Lucius Vipstanus Gallus

Last updated

Lucius Vipstanus Gallus (died 17) was a Roman senator who is the first documented member of the gens Vipstana. His descendants and relatives include several consuls.

Life

He is a member of a family that originated from the Aequi who were enrolled in the tribe Claudia. They came to prominence during the reign of Tiberius, Vipstanus. Gallus reached the office of praetor in 17, the year of his death. [1] He is known to have at least one relative, Marcus Vipstanus Gallus (suffect consul in 18). It is unknown whether Marcus was a brother or a cousin of Lucius. [2]

Out of the next generation, two Vipstanis are known, the cognomina "Messalla" and "Poplicola". This led Ronald Syme to observe that either Lucius or Marcus married a daughter of Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus and Claudia Marcella Minor, who is named Valeria Messallia. [3] This alliance with the gens Valeria led to the prominence of the family during the first centuries of the Roman Empire. [1] According to the French historian Christian Settipani, after the death of her husband Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, Marcella married the Roman Senator Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus. [4] Marcella bore Messallinus a daughter called Valeria Messallia, born ca. 10 BC, who later married the praetor of 17, Lucius Vipstanus Gallus. [4] However, Messallinus, son of Corvinus, was younger than Marcella. That fact does not prevent the marriage, but makes it unlikely, given Roman tradition.

From this marriage, the next generation of Vipstani came, two of whom achieved consular rank: Lucius Vipstanus Poplicola and Gaius Vipstanus Messalla Gallus. [2]

Related Research Articles

Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus was a Roman senator who was elected consul for 3 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octavia the Younger</span> Roman noblewoman, full-sister of Augustus

Octavia the Younger was the elder sister of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger was a senator of the Roman Republic.

Iulla Antonia or Antonia Iulla is thought to be a daughter of Roman consul of 10 BCE Iullus Antonius and Claudia Marcella Major. The only direct evidence of her existence that has been found is a funerary urn.

Faustus Cornelius Sulla was a Roman senator who lived during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He was suffect consul in AD 31 with Sextus Tedius Valerius Catullus as his colleague. Faustus was the son of Sulla Felix, a member of the Arval Brethren who died in AD 21, thus a direct descendant of the dictator Sulla. His mother was Sextia and his brother was Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix.

Quintus Pedius Poplicola or Publicola was a Roman who came from a Roman senatorial family.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus was a Roman Senator during the reign of Augustus. He was ordinary consul in 12 BC with Publius Sulpicius Quirinius as his colleague.

Lucius Vipstanus Poplicola Messalla was a Roman Senator.

(Gaius) Vipstanus Messalla Gallus was a Roman senator.

Lucius Vipstanus Messalla was a Roman military officer, senator, and a noted orator. He appears as a character in Tacitus' Dialogus de oratoribus.

Lucius Vipstanus Messalla was a Roman Senator.

Lucius Vipstanus Poplicola Messalla was a patrician senator.

Lucius Valerius Messalla Thrasea Priscus was a Roman senator active during the reigns of Commodus and Septimus Severus.

Lucius Valerius Messalla was a Roman senator.

(Lucius Valerius) Messalla was a Roman senator.

Claudia Marcella Minor (PIR2 C 1103, born some time before 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor Augustus. She was the second surviving daughter of the emperor's sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. Marcella had many children by several husbands, and through her son Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus she became the grandmother of the empress Messalina.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus, was a Roman senator who was elected consul for 53 BC.

Lucius Cornelius Lentulus was a Roman politician and military officer who served as consul in 3 BC.

Marcus Valerius Messalla was a Roman senator who was appointed suffect consul in 32 BC.

Marcus Vipstanus Gallus was a Roman senator at the beginning of the first century. Marcus was made suffect consul in 18 with Gaius Rubellius Blandus as his colleague.

References

  1. 1 2 Ronald Syme, "Missing Persons III", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , 11 (1962), pp. 149f
  2. 1 2 Syme, Ronald, The Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 241.
  3. In Table IX of The Augustan Aristocracy, Syme indicates Lucius Vipstanus Gallus as the husband of Valeria Messallia, but notes the relationship is "conjectural".
  4. 1 2 Settipani, Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale