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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

who replaced the emperor

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor 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 Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

suffect consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

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 ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

has been attested for the reign of

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, who was the colleague of

Plotius Pegasus (Lucius?) Plotius Pegasus was a Roman Senate, Roman senator and jurisconsult active under the Flavian dynasty. He was Roman consul, suffect consul in an uncertain year, most likely 72 or 73, as the colleague of Lucius Cornelius Pusio Annius Messa ...

. 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 ( ; ; ) 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 Solinus cites Cato ...

. 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 #Names, other names in classical antiquity, antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean. Established as a Punic people, Puni ...

attests to the existence of a Marcus Annius Messala as ''

legatus A legate (Latin: , ) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in comman ...

'', or assistant, to the

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, 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 ...

ar governor of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, 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 Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

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'') was a religious organization of Ancient Rome. They arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games (''ludi''). They constituted one of the four great religious corporations (''quattuor ampli ...

'', one of the four most prestigious Roman priesthoods, responsible for arranging feasts and public banquets at

festivals A festival is an event 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, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

and games (''

ludi ''Ludi'' (Latin:games; plural of "ludus") 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 festiv ...

''); and he was also governor of Africa, likely in the year 103/104.

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. Hi ...

, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''

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'', 12 (1982), p. 339 Lucius Cornelius Pusio is mentioned in one other inscription, the ''

Testamentum Dasumii The Testamentum Dasumii refers to an inscription in several pieces found in Rome, that bears the only Roman will inscribed on stone. Originally presenting the complete will, while the surviving pieces of the inscription include parts of all 133 line ...

'', 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