M / Messalla
noun

Messalla

gen. Messallae · gender masculine · decl. 1st
(less correctly )
a Roman surname in the
a Roman surname in the gens Valeria: Corvinus primus Messanam vicit, et pri mus ex familiā Valeriorum, urbis captae in se translato nomine, Messana appellatus est: paulatimque vulgo permutante litteras, Messalla dictus, Sen. Vit. Beat. 13. The most celebrated is the orator M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus, in the time of Cicero and Augustus, Cic. Att. 15, 17, 2; 16, 16, A, 5; Tib. 4, 1, 1; Hor. A. P. 371; Sen. Contr. 2, 12, 8.—In plur., Ov. P. 4, 16, 43.