RR Family Propaganda

This coin is my latest RR denarius a story of family propaganda from ancient Rome in the run-up to and early phases of the Caesar–Pompey civil war.

Albinus Bruti f, 48 BCE, AR Denarius (Silver, 18 mm, 3.72 g, 9 h), Rome.

Obv: A POSTVMIVS COS, bare head of A. Postumius to right.

Rev: ALBINV / BRVTI•F within wreath of grain ears.

Ref: Babelon (Postumia) 14 and (Junia) 29. Crawford 450/3a. CRI 27. RBW 1578. Sydenham 943a.

Notes: Lightly toned. Struck from somewhat worn dies, otherwise, very fine. From the private collection of the Swiss Archaeologist Philipp Reto Huser (1962-2025), privately acquired in Swiss coin trade over the past 30 years.

Crawford notes that "there is no convincing candidate for the portrait on 450.3". Leu also noted in the auction listing:

"It is not entirely certain whose portrait appears on the obverse of this wonderful denarius: it could be either the consul of 151 BC, Aulus Postumius Albinus, or the consul of the same name from 99 BC. The latter is more likely, and he may have been the adoptive father of the moneyer, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (not to be confused with Junius Brutus!), who in just a few years would become one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination."

The reverse type, consisting only of the moneyer's name within a wreath of grain ears, seems to indicate that he was responsible for supplying Rome with grain at some point during a time of hardship.

Zanin’s 2021 “The Last Postumii Albini” points out that this two-lineage layout is a family tree in miniature during a politically charged period. With this context the A. Postumius COS can be more specifically identified.

Crawford shares the suggestions that the head might be another A. Postumius e.g.:

• Albinus Luscus, cos. 180

• Albinus, cos. 151

• or even the early Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis consul in 496 BC, credited by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus with leading the Romans to victory over the Latins at the Battle of Lake Regillus. His cognomen “Regillensis” comes from that battle and Aulus Postumius Albus Tubertus- consul in 464 BC and dictator in 431 BC; remembered for a campaign against the Aequi and for strict discipline.

  
  

However, the “COS” legend and the series’ genealogical program - precisely the pattern highlighted in later analyses - make the consul of 99 BC the most convincing choice. Late Republican moneyers often used their coinage to publicize prestigious ancestors. Decimus’s RRC 450 sub-series does this systematically: each type in the sub-series pairs an image tied to one branch of his ancestry with a legend referring to the other. That way, a single coin advertises two elite lineages at once.

Who was the collector? Philipp Reto Huser (1962–2025) was a Swiss archaeologist and long‑time coin collector who lived in Sirnach (Thurgau). Public records note his death on 10 January 2025. In mid‑2025, Leu Numismatik began dispersing his private collection, assembled over c. 30 years, across several web auctions; their catalogues repeatedly describe him as a “Swiss Archaeologist” and credit lots to the “private collection of the Swiss Archaeologist Philipp Reto Huser (1962–2025)” (covering Greek, Roman, Byzantine and world coins). Beyond these catalog notices, biographical detail remains sparse.

Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus, the moneyer, was born a Junian (son of D. Iunius Brutus, consul 77 BC) but was adopted into the patrician Postumii Albini, almost certainly by a son of Aulus Postumius Albinus (consul 99 BC).

When he served as moneyer in 49/48 BC he used one sub‑series (RRC 450/3a–c) to advertise that double pedigree: the obverse shows a portrait labeled A·POSTVMIVS·COS (an “imago maioris” of his adoptive consular ancestor), while the reverse reads ALBINVS BRVTI·F - “Albinus, son of Brutus” - pointing back to his birth family. This exact pairing (portrait + office on the obverse; “Bruti f.” on the reverse) is the classic Republican way to boast a recent, prestigious ancestor by office and, at the same time, signal one’s natural lineage - hence the strong case that the head is A. Postumius Albinus, consul of 99 BC, the most relevant consular in his adoptive line.

Why would he honor this A. Postumius? It let Decimus claim two consular families at once - the Junii (his father, consul 77 BC) and the Postumii Albini (consul 99 BC) - valuable political capital amid the civil‑war jockeying of the late 50s.

On Republican coins, adding the office (COS) to an ancestral portrait typically marks a recent or direct relative, not a remote early‑Republic namesake - another reason to see the obverse as the consul of 99, not an older A. Postumius.

The British Museum’s catalogue records the type precisely this way: head of A. Postumius with legend A·POSTVMIVS·COS on the obverse, moneyer D. Iunius Brutus Albinus on the reverse.

This coin is a tidy piece of family propaganda- adoptive Postumian face on the front, Junian paternity on the back.

A patrician of the Postumii Albini, Aulus Postumius Albinus reached the consulship in 99 BC, alongside the orator M. Antonius. Source records don't record any distinct legislative acts in his consular year - the surviving notices for 99 chiefly concern Antonius’ opposition to a tribune’s agrarian bill.

During the Social War (91–88 BC) he served as legate under L. Cornelius Sulla, commanding a fleet on the Campanian coast. In 89 BC his soldiers murdered him - stoned and clubbed to death - amid a mutiny; Sulla notoriously declined to punish the perpetrators, rationalizing that shame would make them fight harder.

He appears to have been the last Postumius Albinus to reach the consulship, which gave his name special cachet inside the dwindling clan. Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus, born a Junian Brutus but adopted into the Postumii Albini, was adopted by a son of this consul of 99, not by the consul himself (who died in 89).

Who was the moneyer?

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (c. 85–43 BC) was a descendant of the notable family of the Junii Bruti who was adopted into the patrician Postumii Albini - hence the cognomen “Albinus.” Modern prosopography confirms the adoption and places him as son of the consul of 77 BC, with “Albinus” acquired through a Postumian adoptor.

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was a trusted Caesarian lieutenant in Gaul, he commanded the Roman fleet that crushed the Veneti in 56 BC, then led Caesar’s naval arm at Massilia in 49 BC, twice defeating the city’s fleet while Trebonius conducted the siege on land.

"Decimus Brutus the younger was put in command of the fleet, and of the Gallic ships already ordered to assemble from the territory of the Pictones, the Santoni, and the others now pacified, and was ordered to start as soon as possible for the country of the Veneti, whither Caesar himself hastened with the land force."
-Caesar, Gallic Wars, III.11

Caesar promptly promoted him: he governed Transalpine Gaul (48–46 BC) and was slated for the consulship of 42 BC. Strikingly, Caesar’s will named him among the secondary heirs, a measure of prior intimacy. As moneyer in 48 BC, he issued denarii at Rome (RRC 450), including the type with A·POSTVMIVS·COS on the obverse.

On 15 March 44 BC, Decimus was among the core conspirators; Suetonius even has Caesar leaving home that day at Decimus’ urging not to “disappoint” the waiting Senate. Appointed by Caesar to Cisalpine Gaul for 43 BC, he refused Mark Antony’s demand to vacate, was besieged at Mutina, and - after the Senate-backed victories there - saw his army melt away as Octavian shifted allegiances. Attempting to reach M. Brutus in the East, he was captured in Gaul by a local dynast and executed on Antony’s orders (late summer 43 BC).

References:

• Zanin, Manfredi. “The Last Postumii Albini.” Hermes 149, no. 4 (2021): 474–486. https://doi.org/10.25162/hermes-2021-0035.

• British Museum example of this coin.

• Broughton, T. R. S. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, vol. 2 (99–31 BC). New York: APA, 1952. (Fasti for 99 BC; career notice: “A. Postumius Albinus Pat. — Cos. 99; legate under Sulla; killed by his own soldiers,” with source list.)

• Livy. Periochae 75: “Aulus Postumius Albinus, commander of the fleet, was killed by his own men…” (transmission of the epitome).

• Plutarch. Sulla 6.9: Sulla overlooks the murder of his legate Albinus to stiffen morale.

• Orosius. Hist. adv. Pag. 5.18.22: calls Albinus a vir consularis slain by his troops in the Social War.

• Polyaenus. Stratagems 8.9.1: reprise of the same mutiny and Sulla’s reaction.