For the personal name, see Postumus (praenomen)

Postumus (praenomen)

Postumus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was most common during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It gave rise to the patronymic gens Postumia, and later became a common cognomen, or surname. The feminine form is Postuma...

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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus (26 June 12 BC – 20 August AD 14), also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...

 and Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...

. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 and his second wife Scribonia

Scribonia

Scribonia was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. She was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and...

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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus was born on June 26, 12 BC, the youngest of five children. His father Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa died before he was born. Augustus adopted two of his son-in-law's children, making sons of these grandchildren Gaius Caesar

Gaius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...

 and Lucius Caesar

Lucius Caesar

Lucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born between 14 of June and 15 July 17 BC with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar...

. Postumus he left unadopted, so he could continue the family.

However, upon the death of Lucius and then Gaius Caesar, Augustus finally decided to adopt both Postumus and his step-son Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

 as his heirs, with Postumus first in the succession. As the designated heir, he became Marcus Julius Caesar Agrippa Postumus, while his stepfather became Tiberius Julius Caesar. The anxiety over who would follow in Augustus' footsteps naturally set up Postumus and Tiberius in opposition.

Although there is little clear contemporary account of him, virtually all Roman historians agree that Postumus was considered a rude and brutish sort; Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

 defended him, but his praise was slight: [He was] the young, physically tough, indeed brutish, Agrippa Postumus. Though devoid of every good quality, he had been involved in no scandal.

There has never been a clear consensus on why it happened, but in 9 AD, Augustus banished Postumus to the small island of Planasia. Tacitus suggests that he was always disliked and shunned by Livia

Livia

Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...

, as he stood in the way of her son Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

 succeeding to the throne after Augustus. A banishment (and eventual execution) for merely being rude and unpleasant, though, is a harsh sentence. Thus, some modern historians theorize he was involved in a conspiracy against Augustus. Postumus was held under intense security.

Postumus' sister Julia the Younger

Julia the Younger

Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...

 was banished around the same time and her husband, Lucius Aemilius Paullus was executed in a conspiracy against Augustus. Also, a conspiracy to rescue Postumus and Julia was planned and was foiled.

In any case, Postumus's banishment did ensure Tiberius's priority as Augustus's heir. Tacitus (Ann.

Annals (Tacitus)

The Annals by Tacitus is a history of the reigns of the four Roman Emperors succeeding Caesar Augustus. The surviving parts of the Annals extensively cover most of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. The title Annals was probably not given by Tacitus, but derives from the fact that he treated this...

1.3) reports a rumor that Augustus paid a highly covert visit to the island in 13 AD to apologize to his adopted son and give him notice of plans to return him to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Augustus was accompanied by a trusted friend, Fabius Maximus, and swore him to secrecy about the matter; Maximus then told his wife, Marcia, who mentioned it to Livia. Maximus was soon found dead, and Marcia subsequently claimed she was responsible for his death. Dio's version (56.30) reports the island visit as fact, though the brief account is likely based on Tacitus' account (Ann. 1.1) and does not mention Fabius and Marcia. It is dubious whether this tale has any veracity.

Regardless of Augustus' supposed visit, the emperor died the following year without having removed Postumus from Planasia and without including him in his will. Around Augustus' death, Postumus was executed by his guards with some accounts contradicting whether it happened before or after. Accounts are also inconsistent on who ordered the death and these existed almost from the start, when Tiberius immediately and publicly disavowed the act upon being notified of it (Tacitus, Ann. 1.5). Some suggested that Augustus may have ordered the execution, while others place the blame on either Tiberius or Livia (with or possibly without Tiberius's knowledge) (Suetonius, Lives, Tiberius 22), taking advantage of the confusing initial political situation upon Augustus' death.

Postumus was impersonated after his death that took place in 20 August 14 AD by Clemens

Clemens (impostor)

-Biography:He was a former slave of Agrippa Postumus, the grandson of Augustus, who was killed around the time Tiberius came to power. Clemens appeared claiming that he really was Postumus, and gained a significant band of followers, but was captured and executed by Tiberius...

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In fiction

Robert Graves

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...

' work I, Claudius suggests that, through Livia's influence, Augustus grew to dislike him, and Graves even creates a fictional incident in which Postumus is framed by Livia and her granddaughter Livilla

Livilla

Livia Julia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and Germanicus...

 for attempted rape of the latter. Graves also has Postumus escaping his execution by impersonation of the freed slave Clemens

Clemens

Clemens is a Late Latin masculine name meaning "merciful". Clemens may refer to:People - family name* Andrew Clemens , American folk artist* Barry Clemens , American basketball player...

, rather than Clemens being an imposter who claimed to be Postumus. In the television adaptation

I, Claudius (TV series)

I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time...

 by Jack Pulman

Jack Pulman

Jack Pulman was an award-winning British television screenwriter, most famous for the critically acclaimed 1976 BBC television series, I, Claudius, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Graves....

, the character dies after Augustus's death on Planasia with Sejanus

Sejanus

Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...

 becoming the assassin. The character is portrayed by John Castle

John Castle

John Castle is an English actor. Castle has acted in theatre, film and television. He is well known for his role as Postumus in the 1976 BBC television adaptation of I, Claudius and for playing Geoffrey in the 1968 film, The Lion in Winter. He also played Dr...

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Ancestry