Gaius Prastina Messalinus was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, active during the reign of

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatoria ...

. He was

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in the year 147 with

Lucius Annius Largus Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

as his colleague. Messalinus is known entirely from inscriptions. His full name is Gaius Ulpius Pacatus Prastina Messalinus.

Géza Alföldy Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history. Life Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he in ...

dismisses the possibility that Messalinus was the descendant of a man given

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

during the reign of the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

, and instead argues that Messalinus was a relative of that emperor. Although his name clearly demonstrates

polyonymy Over the course of some fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of nomenclature that differed from that used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of a combination of personal and fami ...

, it does not appear in Olli Salomies' monograph on those names. Nevertheless, the most common form of polyonymic names would lead one to suspect Messalinus was

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

by a member of the

Ulpii The gens Ulpia was a Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Thirtieth Legion took its name, ''Ulpia'', in his honor. ...

, likely named "Gaius Ulpius Pacatus"; an alternative explanation is that "Gaius Ulpius Pacatus" may be his maternal grandfather. A third item of interest is his ''

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 ...

'' "Messalinus", which suggests a connection to one branch of the ''gens'' Valeria. The ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

'' of Messalinus is imperfectly known; besides his consulate, only two imperial appointments are known. The first was before his consulate, when he was appointed governor of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

; Alföldy dates his tenure to the years 143, 145, and 146. The second appointment was after his consulate, as governor of the imperial province of

Lower Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

, a post attested by a

military diploma A Roman military diploma was a document inscribed in bronze certifying that the holder was honourably discharged from the Roman armed forces and/or had received the grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor as reward for service. The diploma ...

dated to between the years 145 and 157. Alföldy dismisses identifying Messalinus with the Pacatus who was governor of

Gallia Lugdunensis Gallia Lugdunensis ( French: ''Gaule Lyonnaise'') was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon ...

at some point between the years 138 and 161. A possible descendant is the governor of Lower Moesia in 244, Gaius Prastina Messalinus.Nicolay Sharankov & Ivan Hristov
"A Milestone of Emperor Philip the Arab from the Road Oescus – Philippopolis Found at the Eastern Wall of the castellum of Sostra"
''Archaeologia Bulgarica'', 23 (2019), pp. 57-70 Messalinus' life is a blank after his term in Lower Moesia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prastina Messalinus, Gaius 2nd-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Lower Moesia Ulpii Ancient Roman adoptees