The gens Messia was a plebeian family at Rome. The first person of this name to appear in history is Vettius Messius, a Volscian soldier whose courage inspired his comrades in a desperate battle against the Romans in 431 BC. It is not known when the Messii first obtained Roman citizenship. Members of the family appear in the lists of annual magistrates during the final decades of the Republic. In imperial times, some of the Messii achieved the highest offices of the Roman state.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

See also

Notes

  1. "Vectius" in some manuscripts.
  2. Zosimus says that Decius was succeeded by a second son, whom he does not name; but various inconsistencies in the records of this time have led some historians to suppose that Hostilian was Decius' son-in-law, or perhaps his nephew. For some of the arguments put forth supporting each view, see Tillemont and Eckhel.
  3. Or "Messus".

References

  1. Livy, iv. 28, 29.
  2. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 1054 ("Vectius Messius").
  3. Cicero, Post Reditum in Senatu, 8, Epistulae ad Atticum, iv. 1, 15, viii. 11.
  4. Caesar, De Bello Africo, 33.
  5. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 202, 216.
  6. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 1054 ("Gaius Messius").
  7. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, ii. 14, 20, iii. 2, iv. 20, 24, 25, v. 5, vi. 11, 34, vii. 26, viii. 19, 24, ix. 1, 23.
  8. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 998 ("Messius Maximus").
  9. AE 1994, 1480.
  10. 1 2 Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus, 29, Epitome de Caesaribus, 29.
  11. Eutropius, ix. 4.
  12. Trebellius Pollio, "The Life of Valerian", c. 1.
  13. Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, vi. 39 ff.
  14. Zosimus, i. 21–23.
  15. 1 2 Zonaras, xii. 19, 20.
  16. Jordanes, Romana, c. 16 ff.
  17. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 948, 949 ("Decius").
  18. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 54 ("Herennius Etruscus").
  19. Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus, 30, Epitome de Caesaribus, 30.
  20. Eutropius, ix. 5.
  21. Zosimus, i. 25.
  22. Zonaras, vol. i, p. 625 (ed. du Cange, Paris, 1687).
  23. Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, vol. iii.
  24. Eckhel, vol. vii., p. 350.
  25. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 530 ("Hostilianus").
  26. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 378, 379 ("Arusianus, Messus or Messius").
  27. Damascius, The Life of Isidore.

Bibliography

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