Marcus Iallius or Jallius Bassus was a Roman

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 ...

, general, and literary figure who held several offices in the imperial service during the mid-second century AD. He was suffect consul around the year 159. Bassus is known primarily from inscriptions. His full name was Marcus Iallius Bassus Fabius Valerianus. Bassus was from Alba Helviorum (modern Joyeuse, Ardèche), where two inscriptions record his '' cursus honorum''. These inscriptions give his father's name as ''Marcus''; he might be the Marcus Iallius Bassus who was buried at Alba Helviorum. He was probably closely related to the ''Quintus'' Iallius Bassus who was consul in 158. Bassus' senatorial career began with his adlection ''inter tribunicios'', that is as having held the office of plebeian tribune. After his accession to

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 disch ...

, he was commissioned '' legatus legionis'', or commander of a legion, but its name was not preserved on either inscription; Géza Alföldy dates his command from around the year 153 to 156, and suggests that the unknown legion could be either Legio I Adiutrix or Legio X Gemina. Then Bassus was governor of Pannonia Inferior, which Alföldy dates from around the year 156 to 159. His consulate followed. His senatorial career as an ex-consul encompasses more than the average number of offices. First Bassus held the post of '' curator operum locorumque publicorum et aedium sacrum'', which Alföldy dates to the year 161. Then he was appointed governor of

Moesia Inferior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

; Alföldy dates his office to the year 162. Bassus was then made one of the Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

' '' comites'', an inner circle of advisors, during the Parthian War. Upon the resolution of that conflict, Bassus was appointed governor of

Pannonia Superior Pannonia Superior () was a Roman province created from the division of Pannonia in 103 AD, its capital in Carnuntum. It overlapped in territory with modern-day Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia. History It was as governor of the ...

; Alföldy dates his tenure in that province from around 166 to 169.Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', p. 237.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iallius Bassus, Marcus 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Pannonia Inferior Roman governors of Lower Moesia Roman governors of Pannonia Superior

See also

References