Lucius Postumius Albinus (c. 272 BC215 BC) was a Roman politician and general of the 3rd century BC who was elected

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

three times. Most of our knowledge about his career and his demise comes from

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

's ''Ab Urbe Condita''.

Biography

Albinus was a member of the

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

'' gens Postumia'', and the son of Aulus Postumius Albinus, who was a consul in 242 BC. He was elected as a consul for the first time in 234 BC, during which he campaigned against the

Ligures The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regio ...

. It has been conjectured that he was then elected

Praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

for the first time in the following year (233 BC). Albinus was then elected as a consul for a second time in 229 BC, during which he and his consular colleague

Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus was consul of the Roman Republic in 229 BC, with Lucius Postumius Albinus as his consular colleague. He led part of the Roman forces in the First Illyrian War against Queen Teuta. Biography Centumalus was a member of t ...

were engaged in a war against the Illyrian queen

Teuta Teuta (Illyrian languages, Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death ...

. Albinus commanded the land forces, and gained a number of significant victories during the year. He captured Apollonia and then went to the relief of

Epidamnos The ancient Greek city of Epidamnos or Epidamnus ( grc-gre, Ἐπίδαμνος), ( sq, Epidamni) later the Roman Dyrrachium (Δυρράχιον) ( sq, Dyrrahu) (modern Durrës, Albania), was founded in 627 BC in Illyria by a group of colonist ...

and Issa, forcing the Illyrians to abandon both sieges. He also managed to subdue a number of local Illyrian tribes before returning to Epidamnos. Albinus was granted a pro-consular extension to his command in 228 BC, after his term ended, in order to conclude the peace treaty with the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

. Once it had been concluded, he sent

legates A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the office ...

to the

Aetolian Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia ...

and

Achaean League The Achaean League (Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern Pel ...

s, where they explained the reasons for the war and the Roman invasion, as well as the terms of the treaty with Queen Teuta. On his return to Rome, unlike his comrade, he was not granted a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

to celebrate his victory. Albinus disappears from the historical record during the next decade, but resurfaced in 216 BC, with the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

in full swing. The Romans, finding themselves short of experienced military commanders, were forced to recall men such as Albinus to serve during this period of crisis. Consequently, Albinus, who was not even in Rome for the election, was elected praetor for the second time, and given command of the province of

Gallia Cisalpina Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was con ...

. He led his army of two legions plus reinforcements against the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Boii The Boii (Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; grc, Βόιοι) were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy), Pannonia (Hungary), parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia (after whom the ...

, who had risen in revolt and declared for

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

The death of the Roman General Postumius at the hands of the Boii

During his term as a praetor, he was elected in absentia (and whilst on campaign) as a

for the year 215. However, he did not live to officially enter the consulship. While travelling through the Litana forest in

, Albinus was ambushed by a force of

warriors, who annihilated most of his army at the

Battle of Silva Litana The Battle of Silva Litana was an ambush that took place in a forest 75 miles northwest of the Roman city of Ariminum during the Second Punic War in 216 BC. The Gallic Boii surprised and destroyed a Roman army of 25,000 men under the consul-e ...

. Albinus and the remainder of his legions tried to escape over a nearby bridge, but they were slaughtered by a Boii detachment that guarded the crossing. The consul-elect was decapitated, and his

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

was then clad in

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and made into a sacrificial bowl. As

tells us: When news of Albinus’ death reached

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, it caused such an alarm that the shops were closed and hardly anyone ventured out of their homes. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

ordered the

aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...

s to go around the city and order the citizens to re-open their shops and stop the unofficial public mourning.Livy, 23:25 Albinus’ replacement as consul was

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...

Sources

Ancient

''History of Rome''
Rev. Canon Roberts (translator), Ernest Rhys (Ed.); (1905) London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. *

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

''Histories''
Evelyn S. Shuckburgh (translator); London, New York. Macmillan (1889); Reprint Bloomington (1962).

Modern

* Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1951) * Smith, William, ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', Vol I (1867).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postumius Albinus, Lucius 520 270s BC births 215 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman generals Ancient Romans killed in action Deaths by decapitation Elected officials who died without taking their seats Lucius 520 Roman commanders of the Second Punic War Year of birth uncertain

Biography

See also

Sources

Ancient

Modern

Notes