Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus

Last updated

Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus (flourished second half of 1st century BC and first half of 1st century AD) was a Roman Senator who was a friend of the first two Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. [1]

Contents

Family background

Maximus was born and raised in Rome. His birth date is unknown; however, it is not earlier than 24 BC, and possibly in 14 BC. [2] His father was the literary patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, suffect consul in 31 BC. [3] Maximus was the son born to Corvinus’ second marriage to his unknown wife. [4] The last poem of the poet Ovid (Ex Ponto IV.16) reveals that his mother was a Roman noblewoman called Aurelia Cotta. Further evidence that Aurelia Cotta was his mother was that, although he was born into the gens Valeria, he was later adopted into the Aurelii Cottae. [5]

His birth name is unknown, and so he is only known by his adopted name. From his father's previous marriage, Maximus had an older paternal half-sibling: Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus, who served as a consul in 3 BC. [3] He also had a full sister, Valeria Messalina, who married Titus Statilius Taurus, consul in AD 11, and Maximus was the great-uncle of Lollia Paulina [6] who was the third wife of Caligula and a relation to Statilia Messalina, the third wife of Nero. Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, consul in 58, may have been his son.

Ovid

Maximus was a friend [7] and patron of the poet Ovid. [2] He was one of the people to whom Ovid had addressed various letters which have survived to the present. [8] Maximus was with Ovid in the year 8, when news arrived of Ovid's banishment. [9] Maximus afterwards provided material, psychological, and possibly financial support to his friend. [9] Although his friendship with Augustus didn't affect Ovid's banishment, Ovid believed as late as 11 that Maximus could successfully intercede with the Princeps. [1]

Political career

Maximus was a leading public figure throughout the reign of Tiberius [7] and until at least 32, remained close to the emperor. [1] After the trial and execution of Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus in 16, Maximus in the Roman Senate proposed that the bust of Drusus should be barred from his descendants' funeral-parades. [10] This proposal was politically significant, as the history of this particular punishment shows that Maximus held Drusus to be an enemy of the Roman people - hostis populi Romani. [1] Maximus probably anticipated Tiberius’ approval. A prominent noble allied to the government would not knowingly exasperate the Princeps. [1]

He became consul in 20. [11] During his consulship, Maximus would ask the Roman Senate to speak first, for, when the emperor presided, it was custom to include officials among those called upon for their views. [12]

According to a Greek inscription found at Ephesus, sometime after his consulship, Maximus became the Proconsul of Asia. [5] The inscription, which honours Maximus, is dedicated to him by Alexander son of Memnon, to whom Maximus was both friend and benefactor. The inscription is dated from 25/26. [13] The Greek inscription reads:

Μάρκον Αὐρήλιον
Κότταν Μάξιμον
Μεσσαλεῖνον τον
γενόμενον ἀνθύ-
πατον Ἀλέξαν-
δρος Μέμνονος τὸν
ἑαυτοῦ φίλον καὶ εὐ-
εργέτην

In 32, Tiberius successfully defended Maximus when prosecuted for accusing Caligula of homosexuality, ridiculing a banquet held to Tiberius’ late mother as a funeral feast, and boasting of Tiberius’ protection when he went to law. [2]

Reputation

Maximus was a poet and orator whom Tacitus condemns for his extravagant life-style, his shameful behavior and servility. [14] Pliny the Elder describes him as an extravagant gourmet. [15] Juvenal represents him as a patron of the arts. [16]

One of Maximus' freedmen, Marcus Aurelius Zosimus, was buried on the Appian Way outside of Rome with his wife, Aurelia Saturnia. [17] His epitaph is one of the few Roman funeral inscriptions that expresses patron-freedman relations in poetic terms. [7] Below is a copy of the Latin inscription and an English translation:

M. Aurelius Cottae Maximi
Zosimus, accensus patroni.
Libertinus eram, fateor: sed facta legetur
patrono Cotta nobilis umbra mea.
Qui mihi saepe libens census donavit equestris
qui iussit natos tollere quos aleret
quique suas commisit opes mihi semper, et idem
dotavit natas ut pater ipse meas,
Cottanumque meum produxit honore tribuni
quem fortis castris Caesaris emeruit.
Quid non Cotta dedit? qui nune et carmina tristis
haec dedit in tumulo conspicienda meo.
Aurelia Saturnia, Zosimi.
I admit that I was a freedman; but now my shadow has been ennobled by my patron Cotta. Several times he was willing to grant me an equestrian fortune, he ordered me to let my children live so that he could provide for their upkeep. He was always ready to grant me his own wealth. He also gave my daughters the dowries a father provides. He promoted my son Cottanus to the rank of tribune in which he bravely served in Caesar’s army. What did Cotta not give us? Now, sadly, he provided these verses which can be read on my tomb.
Aurelia Saturnia, Zosimus’s [wife].

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Livia was an illustrious plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the Livii to obtain the consulship was Marcus Livius Denter in 302 BC, and from his time the Livii supplied the Republic with eight consuls, two censors, a dictator, and a master of the horse. Members of the gens were honoured with three triumphs. In the reign of Augustus, Livia Drusilla was Roman empress, and her son was the emperor Tiberius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, in 495 BC, and from that time its members frequently held the highest offices of the state, both under the Republic and in imperial times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valeria gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the Tarquins, and the members of his family were among the most celebrated statesmen and generals at the beginning of the Republic. Over the next ten centuries, few gentes produced as many distinguished men, and at every period the name of Valerius was constantly to be found in the lists of annual magistrates, and held in the highest honour. Several of the emperors claimed descent from the Valerii, whose name they bore as part of their official nomenclature.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general, author, and patron of literature and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurelia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the end of the Republic, the Aurelii supplied many distinguished statesmen, before entering a period of relative obscurity under the early emperors. In the latter part of the first century, a family of the Aurelii rose to prominence, obtaining patrician status, and eventually the throne itself. A series of emperors belonged to this family, through birth or adoption, including Marcus Aurelius and the members of the Severan dynasty.

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

The gens Scribonia was a plebeian family of ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history at the time of the Second Punic War, but the first of the Scribonii to obtain the consulship was Gaius Scribonius Curio in 76 BC.

Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus was a senator and praetor of the Roman Republic. He was born with the name Appius Claudius Pulcher, into the patrician family of the Claudii Pulchri but adopted by a Livii Drusi as a small child. His daughter Livia Drusilla became the wife of the first Roman Emperor Augustus, and he was a direct ancestor of the Julio-Claudian emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

Epistulae ex Ponto is a work of Ovid, in four books. It is a collection of letters describing Ovid's exile in Tomis written in elegiac couplets and addressed to his wife and friends. The first three books were composed between 12–13 AD, according to the general academic consensus: "none of these elegies contains references to events falling outside that time span". The fourth book is believed to have been published posthumously.

Marcus Lollius perhaps with the cognomen Paulinus was a Roman politician, military officer and supporter of the first Roman emperor Augustus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurelia (mother of Caesar)</span> Roman noblewoman, mother of Julius Caesar (d. 54 BCE)

Aurelia was the mother of the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman Senator who lived in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. He might have been the brother of empress Messalina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annia gens</span> Families from Ancient Rome who shared the Annius nomen

The gens Annia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Livy mentions a Lucius Annius, praetor of the Roman colony of Setia, in 340 BC, and other Annii are mentioned at Rome during this period. Members of this gens held various positions of authority from the time of the Second Punic War, and Titus Annius Luscus attained the consulship in 153 BC. In the second century AD, the Annii gained the Empire itself; Marcus Aurelius was descended from this family.

The gens Cominia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears in history from the Republic to imperial times. The first of this gens to hold the consulship was Postumus Cominius Auruncus in 501 BC, and from this some scholars have inferred that the Cominii were originally patrician; but all of the later Cominii known to history were plebeians.

Marcus Lollius, perhaps with the cognomen Paulinus, was a Roman Senator who was active in the second half of 1st century BC and first half of 1st century.

Volusia Saturnina also known from her funeral inscription as Volusia Latina Saturnina was a Roman noble woman who lived in the Roman Empire in the second half of the 1st century BC and first half of the first century AD.

Lollia Saturnina (c.10-41) was a Roman noble woman who lived in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. She was the sister of the Roman empress Lollia Paulina and was a mistress of the Roman emperor Caligula.

Lucius Valerius Catullus Messalinus was a Roman senator during the Flavian dynasty, and is best known as the most hated and ruthless delator or informer of his age. He was feared all the more due to his blindness.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Pettinger, The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius, p. 39
  2. 1 2 3 Ovid: Poems from Exile, entry of Cotta Maximus
  3. 1 2 Paterculus, The Roman History, p. 127
  4. ↑ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy, p. 230f.
  5. 1 2 Skidmore, Practical Ethics for Roman Gentlemen: The Works of Valerius Maximus, p. 116
  6. ↑ Tacitus, Annals: Part Two: Claudius & Nero – 10. The Mother of Nero. XII
  7. 1 2 3 Gardner, The Roman Household: A Sourcebook, p. 40
  8. ↑ Ovid: Poems from Exile
  9. 1 2 Pettinger, The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius, pp.38-9
  10. ↑ Tacitus, Annals: Part One: Tiberius – 4. The First Treason Trials. II. 27-52
  11. ↑ Attilio Degrassi, I fasti consolari dell'Impero Romano dal 30 avanti Cristo al 613 dopo Cristo (Rome, 1952), p. 8
  12. ↑ Tacitus, Annals: Part One: Tiberius – 5. The Death of Germanicus. II. 53-III 19
  13. ↑ Greek Inscription of Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus
  14. ↑ Annals:6.5-6.7
  15. ↑ Natural History:10.52
  16. ↑ Juvenal, 5.109, 7.94
  17. ↑ Gardner, The Roman Household: A Sourcebook, pp. 40-1

Sources

Political offices
Preceded byas suffect consuls Consul of the Roman Empire
20
with Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus 		Succeeded byas ordinary consuls
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.