Messalla (consul 280)

(Lucius Valerius) Messalla^[1] (fl. 3rd century) was a Roman senator who was appointed consul in AD 280.

Biography

Messalla is assumed to be a member of the third century Patrician Gens Valeria, possibly the son of Lucius Valerius Poplicola Balbinus Maximus.^[2] In AD 280 he was appointed consul prior alongside Vettius Gratus.^[3]

It has been suggested that he had a son, Lucius Valerius Maximus Basilius, who was Praefectus Urbi of Rome in AD 319.^[4]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Messalla
16. L. Valerius Messalla Thrasea Priscus[anc 1]               8. L. Valerius Messalla Apollinaris                       4. L. Valerius Claudius Acilius Priscillianus Maximus                             2. L. Valerius Poplicola Balbinus Maximus                                   1. L. Valerius Messalla

1. Lucius Valerius Messalla Thrasea Priscus was a descendant of Octavia the Younger, through her granddaughter Valeria Messalla (daughter of Claudia Marcella Minor).

Sources

• Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I AD 260-395, Cambridge University Press (1971)
• Mennen, Inge, Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284 (2011)

References

1. Both the praenomen Lucius and the Nomen gentile Valerius are assumed.
2. Mennen, pg. 127
3. Martindale & Jones, pg. 599
4. Settipani, Christian, Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale, (2000) p. 229