Lucius Postumius Megellus (c. 300 BC – 253 BC) was a politician and general during the middle years of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

. He 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 ...

in 262 BC, and fought during the early years of the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

Career

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 ...

Postumia clan, Megellus was the son of Lucius Postumius Megellus, who had been consul three times between 305 BC and 291 BC. The younger Megellus was elected

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

in his turn in 262 BC, during the third year of the

, alongside

Quintus Mamilius Vitulus Quintus Mamilius Vitulus was a Roman politician of the third century BC. He was brother of Lucius Mamilius Vitulus, consul in 265 BC. According to tradition, his family, plebeian, was a native of the princely family of Tusculum. In 262 BC, during ...

. After taking office at the beginning of May 262 BC, both consuls were dispatched within a few weeks of taking office to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in response to a Carthaginian military build-up, which saw

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

turn the town of

Agrigentum Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of ...

into their principal base on the southern coast of Sicily. After possibly campaigning in western Sicily for a brief time they then spent the remainder of their consulate besieging and finally capturing the town of

. There is one anecdote of this lengthy campaign, ascribed by

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

to Megellus, where the consul noted a strategic weakness in the regular Carthaginian sorties, and was able to get around the attacking Carthaginian forces to attack them from the rear and completely rout the tired and hungry Carthaginians when they attempted to retreat to the town. Although the capture of the town was an important victory for Rome, neither consul was awarded 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 ...

for their successful actions. In 253 BC, Megellus had the unusual distinction of being elected both to the office of

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 ...

and Censor in the same year.Broughton, pg. 211Broughton identifies the Praetor of 253 BC with the consul of 262 BC. However, according to Francis X. Ryan, ''Rank and Participation in the Republican Senate'' (1998), pg. 163, there is some doubt about this, and he argues that the Praetor in 253 was not the consul of 262. During his time in occupying these offices, Megellus died.

Sources

* Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1951) * Lazenby, John Francis, ''The First Punic War: A Military History'' (1996) * Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', Vol II (1867).

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postumius Megellus, Lucius 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Megellus, Lucius Ancient Roman generals 300s BC births 253 BC deaths Year of birth uncertain