Cornelia Postuma or Postuma Cornelia (born between 78-77 BC) was the only daughter of Roman Dictator
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.
Sulla had t ...
and his fifth wife
Valeria Messalla. She was Sulla's fifth and final known child.
Life
Postuma was delivered some months after Sulla's death. It is uncertain if her name "Postuma" was a
praenomen
The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bir ...
or
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
as the usage of the name "Postuma" as a female praenomen is unattested in epigraphical evidence for the Roman Republic period but it would have been unusual to give a cognomen at such an early date. The male equivalent praenomen Postumus is well attested. Her birth was highly significant as it unified Sulla's family with that of her mother’s.
[
She had three surviving older half siblings; Cornelia Silla, the twins Faustus Cornelius Sulla and ]Fausta Cornelia
Fausta Cornelia (also called Cornelia Fausta) was a daughter of the Roman Dictator Sulla.
Biography Early life
Fausta and her twin brother Faustus were the children of their father's fourth wife Caecilia Metella. They had one older half-sister, ...
as well as a brother who died young. Her oldest sister Silla already had children by the time Postuma was born.
T. F. Carney presumes that she died young since there is no further mentions of her in literature, he states that a member of such a notorious household could not have failed to be mentioned somewhere if she had been old enough to marry.ulcer
An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...
s.
Cultural depictions
In Colleen McCullough
Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and '' The Ladies of Missalonghi''.
Life ...
's book ''Fortune's Favourites
''Masters of Rome'' is a series of historical novels by Australian author Colleen McCullough, set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Republic; it primarily chronicles the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Corneliu ...
'' Postuma's mother Valeria expresses doubt that she is actually Sulla's child, believing that she was instead fathered by her lover Metrobius.
See also
* Posthumously born notable people
* List of Roman women
* Roman naming conventions for females
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
1st-century BC Roman women
1st-century BC Romans
Cornelii Sullae
Children of Sulla
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