Marcus Valerius Messalla (born c. 80 BC) was a

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who was appointed

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 ...

in 32 BC.

Biography

Valerius Messalla, a member of the patrician '' gens Valeria'', was the son of Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus, who was

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 ...

in 53 BC. In that year, he was appointed a ''

triumvir monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respon ...

''. Taking no part in the

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and the political upheavals of the

Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created at the end of the Roman republic for Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November ...

, in 32 BC he was appointed

after both consuls left Rome to join

Marc Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

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, following Caesar Octavian's attack on Gaius Sosius and Marcus Antonius. Nothing further is known of his career after leaving the consulship. Valerius Messalla apparently had no sons of his own. He therefore probably adopted Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus, who was probably the son of Appius Claudius Pulcher, the consul of 38 BC. He may have been the Marcus Valerius who was the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the town of Mallus.Syme, pg. 211

References

Sources

* Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol II (1952) *Syme, Ronald, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (1986).

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Messalla, Marcus 722 AUC 1st-century BC Roman consuls Moneyers of ancient Rome Ancient Roman patricians Marcus 722 AUC 80s BC births Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown