Lucius Cornelius Pusio Annius Messala 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 ...
who replaced the emperor
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...
as
suffect consul
A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...
from 13 January 90 to the end of February. He is also known by the shorter form of his name, Lucius Cornelius Pusio.
A suffect consul with the
same name has been attested for the reign of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
, who was the colleague of
Plotius Pegasus
(Lucius?) Plotius Pegasus was a Roman senator and jurisconsult active under the Flavian dynasty. He was suffect consul in an uncertain year, most likely 72 or 73, as the colleague of Lucius Cornelius Pusio Annius Messalla. Shortly after his asce ...
. Until the existence of the suffect of the year 90 was proven, inscriptions mentioning the younger Pusio were thought to refer to the older, most notably one recovered from
Tibur
Tivoli ( , ; la, Tibur) is a town and in Lazio, central Italy, north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna.
History
Gaius Julius Solinu ...
. The relationship between the two men is not conclusively known, although the identical names strongly suggests the younger was the son of the older. An inscription from
Leptis Magna
Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names
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* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent fil ...
attests to the existence of a Marcus Annius Messala as ''
legatus'', or assistant, to the
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...
ar governor of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, which has led to the theory that the older Pusio
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 ...
Annius Messala, who then added the older man's name to his own. At the same time, a
Marcus Annius Messala has been attested as suffect consul in 83, who may be the person mentioned in the African inscription. Another theory proposed by scholars such as
Ronald Syme explains the element "Annius Messala" as coming from the maternal side of the older Pusio's family.
[Syme]
"Spaniards at Tivoli"
''Ancient Society'', 13/14 (1982/1983), pp. 242f; Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire'', (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 133
Syme also notes evidence of two possible relatives in
Gades: an inscription by his slave attests to one Lucius Cornelius Pusio, while another to a Marcus Cornelius L.f. Pusio.
[
The inscription from Tibur, created by Cornelia Sabina, a likely wife or daughter, provides notice of two offices the consul of 90 held: Pusio was a member of the '']Septemviri epulonum
The (Latin for "feasters"; sing. ''epulo'') arranged feasts and public banquets at Roman festival, festivals and games ''(ludi)''. They constituted one of the four great collegium (ancient Rome), religious corporations (''quattuor amplissima co ...
'', one of the four most prestigious Roman priesthoods, responsible for arranging feasts and public banquets at festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
and games (''ludi
''Ludi'' (Latin plural) were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (''populus Romanus''). ''Ludi'' were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also ...
''); and he was also governor of Africa, likely in the year 103/104.[ Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", '' Chiron'', 12 (1982), p. 339] Lucius Cornelius Pusio is mentioned in one other inscription, the '' Testamentum Dasumii'', indicating he was still alive in the Summer of 108.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Pusio Annius Messala, Lucius
1st-century Romans
Pusio Annius Messala (90)
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Roman governors of Africa
Epulones of the Roman Empire