Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus

Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus also known as Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus Appianus^[1][2] (c. 45 BC – 12 BC) was a Roman Senator who served as a consul^[3] in the Roman Empire.

Family Background

Not much is known on his family background and early life. Appianus may have been the son of the consul of 38 BC, Appius Claudius Pulcher^[4] by an unnamed wife. He was probably adopted by Marcus Valerius Messalla, the suffect consul of 32 BC,^[5] so thus becoming Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus Appianus.

Political career

According to the French Historian Jesuit François Catrou et Rouillé, Appianus served as a Quaestor in the army of the Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. After this moment, little is known on his remaining political career except that he served as a consul in 12 BC.^[6] Not so long after in serving his consulship, Appianus died.^[7]

Marriage & Issue

About 14 BC, Appianus married Claudia Marcella Minor, a daughter of Octavia Minor from her first husband the consul, Gaius Claudius Marcellus, who her maternal uncle was the Roman emperor Augustus.^[8] Marcella bore Appianus two children, a daughter called Claudia Pulchra and a son, called Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus.^[9][10]

References

1. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205
2. Habelt, A PROPOSITO DEI MATRIMONI DI MARCELLA MINORE E DEL MONVMENTVM DEI SUOI SCHIAVI E LIBERTI, aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 111
3. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205
4. Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, p. 147
5. Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, p. 147
6. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205
7. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205
8. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205
9. Syme, Augustan Aristocracy, p.147
10. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205

Sources

• R. Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, Clarendon Press, 1986
• R. Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, Oxford University Press, 1989
• UGO FUSCO – GIAN LUCA GREGORI, A PROPOSITO DEI MATRIMONI DI MARCELLA MINORE E DEL MONVMENTVM DEI SUOI SCHIAVI E LIBERTI, aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 111 (1996) 226–232, Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn
• M. Lightman & B. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, Infobase Publishing, 2008
• Jesuit François Catrou et Rouillé, Histoire romaine depuis la fondation de Rome [jusqu'a l'an 47 de J.-C.], avec des notes historiques, géographiques et critiques...par les RR. PP. Catrou et Rouillé de S. J. T. 01-20 (histoire romaine par Bernard Rothe, [sic pour Routh] T. 21)