Lucius Postumius Megellus ( 345 BC – 260 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 ...

. Reportedly an arrogant and overbearing man, 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 305 BC. The

Second Samnite War The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

was ongoing, and as consul he led troops against the Samnites. He defeated them at the Battle of Bovianum and took the town of Bovianum, which caused the Samnites to sue for peace, ending the war. Megellus 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 ...

. Six years later the

Third Samnite War The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

broke out. Megellus again served in a senior role, but saw little fighting and after a year his army was disbanded. In 294 he was elected consul for a second time. He led a consular army but was defeated, wounded and driven away. Recovering he led out another army and captured two towns. He then celebrated a second triumph in defiance of the senate's wishes. Only his subsequent participation in the victorious

Battle of Aquilonia The Battle of Aquilonia was fought in 293 BC between the Roman Republic and the Samnites. The Romans, led by the consul Lucius Papirius Cursor, were victorious. History According to Titus Livius, the Samnites were desperately short of men, ...

prevented his prosecution. Two years later, as the war was drawing to a close, Megellus held the office which oversaw the consular elections. He exploited this to have himself elected consul, in spite of the law requiring a ten-year gap. Amidst furious arguments with his fellow consul, one of the previous year's consuls and the senate he carried the Siege of Cominium to a successful conclusion. With the war all but over he returned to Rome demanding a third triumph. This was refused, and when he left office he was tried for malfeasance and given an enormous fine.

Family

Megellus 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 ...

Postumia clan, a family reportedly at the forefront of the so-called

Struggle of the Orders The Conflict of the Orders, sometimes referred to as the Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebe ...

in their attempts to prevent the opening up of the political offices to the plebeian classes. He had at least one son, also known as Lucius Postumius Megellus, who was elected consul in the third year 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 ...

First consulship

Megellus’ career was marked by overbearing and oppressive behaviour in his dealings with his fellow magistrates and with the citizens of the Republic. His political progress was closely entwined with his military role in the ongoing

Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

, which gave him the scope to ascend to the highest levels of political office, and use his victories to further his career, regardless of the law; for example his disregard of the Lex Genucia to claim the consulship for the third time in 291. Megellus first came to prominence during his time as

Curule 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 ...

, c. 307 BC. The office of the ''aedilis'' was generally held by young men intending to follow the

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

, the sequential mixture of military and political administrative positions held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic. As an ''aedile'', Megellus heavily fined (''pecunia multaticia'') any individuals who broke the

Lex Licinia Sextia The Licino-Sextian rogations were a series of laws proposed by tribunes of the plebs, Gaius Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus, enacted around 367 BC. Livy calls them ''rogatio'' – though he does refer to them at times as ''lex' ...

by encroaching on

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...

.Forsythe, pg. 342 With the fines he collected, Megellus promised to build a temple dedicated to the goddess

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...

, a promise he fulfilled in 294 BC. His election as

in 305 BC saw him participate in the closing years of the

. Leading the armies of the Republic, according to

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 ...

he defeated the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...

at the Battle of Bovianum and took the town of Bovianum. Returning to Rome, Megellus and his consular colleague

Marcus Fulvius Curvus Paetinus Marcus Fulvius Curvus Paetinus was a Roman consul, Roman suffect consul in 305 BC with Lucius Postumius Megellus (consul 305 BC), Lucius Postumius Megellus. He was elected to replace Tiberius Minucius Augurinus, who died in office. He was the ...

took the towns of Sora,

Arpinum Arpino ( Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the ...

and Cerennia. Livy stated that Megellus received a

for his victory.Smith, pg. 1008 The capture of Bovianum caused the Samnites to sue for peace in 304 BC, ending the Second Samnite War.

Second consulship

With the resumption of hostilities in 298, Rome was soon in need of experienced military commanders to take the field against a coalition of enemies, with the Samnites to the south in league with the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

Umbrians The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on ...

and

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

to the north. Magellus, now a private citizen was ineligible to serve again as consul due to the lex Genucia, which required a ten-year interval before a previous consul could hold the office again. Therefore, in 295 BC, with Rome under threat of imminent invasion, he was granted the powers of a

Propraetor In ancient Rome a promagistrate ( la, pro magistratu) was an ex-consul or ex-praetor whose ''imperium'' (the power to command an army) was extended at the end of his annual term of office or later. They were called proconsuls and propraetors. Thi ...

as a ''privatus cum imperio''. He was given command of a legion stationed on the ''ager Vaticanus'', the right hand side of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

. As part of the campaign that culminated in the

Battle of Sentinum The Battle of Sentinum was the decisive battle of the Third Samnite War, fought in 295 BC near Sentinum (next to the modern town of Sassoferrato, in the Marche region of Italy), in which the Romans overcame a formidable coalition of Samnites, ...

, Magellus was ordered to attack the Etruscans, in particular the armies and territory around the town of

Clusium Clusium ( grc-gre, Κλύσιον, ''Klýsion'', or , ''Kloúsion''; Umbrian:''Camars'') was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi (Tuscany) partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman ...

. It is believed that he was not involved in any serious campaigning, and returned to Rome shortly afterwards where his army was disbanded. Elected consul for the second time in 294 BC, Megellus was given command of the forces on the southern front. He captured several towns in

Samnium Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The lan ...

, but in Apulia he was routed and put to flight, and after being wounded he was driven into

Luceria Luceria is an ancient city in the northern Apennines, located in the comune of Canossa in the Province of Reggio Emilia, on the right bank of the river Enza. Toponym The name might derive from ''lucus'', which means "sacred grove". It is not ...

with a few of his men.Forsythe, pg. 327 Returning to Rome to recover from his wounds, he dedicated the temple of Victory in Rome, built with the fines exacted during his curule aedileship. When he had recovered, he again returned to campaign in Samnium, where he captured the towns of Milionia and

Ferentinum Ferentino is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, southeast of Rome. It is situated on a hill above sea level, in the Monti Ernici area. History ''Ferentinum'' was a town of the Hernici; it was captured from them ...

.Smith, pg. 1009 Contradictory accounts have Megellus also campaigning in Etruria in 294 BC, but these are usually discounted by modern scholars. At the end of the campaigning season he celebrated a triumph over the Samnites. This triumph was notorious, as his senatorial enemies claimed that he was not entitled to one, as he had technically left the province which the Senate had assigned to him, during his return to Rome. Disregarding the opposition, he celebrated it without the Senate's permission, which was customary, earning him a good deal of enmity.

Third consulship

As soon as he left the office on 1 January 293, Megellus was immediately threatened with impeachment for his actions as consul by one of the tribunes, Marcus Cantius. With the ongoing crisis of the Samnite war, however, his military ability meant that he was desperately needed. Consequently, he was appointed ''

legatus 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 officer ...

'', a high military office, to the consul

Spurius Carvilius Maximus Spurius Carvilius C. f. C. n., later surnamed Maximus, was the first member of the plebeian ''gens Carvilia'' to obtain the consulship, which he held in 293 BC, and again in 272 BC. Early career Born of equestrian rank, Carvilius served as curule ...

, and agreement was reached to suspend his prosecution until the end of the campaigning season.Arnold, pg. 392 However, the victories achieved by Carvilius Maximus, especially the

, at which Megellus fought, resulted in the trial never taking place, as his opponents believed that his popularity meant that he would have inevitably been found innocent. At the end of 292, Megellus was appointed

interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...

in order to convene the

Comitia Curiata The Curiate Assembly (''comitia curiata'') was the principal assembly that evolved in shape and form over the course of the Roman Kingdom until the Comitia Centuriata organized by Servius Tullius. During these first decades, the people of Rome we ...

and hold the consular elections. This office gave its holder the most senior position in Rome for the duration of the elections. During the election process, with the war against Samnium virtually won, he took the highly unusual step of nominating himself, thereby breaking the law prohibiting men serving as consul again until ten years had elapsed. Upon winning and entering office as senior consul in 291 BC, his first act was to demand that Samnium be assigned to him as his theatre of war, without waiting for the outcome of the drawing of lots for the provincial commands. Over the strenuous objections of his colleague Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus, who in the end decided not to impose his veto, Megellus’ request was granted. He then levied troops for that year's campaigning season, even though Samnite resistance was almost completely crushed, and the previous year's consul, Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges was still in the field with an army which he was commanding with proconsular authority. Regardless, he took his army into the field and marched to the borders of Samnium. Samnite soldiers from a tomb frieze in Nola 4th century BCE

Samnite soldiers from a tomb frieze in Nola 4th century BCE

Over the course of the last two years, Megellus had acquired large tracts of uncleared land from the Samnites which, although they were technically

, he treated as his own. Instead of immediately going to join Gurges, who was besieging Cominium, he used some 2,000 of his soldiers to begin clearing the land, which he had them do for some considerable time, before moving to finally join Gurges. According to

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

, a jealous Megellus prevented Gurges from taking the Samnite stronghold of Cominium. Approaching the town, Megellus wrote to Gurges, ordering him to withdraw from Samnium. Gurges declined, declaring his command had been given to him by the Senate, and wrote to Rome, asking the Senate to confirm his command. The Senate sent a delegation of senators to Megellus, stating that he was not to countermand the Senate's decree.Arnold, pg. 393 He responded to the deputation that, as long as he was the duly elected consul of Rome, it was up to him to command the Senate, not for the Senate to dictate to him how he was to go about his duties.Arnold, pg. 394 He then marched on to Cominium, and forced Gurges to stand down from his command. Gurges had no choice but to obey, and Megellus, having taken command of both armies, immediately sent Gurges back to Rome. Cominium quickly fell, and he followed this up with a campaign against the

Hirpini The Hirpini (Latin: ') were an ancient Samnite tribe of Southern Italy. While generally regarded as having been Samnites, sometimes they are treated as a distinct and independent nation. They inhabited the southern portion of Samnium, in the more ...

, followed by the capture of

Venusia Venosa ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, Ra ...

. With Venusia taken, Megellus recommended that the Senate should turn it into a Roman

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

. Although the Senate followed his advice, they were swayed by the Fabii, who were the enemies of Megellus, and refused to appoint him as one of the commissioners responsible for assigning the lands to the colonists and overseeing the foundation of the new settlement. Infuriated, Megellus decided to distribute all the plunder of the campaign amongst his soldiers, in order to prevent the Treasury of Rome getting any of the booty. Further, he disbanded his armies before his successor arrived to relieve him. Returning to Rome, he demanded another triumph for his victories, which the Senate refused to grant him. He petitioned the people to support him, but he only received lukewarm support. He then turned to the

Plebeian Tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

s, and although he had the support of three, the other seven vetoed his request for a triumph. The senate instead voted a triumph for the man he ousted, Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges, allowing him to claim credit for the capture of Cominium.There is confusion in both Livy’s and Dionysius of Halicarnassus’s accounts, with very similar events (Megellus’ demanding of a triumph, his decision to triumph in spite of Senatorial opposition, his use of the Plebeian Tribunes to further his goals) occurring after his second and third consulships, in 294 and 291 BC respectively. Scholars are divided as to whether a) the events are confused, occurring in one year only, most likely in 294 (based on the Fasti stating that it was Gurges not Megellus who received the triumph in 291 and that Megellus triumphed in 294), or b) whether two similar events were conflated. To make sense of the evidence, it appears that Megellus did demand a triumph in 294, which he staged in spite of Senatorial opposition. He then tried the same tactic again in 291; but this time he had disbanded his troops before his return to Rome, and the Plebeian tribunes interposed their veto to prevent his triumph. Given that the war was virtually over by the end of 291, and therefore the need to keep his military services available for the state was not as pressing, no further attempts were made to accommodate Megellus’ increasingly erratic behaviour. Salmon, pg, 275; Arnold, pg, 394; Forsythe, pg. 327

Later career

As a consequence of his high-handed behaviour, when he left office in 290 BC, Megellus was prosecuted by two of the tribunes on the charge of having employed troops on his own land. He was condemned by all thirty-three

Roman tribes A ''tribus'', or tribe, was a division of the Roman people, constituting the voting units of a legislative assembly of the Roman Republic.''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities'', "Tribus."''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', "T ...

, and fined 500,000 ''

asses Ass most commonly refers to: * Buttocks (in informal American English) * Donkey or ass, ''Equus africanus asinus'' **any other member of the subgenus ''Asinus'' Ass or ASS may also refer to: Art and entertainment * Ass (album), ''Ass'' (album ...

'', the heaviest fine issued to a Roman citizen up to that point. Megellus’ last known activity in public life occurred in 282 BC, when Rome was asked to intercede on behalf of the town of

Thurii Thurii (; grc-gre, Θούριοι, Thoúrioi), called also by some Latin writers Thurium (compare grc-gre, Θούριον in Ptolemy), for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Gulf of Taranto, Tarentine gul ...

, which was suffering raids from the

Lucanians The Lucanians ( la, Lucani) were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so thei ...

and

Bruttians The Bruttians (alternative spelling, Brettii) ( la, Bruttii) were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corresp ...

. When the Romans sailed their ships into the Bay of

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

, the Tarentines took this to be a breach of the treaty prohibiting Roman ships from entering. They successfully attacked the ships and followed up with an assault against Thurii, capturing Roman citizens in the process. Rome sent Megellus to

to demand their release, and for the Tarentines to hand over those who had committed these aggressive acts against Rome. His demands were rejected out of hand, and Megellus was treated without the customary respect accorded an ambassador; the Terentines mocked his Roman

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

, his imperfect Greek pronunciation, and as he was led out of the town, he was even apparently urinated upon.Forsythe, pg. 351

Footnotes

References

Sources

Ancient

History of Rome
*

Roman Antiquities

Modern

* Forsythe, Gary, ''A Critical History of Early Rome from Prehistory to the First Punic War'' (2005) * Oakley, S. P., ''A Commentary on Livy, Books 6-10'' Vol. IV (2007) * Salmon, E. T., ''Samnium and the Samnites'', (2010) * Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1951) * Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', Vol II (1867). * Arnold, Thomas, ''History of Rome'' (1840) {{DEFAULTSORT:Postumius Megellus, Lucius Megellus, Lucius Ancient Roman generals 4th-century BC Roman consuls 3rd-century BC Roman consuls 340s BC births 260s BC deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain