Postumia (wife of Servius Sulpicius Rufus)

Postumia was an ancient Roman woman of the late Roman Republic, she was the wife of Roman lawyer Servius Sulpicius Rufus and a mistress of Julius Caesar.

Postumia
Born
Rome
Died
Rome
SpouseServius Sulpicius Rufus
ChildrenServius Sulpicius Rufus

Biography

Early life

She was likely born around 100 BC to a Patrician family.[1] It has been conjectured among some historians, among them Ronald Syme, that she was likely a sister of Aulus Postumius Albinus and the Postumia who was the mother of Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus.[2][3]

Marriage

She married Servius Sulpicius Rufus, a famous lawyer.[4] The couple had a son named Servius Sulpicius Rufus together (who would be the father of Sulpicia). Cicero early on identified her as a faithful wife and speaks of her with politeness in some of his letters.[5] None-the less she was identified by Suetonius as one of Caesar's many mistresses. Cicero possibly makes an innuendo towards the affair in one of his letters.[6] Historians Tyrrell and Purser have proposed that Postumia may have been the one who encouraged her son to join in Caesar's army during the Civil War, when his father sides with Pompey.[7] In 49 BC she accompanied her son to a conference with Cicero about her husband's political future.[8][9]

Catullus's poem

Postumia has been identified as likely being the Postumia satirized in Catullus 27th poem, where she is portrayed as a drunken hostess of a party. It's possible that Catullus lambasted her as a way to get at her male relatives, or because he knew she was one of Caesar's lovers.[8][10][11]

Cultural depictions

Postumia appears as a frequent character in Robert Harris Cicero trilogy of novels. Her marriage to Rufus and affair with Caesar are featured in the novels to varying extents.[12] She also appears in the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, in the book Caesar's Women she is brought up as a potential marriage candidate by Caesar, but his mother and other female relatives dismiss her, stating that she is a drunkard and her family is not prominent enough for him to marry into.[13]

See also

References
  1. JSTOR (1980). Historia. University of California: F. Steiner. p. 430.
  2. Syme, Ronald (1989). The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780198147312.
  3. Hawthorn, J. R. (February 24, 1963). "The Republican Empire". Macmillan – via Google Books.
  4. Kamm, Antony (September 27, 2006). Julius Caesar: A Life. Routledge. ISBN 9781134220335 – via Google Books.
  5. Treggiari, Susan (2019). Servilia and her Family. 9780192564658. ISBN 9780192564658.
  6. Cicero: Letters to Atticus: Volume 3, Books 5-7.9. Cambridge University Press. June 10, 2004. ISBN 9780521606912 – via Google Books.
  7. "The Classical Review". D. Nutt. February 24, 1923 – via Google Books.
  8. "Companion: Catullus 27". feminaeromanae.org. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  9. Middleton, Conyers (February 24, 1839). "The Life of Cicero". Moxon – via Google Books.
  10. Knox, Peter E.; McKeown, J. C. (October 31, 2013). The Oxford Anthology of Roman Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199910724 – via Google Books.
  11. Dettmer, Helena (February 24, 1997). Love by the Numbers: Form and Meaning in the Poetry of Catullus. P. Lang. ISBN 9780820436630 – via Google Books.
  12. Treggiari, Susan (January 3, 2019). Servilia and her Family. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192564641 – via Google Books.
  13. McCullough, Colleen (March 1, 2014). Masters of Rome Collection Books I - V: First Man in Rome, The Grass Crown, Fortune's Favourites, Caesar's Women, Caesar. Head of Zeus. ISBN 9781781859391 – via Google Books.
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