was consul suffectus from the 1st of May, A. D. 193, and was the person who formally announced to the senate the deposition of Didius Julianus and the elevation of Septimius Severus. He is apparently the Messalla who stands in the Fasti as consul for A. D. 214, and who subsequently (A. D. 218) fell a sacrifice to the jealous tyranny of Elagabalus. (D. C. 73.17, 79.5.)
[W.R]A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890