Editing Agrippa Postumus (section)

==Legacy==
Two years later, there was an attempt by Postumus' former slave [[Clemens (impostor)|Clemens]] to impersonate him. Clemens was able to impersonate Postumus because people did not remember what Postumus looked like, but Dio also says there was a resemblance between them.<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/57*.html LVII.16]</ref> The impersonation was carried out by the same slave who had set out in AD 14 to ship Postumus away, and the act was met with considerable success among the [[plebs]].<ref name=Fox472/>

According to the historian Erich S. Gruen, various contemporary sources state that Postumus was a "vulgar young man, brutal and brutish, and of depraved character".<ref name="ccaa 49">Gruen (2005), 49.</ref> The Roman historian Tacitus 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."<ref>Tacitus, The Annals [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#3|1.3]]</ref> It was common for ancient historians to portray Postumus as dim-witted and brutish. Velleius portrays Postumus as having had a deformed or perverse character, Dio records a propensity to violence ("He had an impetuous temper...")<ref>{{harvnb|Swan|2004|p=209}}</ref> and a devotion to "servile pursuits", and both Tacitus and Suetonius describe him as fierce ("{{lang|la|ferox}}"). Contemporaries were reported to have described Postumus as wild ("{{lang|la|trux}}"), and Suetonius is in agreement with Dio's "servile pursuits" depiction. The historian Andrew Pettinger argues that the descriptions of Postumus reveal a moral inadequacy, not a mental disorder.<ref>{{harvnb|Pettinger|2012|p=50}}</ref>

===In fiction===
Postumus is depicted in many works of art due to his relationship with the leading family of the early Roman Empire. They include:

*''[[Claudius (novel)|I, Claudius]]'' (1934), a novel by [[Robert Graves]], presents Postumus in a positive light, as a boyhood friend of the narrator, [[Claudius]]. It creates a fictional incident in which Postumus is framed by Livia and her granddaughter [[Livilla]] for the attempted rape of Livilla, as a means of all but guaranteeing Tiberius' succession to the emperorship. Postumus is banished to Planasia but escapes execution when Augustus arranges for his impersonation by his freed slave [[Clemens (impostor)|Clemens]], who is later executed by Crispus, unwittingly in Postumus' stead. The real Postumus spends time on the run, but is eventually captured and executed by Tiberius.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibson|2015|p=262}}</ref>
*In ''[[The Caesars (TV series)|The Caesars]]'' (1968), a television series by [[Philip Mackie]], Postumus was played by [[Derek Newark]]. Here Postumus is sentenced to death by Augustus, who decides to permanently remove his only remaining grandson as an obstacle to the succession of [[Tiberius]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dumont|2009|p=365}}</ref>
*In ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]]'' (1976), a television series by [[Jack Pulman]] based on Graves' novels, Postumus was played by [[John Castle]]. This retains the story from the novel of Postumus being framed for the assault on Livilla, and the later visit to Planasia by Augustus, but removes his fictional survival and shifts the events concerning his banishment to after the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]]. He is killed by [[Sejanus]] on Planasia after Augustus' death.<ref>{{harvnb|Terrace|1981|p=94}}</ref>
*In ''The Longest Exile'' (2024), the first in a historical fiction duology by [[Tana Rebellis]] which focuses primarily on the exile of [[Julia the Younger]], Postumus is a secondary POV character with his own chapters, written about his time in exile on [[Pianosa|Planasia]] and the ongoing plots around him.