Pomponius Bassus ..tus (c. 220 – after 271) was a

Roman Senator The Roman Senate () was the highest and Roman constitution, constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the Rome, city of Rome (traditionally founded ...

of Anatolian descent who lived in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Life

Bassus was of Italian Roman and Pontian Greek ancestry, who came from a distinguished senatorial family. Bassus was the son of an elder Pomponius Bassus, the senator who served as

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 211, and wife Annia Aurelia Faustina, who was a great-granddaughter of the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

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 ...

and wife

Faustina the Younger Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger ( AD, – 175/176 AD) was Roman empress from 161 to her death as the wife of emperor Marcus Aurelius, cousin marriage, her maternal cousin. Faustina was the youngest child of emperor Antoninus Pius and empress F ...

. His sister was Pomponia Ummidia and through his mother, Bassus was a descendant of the

Nerva–Antonine dynasty The Nerva–Antonine dynasty comprised seven Roman emperors who ruled from AD 96 to 192: Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), and Co ...

. Bassus was born and raised in his mother's large estate in

Pisidia Pisidia (; , ; ) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's set ...

. When Bassus' father died about 221, his mother was briefly married to the Emperor

Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( ) and Heliogabalus ( ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short r ...

; the marriage ended by the end of that year. Bassus was one of the most senior and well-respected senators of his day. He held his first consulship in 259 under the reign of the Emperors Valerian and

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He ...

. There is a possibility that Bassus rose to prominence after his first consulship. Bassus, being a senior consular, held various other senior positions, including that of

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 ...

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of either

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 ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, possibly around 260. Under the Emperor

Claudius Gothicus Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – August/September 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Batt ...

, Bassus was appointed '' corrector totius Italiae'', and he was a '' comes augusti'' (or companion of the emperor). In January 271, Bassus shared his second consulship with the emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

, which was the Emperor's first consulship. Either during or after Bassus' second consulship, he was appointed the

praefectus urbi The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...

. Around this time, it appears Bassus was also the

princeps senatus The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus''), in English the leader of the senate, was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium ...

.Mennen, Inge, ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284'' (2011) pg. 121 Bassus married Pomponia Gratidia, by whom he had a daughter, Pomponia Bassa (born 250). His daughter married Lucius Septimius Severus (born c. 245), son of a Lucius Septimius (born c. 210) and paternal grandson of

Gaius Septimius Severus Aper Gaius Septimius Severus Aper (c. 175211/212) was a Roman aristocrat. Life He was appointed consul ordinarius in 207 with the otherwise unknown Lucius Annius Maximus. Aper came from Leptis Magna and was probably a paternal grandson of the consul ...

. Their son was

Septimius Bassus Septimius Bassus (fl. 317–319) was a Roman politician, and a member of the Septimia gens. Life Bassus was born in a senatorial family, the son of Lucius Septimius Severus (born c. 245) and wife Pomponia Bassa (born c. 250). His paternal gra ...

Ancestry

References

Sources

* Alaric Watson, ''Aurelian the third century''. Routledge, 1999. * William M. Ramsay, ''The Cities and Bishoprics of Phyrgia: Being an Essay of the Local History of Phrygia from the Earliest Times to the Turkish Conquest'', Volume 1. 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomponius Bassus 3rd-century Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Empire Bassus (consul 259) 220s births Year of death unknown