Ennodius Messala was an Italian senator in

Ostrogothic Italy The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), was a barbarian kingdom established by the Germanic Ostrogoths that controlled Italy and neighbouring areas between 493 and 553. Led by Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogoths killed Odoa ...

. He was appointed

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 thro ...

for 506 with

Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus Flavius Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus (; 479–512) was an Eastern Roman general and politician. The scion of a distinguished line, he led troops in the Anastasian War, and served as consul in 506. During an urban riot in 512, Areobindus evade ...

as his colleague. His father was

Anicius Probus Faustus Anicius Probus Faustus Niger (''floruit'' 490–512) was a politician of the Western Roman Empire who served as consul in 490 and as praetorian prefect of Italy from 509 to 512. Life Faustus was the son of Gennadius Avienus, a member of an an ...

, the leading supporter of

Pope Symmachus Pope Symmachus (died 19 July 514) was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death on 19 July 514. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy. Early life He was born on the Medi ...

in the Laurentian schism, and his brother was

Rufius Magnus Faustus Avienus Rufius Magnus Faustus Avienus was a politician of the Western Roman Empire. He was appointed consul for 502 with Flavius Probus as his colleague. His father was Anicius Probus Faustus, who was the leading supporter of Pope Symmachus in the Laurent ...

, one of the consuls for 502.Jeffrey Richards, ''The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages'' (London:Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p. 79 According to

Magnus Felix Ennodius Magnus Felix Ennodius (473 or 47417 July 521 AD) was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet. He was one of four Gallo-Roman aristocrats of the fifth to sixth-century whose letters survive in quantity: the others are Sidonius A ...

, Messala had a literary bent (''Ep''. 8.3, 9.12), and in 512 was engaged to a wealthy girl. (''Ep''. 9.26.35)

References

6th-century western Roman consuls {{AncientRome-politician-stub