Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus (c. 104/3 – 26 BC), 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 lette ...

senator who was elected

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 throu ...

for 53 BC.

Family

Messalla was the son of Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger and Hortensia (sister of the consul of 69 BC). He had a sister,

Valeria Messala Valeria or Valeria Messalla was the fifth wife of two-term consul and Roman dictator Sulla, Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Biography Early life Valeria was the daughter of a man named Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger and Hortensia (wife of Niger), Hortens ...

, who was the fifth wife of the dictator

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla ha ...

. Messalla had two sons: Marcus Valerius Messalla (consul 32 BC) and Potitus Valerius Messalla (suffect consul 29 BC).

Career

Messalla Rufus probably served as

Praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

in 62 BC. His appointment as consul in 53 BC was delayed due to a scandal involving the consular elections, followed by public disorder between the followers of

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one ...

and

Titus Annius Milo Titus Annius Milo (died 48 BC) was a Roman political agitator. The son of Gaius Papius Celsus, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC, he was prosecuted for the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher and exiled from ...

. It was only in July 53 BC that he entered the office. He and his colleague's attempts to hold elections for 52 BC were also disrupted. Messalla Rufus was also elected augur at an early date, for he was a member of the ''

collegia A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their ...

'' of augurs for 55 years. Messalla Rufus was accused more than once of illegal practices in connection with the elections; on the first occasion he was acquitted, in spite of his obvious guilt, through the eloquence of his uncle

Quintus Hortensius Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a famous Roman lawyer, a renowned orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'' ...

; on the second he was condemned. He took the side of

Gaius Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

in the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. He was a legate under Caesar probably by 48 BC. In 47 BC, Messalla Rufus had to deal with mutinous troops under his command at

Messana Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

.Broughton 1952, p. 291.

Footnotes

References

* Broughton, T. Robert S. (1952). ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic''. II. * Lewis, Martha W. Hoffman (1955). ''The Official Priests of Rome under the Julio-Claudians''. Rome: American Academy. * Attribution: *

Family

Career

See also

Footnotes

References

Further reading