Publius Postumius Tubertus, the son of Quintus, was the first of the patrician gens Postumia

Postumia (gens)

The gens Postumia was one of the most ancient patrician gentes at Rome. Its members frequently held the highest office of the state, from the banishment of the kings to the downfall of the Republic...

to obtain the consulship

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

, which he held in 505 BC, the fifth year of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

. Together with his colleague, Marcus Valerius Volusus

Marcus Valerius Volusus

Marcus Valerius Volusus was a Roman consul with Publius Postumius Tubertus in 505 BC....

, he fought against the Sabines, whom they defeated decisively near Tibur

Tivoli, Italy

Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

, obtaining a triumph

Roman triumph

The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...

.

Postumius was consul for the second time in 503 BC. Livius

Livy

Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

 records that he fought and defeated the Aurunci

Aurunci

The Aurunci were an Italic population which lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. Of Indo-European origin, their language belonged to the Oscan group...

, obtaining a second triumph. Other authorities state that he fought against the Sabines again, at first with little success, but that he was eventually victorious, and was awarded an Ovation

Ovation

The ovation was a lower form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted, when war was not declared between enemies on the level of states, when an enemy was considered basely inferior or when the general conflict was resolved with little to no bloodshed or danger to the army itself.The general...

, or lesser triumph. This was the first occasion that this honor was bestowed upon a magistrate of the Roman Republic.

In 494 BC, Postumius was one of ten ambassadors sent by the Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 to treat with the plebs gathered on the Mons Sacer during the first secession

Secessio plebis

Secessio plebis was an informal exercise of power by Rome's plebeian citizens, similar to a general strike taken to the extreme. During a secessio plebis, the plebs would simply abandon the city en masse and leave the patrician order to themselves...

. The envoys successfully negotiated to forgive some of the debt owed by the plebs, and established the office of the Tribuni Plebis, or "Tribunes of the People", who received the power to veto acts of the Magistrates and the Senate.

In consequence of his deeds and reputation, Postumius and his descendants were accorded the privilege of being buried within the city walls.