He was consul in 110 BC, and was sent to Africa to carry on the war against Jugurtha, the king of Numidia. He made vigorous preparations for war, but when he reached the province he did not adopt any active measures, but allowed himself to be deceived by the artifices of Jugurtha, who constantly promised to surrender. Many persons supposed that his inactivity was intentional, and that Jugurtha had bought him over. When Albinus departed from Africa, he left his brother Aulus Postumius Albinus in command. After the defeat of the latter he returned to Numidia, but in consequence of the disorganized state of his army, he did not prosecute the war, and handed over the army in this condition, in the following year, to the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. He was condemned by the Lex Mamilia, which was passed to punish all those who had been guilty of treasonable practices with Jugurtha.
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.
Lucius Furius Medullinus, of the patrician gens Furia, was a politician and general of the Roman Republic who was consul twice and Consular Tribune seven times.
Calama was a colonia in the Roman province of Numidia situated where Guelma in Algeria now stands.
Aulus Postumius Albinus may refer to:
The siege of the fortress at Muluccha, part of the Jugurthine War, was an investment of a Jugurthine fortress by a Roman army in 106 BC. The Romans were commanded by Gaius Marius, the Numidians by an unknown commander. The Romans main objective was to capture one of king Jugurtha's treasuries which was reported to be inside the fortress. Marius besieged the fortress town and finally took it by trickery.
The siege of Zama, part of the Jugurthine War, was an investment of the Numidian town of Zama by a Roman army. The Romans were commanded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus, one of the consuls of 109 BC, while the Numidians were under the overall command of Jugurtha, the king of Numidia. The Romans' main objective was to lure Jugurtha into a set-piece battle; the Numidians had been wearing down the Roman legions by guerilla warfare and the Roman commander hoped the siege would pressure the Numidian king into giving battle. Jugurtha did not let himself be goaded into a pitched battle and kept up his opportune attacks while the defenders of Zama kept the Romans at bay. Failing to take the city and failing to provoke the Numidian king into entering a set-piece battle, the Romans gave up on the siege and marched back to the Roman province of Africa.
