Valerius
Encyclopedia
Valerius is the nomen
of gens
Valeria, one of the oldest patrician families of Rome. The name was in use throughout Roman history
. In imperial times it was frequently treated as a personal name
.
Possible Latin
forms include, in the nominative:
origin, and their ancestor Volesus
or Volusus
is said to have settled at Rome with Titus Tatius
.
One of the descendants of this Volesus, P. Valerius, afterwards surnamed Publicola, plays a distinguished part in the story of the expulsion of the kings, and was elected consul in the first year of the republic
, 509 BC. From this time forward down to the latest period of the empire, for nearly a thousand years, the name occurs more or less frequently in the Fasti
, and it was borne by the emperors Maximinus
, Maximian
us, Maxentius
, Diocletian
, Constantius
, Constantine the Great and others.
The Valeria gens enjoyed extraordinary honours and privileges at Rome. Their house at the bottom of the Velia
was the only one in Rome of which the doors were allowed to open back into the street. In the Circus Maximus
a conspicuous place was set apart for them, where a small throne was erected, an honour of which there was no other example among the Romans. They were also allowed to bury their dead within the walls, a privilege which was also granted to some other gentes; and when they had exchanged the older custom of interment for that of burning the corpse, although they did not light the funeral pile on their burying-ground, the bier was set down there, as a symbolical way of preserving their right. Niebuhr
, who mentions these distinctions, conjectures that among the gradual changes of the constitution from a monarchy to an aristocracy, the Valeria gens for a time possessed the right that one of its members should exercise the kingly power for the Tities, to which tribe the Valerii must have belonged, as their Sabine origin indicates; but on this point, as on many others in early Roman history, it is impossible to come to any certainty.
The Valerii in early times were always foremost in advocating the rights of the plebeians, and the laws which they proposed at various times were the great charters of the liberties of the second order.
Messalla was originally assumed by Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla
after his relief of Messana in Sicily from blockade by the Carthaginians in the second year of the first Punic War, 263 BC.
They appear for the first time on the consular Fasti in 263 BC, and for the last in 506; during these nearly eight centuries, they held twenty-two consulships and three censorships.
The cognomen
Messalla, frequently written Messala, appears with the agnomen
s Barbatus, Niger or Rufus, with the nomens Ennodius, Pacatus, Silius, Thrasia Priscus or Vipstanus, and with the praenomens Potitus and Volesus, and was itself originally, and when combined with Corvinus, an agnomen, as M. Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla, i. e. of Messana.
also bear the name of Valerius, but their antecedents are mostly unknown.
n-Hungarian family of Korvin
, which came to prominence with Janos Hunyadi and his son, Matthias Corvinus Hunyadi, King of Hungary and Bohemia
, claimed to be descended from Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus.
This was based on the assertion that he became a big landowner on the Dacia
n-Pannonia
n frontiers, the future Hungary, that his descendants continued to live there for the following 1400 years, and that the Hunyadis were his ultimate descendants - for which there is scant if any historical evidence. The connection seems to have been made by Matthias' biographer, the Italian Antonio Bonfini
, who was well-versed with the classical Latin authors.
Bonfini also provided the Hunyadis with the epithet Corvinus. This was supposedly due to a case in which Messalla, while on the battlefield, accepted a challenge to single combat
issued to the Romans by a barbarian
warrior of great size and strength. Suddenly, a raven flew from a trunk, perched upon Messalla's helmet, and began to attack his foe's eyes with its beak so fiercely that the barbarian was blinded, and the Roman beat him easily. In memory of this event, Messalla's agnomen
Corvinus (from Corvus, "Raven") was interpreted as derived from this event.
The Hunyadis called themselves "Corvinus" and had their coins minted displaying a "raven with a ring". This was later taken up in the coat of arms of Polish aristocratic families connected with the Hunyadis, and also led to Messalla's exploits being commemorated in the pediment of the Krasiński Palace in Warsaw
.
Roman naming conventions
By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...
of gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
Valeria, one of the oldest patrician families of Rome. The name was in use throughout Roman history
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. In imperial times it was frequently treated as a personal name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
.
Possible Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
forms include, in the nominative:
- Valerius, masculine singular
- ValeriaValeriaValeria or Valéria is a female given name dating back to the Latin verb valere. The male version is Valerius, Valerio or Valery. Valeria is also connected to the same root with the name, "Valentine," and "Valerian," or "Valeriana officinalis," the herb...
, feminine singular - Valerii, masculine plural
- Valeriae, feminine plural
- ValerianValerian- Botany :* Valeriana, a genus of plants* Valerian , a medicinal plant* Red valerian, a garden flower, Centranthus ruber - People :* Valerian - Botany :* Valeriana, a genus of plants* Valerian (herb), a medicinal plant* Red valerian, a garden flower, Centranthus ruber - People :* Valerian...
us, masculine adoptive - Valeriana, feminine adoptive
History
The Valeria gens was one of the most ancient and most celebrated at Rome; and no other Roman gens was distinguished for so long a period, although a few others, such as the Cornelia gens, produced a greater number of illustrious men. The Valerii are universally admitted to have been of SabineSabine
The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...
origin, and their ancestor Volesus
Volesus
Volesus or Volusus, sometimes called Volesus Valerius, was the eponymous ancestor of gens Valeria, one of the greatest patrician houses at Rome...
or Volusus
Volesus
Volesus or Volusus, sometimes called Volesus Valerius, was the eponymous ancestor of gens Valeria, one of the greatest patrician houses at Rome...
is said to have settled at Rome with Titus Tatius
Titus Tatius
The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the rape of the Sabine women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia. The Sabine women, however, convinced Tatius and the Roman king, Romulus, to reconcile and subsequently...
.
One of the descendants of this Volesus, P. Valerius, afterwards surnamed Publicola, plays a distinguished part in the story of the expulsion of the kings, and was elected consul in the first year of the republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, 509 BC. From this time forward down to the latest period of the empire, for nearly a thousand years, the name occurs more or less frequently in the Fasti
Fasti
In ancient Rome, the fasti were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events...
, and it was borne by the emperors Maximinus
Maximinus
Maximinus II , also known as Maximinus Daia or Maximinus Daza, was Roman Emperor from 308 to 313. He was born of Dacian peasant stock to the half sister of the emperor Galerius near their family lands around Felix Romuliana; a rural area then in the Danubian region of Moesia, now Eastern Serbia.He...
, Maximian
Maximian
Maximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...
us, Maxentius
Maxentius
Maxentius was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian, and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius.-Birth and early life:Maxentius' exact date of birth is unknown; it was probably around 278...
, Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
, Constantius
Constantius
Constantius may refer to:*Constantius I, Roman emperor 305–306*Constantius II, Roman emperor 337–361*Constantius III, Roman co-emperor in 421* Constantius , consul in 327...
, Constantine the Great and others.
The Valeria gens enjoyed extraordinary honours and privileges at Rome. Their house at the bottom of the Velia
Velian Hill
The Velia — or Velian Hill or Velian Ridge — is a saddle or spur stretching out from the middle of the north side of the Palatine Hill towards the Oppian Hill ....
was the only one in Rome of which the doors were allowed to open back into the street. In the Circus Maximus
Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire...
a conspicuous place was set apart for them, where a small throne was erected, an honour of which there was no other example among the Romans. They were also allowed to bury their dead within the walls, a privilege which was also granted to some other gentes; and when they had exchanged the older custom of interment for that of burning the corpse, although they did not light the funeral pile on their burying-ground, the bier was set down there, as a symbolical way of preserving their right. Niebuhr
Niebuhr
Niebuhr is a German surname.* Barthold Georg Niebuhr, 19th century German statesman and historian* Carsten Niebuhr, 18th century German traveller, explorer and surveyor, and father of Barthold Georg Niebuhr * Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr, brothers and American Christian scholars...
, who mentions these distinctions, conjectures that among the gradual changes of the constitution from a monarchy to an aristocracy, the Valeria gens for a time possessed the right that one of its members should exercise the kingly power for the Tities, to which tribe the Valerii must have belonged, as their Sabine origin indicates; but on this point, as on many others in early Roman history, it is impossible to come to any certainty.
The Valerii in early times were always foremost in advocating the rights of the plebeians, and the laws which they proposed at various times were the great charters of the liberties of the second order.
Branches of the gens Valeria
The earliest branches of Poplicola, Potitus, and Volusus appear to be derived from Publius Valerius Poplicola, an early republican hero. The other branches appear only from the mid-4th century, starting with Corvus or Corvinus, apparently descended from another great Valerian consul. The Messalla or Messala branch, so prominent in imperial Rome, is a sub-branch of this. The origins of the Flaccus branch is less certain; the first consul by that name appears in 261 BC, but a Potitus had been nicknamed Flacus (with one "c") some decades earlier circa 331 BC. In late republican Rome, the branches of Messalla (or Messala) and Flaccus were the best-known and most influential.The Valerii Messallae (or Valerii Messalae)
Among the branches of the Valerii, there were those who bore the cognomen Messalla.Messalla was originally assumed by Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla
Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla
Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla was Roman consul in 263 BC. He was the son of the distinguished Roman tribune Marcus Valerius Corvus. In 263BC, with his colleague Manius Otacilius Crassus, he gained a brilliant victory over the Carthaginians and Syracusans: more than sixty of the...
after his relief of Messana in Sicily from blockade by the Carthaginians in the second year of the first Punic War, 263 BC.
They appear for the first time on the consular Fasti in 263 BC, and for the last in 506; during these nearly eight centuries, they held twenty-two consulships and three censorships.
The cognomen
Cognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
Messalla, frequently written Messala, appears with the agnomen
Agnomen
An agnomen , in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the cognomen was initially. However, the cognomina eventually became family names, so agnomina were needed to distinguish between similarly named persons...
s Barbatus, Niger or Rufus, with the nomens Ennodius, Pacatus, Silius, Thrasia Priscus or Vipstanus, and with the praenomens Potitus and Volesus, and was itself originally, and when combined with Corvinus, an agnomen, as M. Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla, i. e. of Messana.
Notable members of the gens Valeria
The gens Valeria produced many consuls and censors, mostly in the early republic. Several authors notably Valerius MaximusValerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
also bear the name of Valerius, but their antecedents are mostly unknown.
Early republic
- Publius Valerius PublicolaPublius Valerius PublicolaPublius Valerius Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic...
, consulConsulConsul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
509 BC, four times consul in the early Republic. - Marcus Valerius VolususMarcus Valerius VolususMarcus Valerius Volusus was a Roman consul with Publius Postumius Tubertus in 505 BC....
, consul 505 BC - Lucius Valerius M.f. Potitus (Publicola), consul 483 BC, 470 BC
- Publius Valerius P.f. Poplicola, consul 475 BC, 460 BC
- Marcus Valerius M'.f. Maximus Lactuca, consul 456 BC
- Lucius Valerius PotitusLucius Valerius PotitusLucius Valerius Potitus was one of two consuls who were said to have replaced the decemvirs in 449 BC ....
, consul 449 BC - Gaius Valerius Potitus, consular tribune 415 BC
- Lucius Valerius Potitus, consular tribune 414 BC
- Gaius Valerius L.f. Potitus Volusus, consul 410 BC
- Lucius Valerius L.f. Potitus, consul 393 BC-392 BC, 390 BC, possibly consular tribune 391 BC; possibly the same man who was consular tribune 379 BC in his fifth term.
- Lucius Valerius Publicola, consular tribune 388 BC
- Titus Valerius, consular tribune 385 BC-382 BC
- Lucius Valerius, consular tribune 379 BC, possibly Lucius Valerius L.f. Potitus who had already been consul three times; said to have been this man's fifth term.
- Publius Valerius, consular tribune in 379 BC in his third term, and 376 BC in his fourth term, per VarroVarroVarro was a Roman cognomen carried by:*Marcus Terentius Varro, sometimes known as Varro Reatinus, the scholar*Publius Terentius Varro or Varro Atacinus, the poet*Gaius Terentius Varro, the consul defeated at the battle of Cannae...
- Gaius Valerius, consular tribune 374 BC
- Publius Valerius, consular tribune 374 BC
- Marcus Valerius L.f. Poplicola, consul 355 BC, 353 BC
- Publius Valerius P.f. Poplicola, 352 BC
- Marcus Valerius CorvusMarcus Valerius CorvusMarcus Valerius Corvus was a Roman general of the 4th century BC, characterized as a farmer who lived to be one hundred.-Biography:...
, consul several times in 4th century BC, starting in 348 BC as a young man, then 346 BC, 343 BC, and 335 BC. His last consulship was said to be in 300 BC, with a suffect consulship in 299 BC. He was also dictator in 342 BC and 301 BC. The range of years for his consulship and alleged accomplishments are not impossible, if he was elected consul while in his early twenties. However, it is more likely that the later consulships were attributable to his son, and were confused and exaggerated by later family members including Valerius AntiasValerius AntiasValerius Antias was an ancient Roman annalist whom Livy mentions as a source. No complete works of his survive but from the sixty-five fragments said to be his in the works of other authors it has been deduced that he wrote a chronicle of ancient Rome in at least seventy-five books...
. - Gaius Valerius L.f. Potitus (Flacus), consul 331 BC, possible progenitor of the Valerii Flacci branch.
- Marcus Valerius M.f. Maximus Corvinus (Corrinus?), consul 312 BC, 289 BC per VarroVarroVarro was a Roman cognomen carried by:*Marcus Terentius Varro, sometimes known as Varro Reatinus, the scholar*Publius Terentius Varro or Varro Atacinus, the poet*Gaius Terentius Varro, the consul defeated at the battle of Cannae...
; possibly he was the consul in 300 BC and suffect consul in 299 BC and also dictator in 301 BC (the third dictator year), rather than his father. - Marcus Valerius Maximus Rullianus, dictator 301 BC in fourth dictator year
Middle republic
- Marcus. Valerius Maximus (Potitus?), consul 286 BC
- Publius Valerius LaevinusPublius Valerius LaevinusPublius Valerius Laevinus was commander of the Roman forces at the Battle of Heraclea in 280 BC, in which he was defeated by Pyrrhus of Epirus. In his Life of Pyrrhus, Plutarch wrote that Caius Fabricius said of this battle that it was not the Epirots who had beaten the Romans, but only Pyrrhus who...
, consul 280 BC - Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus MessallaManius Valerius Maximus Corvinus MessallaManius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla was Roman consul in 263 BC. He was the son of the distinguished Roman tribune Marcus Valerius Corvus. In 263BC, with his colleague Manius Otacilius Crassus, he gained a brilliant victory over the Carthaginians and Syracusans: more than sixty of the...
, consul 263 BC - Lucius Valerius M.f. Flaccus, consul 261 BC, the first of several consuls cognominated Flaccus or "torpid".
- Quintus Valerius Q.f. Falto, consul 239 BC
- Publius Valerius Q.f. Falto, consul 238 BC
- Publius Valerius L.f. Flaccus, consul 227 BC
- Marcus Valerius M\'.f. Maximus MessalaMarcus Valerius Messalla (consul 226 BC)Marcus Valerius Messalla was a Roman Republic consul in 226 BC.Messalla was probably son of Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla. His year of office was employed in organising a general levy of the Italian nations against an expected invasion of the Gauls from both sides of the Alps....
, consul 226 BC - Marcus Valerius Laevinus, consul 210 BC
- Lucius Valerius P.f. Flaccus, consul 195 and censor 183 BC with Cato the ElderCato the ElderMarcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
- Marcus Valerius M.f. MessallaMarcus Valerius Messalla (consul 188 BC)Marcus Valerius Messalla was Roman consul for 188 BC, together with Gaius Livius Salinator....
, consul 188 BC - Gaius Valerius M.f. Laevinus, suffect consul 176 BC
- Marcus Valerius MessallaMarcus Valerius Messalla (consul 161 BC)Marcus Valerius Messalla was a Roman Republic consul in 161 BC.Nephew of Marcus Valerius Messalla , his consulate was remarkable chiefly for a decree of the senate prohibiting the residence of Greek rhetoricians at Rome. The Phormion and Eunuch of Terence were first acted in this year...
, consul 161 BC - Lucius Valerius FlaccusLucius Valerius Flaccus (disambiguation)Lucius Valerius Flaccus was the name of several notable Romans of the Republican era. Six held consulships in the period from 261 BC to 86 BC; one also held a censorship.Consuls include:...
, consul 152 BC
Late republic
- Lucius Valerius Flaccus, consul 131 BC
- Lucius Valerius FlaccusLucius Valerius Flaccus (princeps senatus 86 BC)Lucius Valerius Flaccus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 100 BC and princeps senatus during the civil wars of the 80s...
, consul 100 BC and princeps senatus 86 BC - Gaius Valerius FlaccusGaius Valerius Flaccus (consul 93 BCE)Gaius Valerius Flaccus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 93 BC and a provincial governor in the late-90s and throughout the 80s...
, consul 93 BC - Valerius AedituusValerius AedituusValerius Aedituus was a Roman poet of the 1st century BCE. He is known for his epigrams; otherwise there is very little information, what there is being in the form of literary references....
, poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
circa 100s BC - Quintus Valerius SoranusQuintus Valerius SoranusQuintus Valerius Soranus was a Latin poet, grammarian, and tribune of the people in the Late Roman Republic. He was executed in 82 BC while Sulla was dictator, ostensibly for violating a religious prohibition against speaking the arcane name of Rome, but more likely for political reasons...
, scholar, poet and tribune, executed in 82 BC for revealing the arcane name of Rome - Valerius AntiasValerius AntiasValerius Antias was an ancient Roman annalist whom Livy mentions as a source. No complete works of his survive but from the sixty-five fragments said to be his in the works of other authors it has been deduced that he wrote a chronicle of ancient Rome in at least seventy-five books...
, annalist 1st century BC - Lucius Valerius FlaccusLucius Valerius Flaccus (suffect consul 86 BC)Lucius Valerius Flaccus was the suffect consul who completed the term of Gaius Marius in 86 BC. He was sent as governor in that year to the Roman province of Asia, but was murdered in a mutiny by Fimbria during the turmoil of the Sullan civil wars and the Mithridatic Wars.Flaccus is also known for...
, suffect consul 86 BC (after death of Marius) - Lucius Valerius Flaccus, praetor 63 BC, defended by Cicero in the speech Pro Flacco
- Valeria MessalaValeria MessalaValeria was the fourth wife of Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla. She was the daughter of Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger and sister to consul of 53 BC, Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus....
, fourth wife and widow of the dictator Sulla - Marcus Valerius Messalla NigerMarcus Valerius Messalla NigerMarcus Valerius Messalla Niger was a senator of the Roman Republic.He was praetor in the year of Cicero's consulship, 63 BC, and consul in 61, the year in which Publius Clodius profaned the mysteries of the Bona Dea, and Gnaeus Pompeius triumphed for his several victories over the Cilician pirates,...
, consul 61 BC - Quintus Valerius OrcaQuintus Valerius OrcaQuintus Valerius Orca was a Roman praetor, a governor of the Roman province of Africa, and a commanding officer under Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompeius Magnus and the senatorial elite...
, praetor 57 BC and officer under Julius Caesar in the civil war - Gaius Valerius CatullusCatullusGaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
, the poet (fl. 50s BC) - Marcus Valerius Messalla RufusMarcus Valerius Messalla RufusMarcus Valerius Messalla Rufus , was a Roman politician, and consul in 53 BC.- Family :Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus was the son of an otherwise unknown Marcus Valerius Messalla and Hortensia...
, consul 53 BC - Marcus Valerius Messalla, suffect consul 32 BC
- Marcus Valerius Messalla CorvinusMarcus Valerius Messalla CorvinusMarcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general, author and patron of literature and art.-Family:He was the son of politician Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger Although, some dispute his parentage and claim another descendant of Marcus Valerius Corvus to be his father.Messalla Corvinus is...
, consul and suffect consul 31 BC - Publius Valerius CatoPublius Valerius CatoPublius Valerius Cato was a Roman poet and grammarian. He is of importance as the leader of the new school of poetry. Its followers rejected the national epic and drama in favor of the artificial mythological epics and elegies of the Alexandrian school, and preferred Euphorion of Chalcis to Ennius...
, scholar and poet 1st century BC
Early imperial Rome
- Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus, husband of Domitia LepidaDomitia LepidaDomitia Lepida, also known as Domitia Lepida the Younger, Domitia Lepida Minor, or simply Lepida ; was the younger daughter of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Antonia Major. Her elder siblings were Domitia and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, father of the emperor Nero...
- Marcus Valerius Messalla MessallinusMarcus Valerius Messalla MessallinusMarcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus was the son of the Roman famous orator Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, whom he resembled in character, and wife Calpurnia.He was a senator and consul in 3 BC and AD 3...
, consul 3 BC - Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, historian 1st century - Lucius Valerius Messalla Volesus, possible consul 5
- Marcus Valerius Messalla BarbatusMarcus Valerius Messalla BarbatusMarcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus was a consul of ancient Rome. He was the father of the Roman Empress Valeria Messalina, great-nephew of the Emperor Augustus, and father-in-law to the Emperor Claudius....
, consul 20 - Decimus Valerius AsiaticusDecimus Valerius AsiaticusDecimus Valerius Asiaticus was the husband of Lollia Saturnina, the sister of Caligula' third wife, Lollia Paulina, was twice a Roman consul , resigning early from his second suffect consulship, according to Dio Cassius , in order to avoid becoming involved in the conspiracies of the court—a...
, consul in 35 and 46 - Valeria Messalina, died 48, third wife of the Emperor Claudius
- Potitus Valerius Corvus Rufus Sulla, consul in 100
- Volsus Valerius Valus Sulla Valerianus, praetorPraetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
in 132 - Poplicola Valerius Sulla Felix
- Phillipus Valerius Sulla Felix
- Phillipus Valerius Sulla Felix Cassianus, consul in 193
- Marcus Valerius Martialis (Martial), poet 1st century
- Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, consul 58
- Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Quirinalis Valerius Festus, suffect consul 71
- Gaius Valerius FlaccusGaius Valerius FlaccusGaius Valerius Flaccus was a Roman poet who flourished in the "Silver Age" under the emperors Vespasian and Titus and wrote a Latin Argonautica that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes' more famous epic....
, poet 1st century - Lucius Valerius Licinianus, advocate 1st century
- Valerius Probus, grammarian 1st century
- Marcus Valerius Bradua Mauricus, consul 191
- Lucius Valerius Messalla Thrasea Priscus, consul 196
- Lucius Valerius Messalla Apollinaris, consul 214
- Publius Valerius Comazon EutychianusValerius Comazon EutychianusPublius Valerius Comazon Eutychianus was a Roman general and ally of emperor Elagabalus. Upon the accession of Macrinus as emperor in 217, Eutychianus orchestrated a revolt among the Third Legion to help secure the throne for Elagabalus, who was tied to the Severan dynasty...
, consul 220 - Lucius Valerius Maximus, consul 233
- Valerius Maximus, consul 253
- Lucius Valerius Maximus, consul 256
Late imperial Rome
- Imp. Caesar Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius AugustusClaudius IIClaudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...
(Claudius II), Roman emperorRoman EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor... - Imp. Caesar Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus AugustusDiocletianDiocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
(Diocletian), emperor - Imp. Caesar Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus AugustusMaximianMaximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...
(Maximian), emperor - Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus CaesarGaleriusGalerius , was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300...
(Galerius), emperor - Flavius Valerius Constantinus CaesarConstantius ChlorusConstantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the...
(Constantius Chlorus), emperor - Flavius Valerius SeverusFlavius Valerius SeverusSeverus , sometimes known as Severus II, was a Western Roman Emperor from 306 to 307.- Officer in the Roman army :Severus was of humble birth, born in the Illyrian provinces around the middle of the third century AD...
, short-lived emperor circa 306 - Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (Maxentius), emperor 306-312
- Marcus Valerius Romulus, consul 309
- Flavius Julius Valerius Crispus (Crispus)
- Flavius Galerius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (LiciniusLiciniusLicinius I , was Roman Emperor from 308 to 324. Co-author of the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire, for the majority of his reign he was the rival of Constantine I...
), emperor - Imp. Caesar Flavius Valerius Constantinus Augustus (Constantine I), emperor
- Imp. Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximinus AugustusMaximinusMaximinus II , also known as Maximinus Daia or Maximinus Daza, was Roman Emperor from 308 to 313. He was born of Dacian peasant stock to the half sister of the emperor Galerius near their family lands around Felix Romuliana; a rural area then in the Danubian region of Moesia, now Eastern Serbia.He...
(Maximinus), emperor - Julius Valerius Alexander PolemiusJulius Valerius Alexander PolemiusJulius Valerius Alexander Polemius of the Valerius gens was a translator of the Greek Pseudo-Callisthenes, the romantic history of Alexander the Great, to the Latin Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis, in three books: birth; acts; death. The work is important in connection with the transmission of the...
, scholar 4th century - Julius Valerius Majorianus (Majorian), emperor 457-461
- Valerius (consul 432)Valerius (consul 432)Valerius was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire, brother of the Empress Aelia Eudocia.- Life :Valerius was born in Athens, son of the pagan and sophist philosopher Leontius, and brother of Gessius and Athenais...
, consul in 432.
Other uses of the name Valerius
- Adriaen Valerius, who composed or compiled an anthologyAnthologyAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
of Dutch patriotic songs during the Eighty Years' War against the Habsburg suzerains - Valeria of MilanValeria of MilanSaint Valeria of Milan , or Saint Valérie, according to Christian tradition, was the wife of Vitalis of Milan, and the mother of Saint Gervase and Saint Protase, although other traditions make her a virgin martyr rather than a wife and mother.She was martyred for burying Christian martyrs, and then...
, a 1st- or 2nd-century Christian martyr - Valerius of TrèvesValerius of TrèvesSaint Valerius was a semi-legendary bishop of Trier. His feast day is 29 January.-Legend:According to an ancient legend, he was a follower of Saint Eucharius, the first bishop of Trier...
, a 4th-century bishop of Trier - Valerius of SaragossaValerius of SaragossaSaint Valerius of Saragossa is the patron saint of Zaragoza. He was bishop of this city from 290 until his death. He assisted at the Council of Iliberis....
, bishop of ZaragozaArchdiocese of ZaragozaThe Archdiocese of Zaragoza is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Zaragoza , part of the autonomous community of Aragón...
in 290-315. - Valerius II, bishop of ZaragozaArchdiocese of ZaragozaThe Archdiocese of Zaragoza is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Zaragoza , part of the autonomous community of Aragón...
(Spain) in circa 380. - Valerio of BierzoValerio of BierzoValerio of Bierzo was an ascetic hermit and monk from the Bierzo region of Visigothic Spain. A number of his writings still survive, including three short autobiographical works in which he complains about his many sufferings.-Life:Valerio was a member of the Visigothic aristocracy...
7th-century hermit and writer from Visigothic Spain.
Legendary ancestor of Hungarian Royalty
The WallachiaWallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
n-Hungarian family of Korvin
Hunyadi
Hunyadi may refer to:* Hunyadi family, a Hungarian noble family from the Middle Ages* John Hunyadi, a Hungarian general and Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary* Laszlo Hunyadi, a Hungarian statesman* Matthias Corvinus , King of Hungary...
, which came to prominence with Janos Hunyadi and his son, Matthias Corvinus Hunyadi, King of Hungary and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, claimed to be descended from Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus.
This was based on the assertion that he became a big landowner on the Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
n-Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
n frontiers, the future Hungary, that his descendants continued to live there for the following 1400 years, and that the Hunyadis were his ultimate descendants - for which there is scant if any historical evidence. The connection seems to have been made by Matthias' biographer, the Italian Antonio Bonfini
Antonio Bonfini
Antonio Bonfini was an Italian humanist and poet who spent the last years of his career as a court historian in Hungary with King Matthias Corvinus....
, who was well-versed with the classical Latin authors.
Bonfini also provided the Hunyadis with the epithet Corvinus. This was supposedly due to a case in which Messalla, while on the battlefield, accepted a challenge to single combat
Single combat
Single combat is a fight between two single warriors which takes place in the context of a battle between two armies, with the two often considered the champions of their respective sides...
issued to the Romans by a barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
warrior of great size and strength. Suddenly, a raven flew from a trunk, perched upon Messalla's helmet, and began to attack his foe's eyes with its beak so fiercely that the barbarian was blinded, and the Roman beat him easily. In memory of this event, Messalla's agnomen
Roman naming conventions
By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...
Corvinus (from Corvus, "Raven") was interpreted as derived from this event.
The Hunyadis called themselves "Corvinus" and had their coins minted displaying a "raven with a ring". This was later taken up in the coat of arms of Polish aristocratic families connected with the Hunyadis, and also led to Messalla's exploits being commemorated in the pediment of the Krasiński Palace in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
See also
- Ślepowron coat of arms
- Korwin coat of arms
- Matthias Corvinus of HungaryMatthias Corvinus of HungaryMatthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...