Gaius Pompeius Planta

Last updated

Gaius Pompeius Planta was a Roman eques who was a close associate of the emperor Trajan. He is best known for being praefectus or governor of Roman Egypt, which he held from 98 to 100 AD. [1]

How Planta came to the attention of Trajan is not known. The only other office he is attested as holding is procurator of Lycia et Pamphylia: he is mentioned in an inscription recovered from Balbura that also mentions the contemporary governor, Lucius Luscius Ocrea, allowing us to date his appointment around the years 75–78. [2]

An inscription found at Syene, modern-day Aswan, mentions Planta and a number of other equestrian officers stationed in Egypt, such as praefectus castrorum Lucius Genucius Priscus. [3]

Scholia to Juvenal mentions a history Planta wrote about the Year of Four Emperors, which otherwise is unknown. He is also mentioned a few times in the collected letters of Pliny the Younger, but not in a manner to suggest they were friends. In the series of letters between Pliny and Trajan, there is a group of letters concerning Pliny's efforts to obtain Roman citizenship for his physician Harpocras. [4] At one point Pliny admits while Harpocras has received Roman citizenship, Pliny learns he should have sought Alexandrian citizenship for him first, as Harpocras is a native of Egypt. Trajan replies that it is not fitting for him to grant Alexandrian citizenship, but inform Trajan of which part of Egypt the physician came from, so he can refer the matter to Planta, who was the current prefect of Egypt.

Pliny mentions Planta in a letter to one Maximus, who had delivered several speeches against Planta. [5] Pliny is concerned that now that Planta has died, he should hurry to publication those speeches so to avoid the appearance that he was attacking the man when he could defend himself. This is our only clue to when Planta died: A. N. Sherwin-White dates this letter after 100, when Planta stepped down from his appointment, and before 107. [6]

Related Research Articles

Pliny the Younger Roman lawyer, author and magistrate (61 – c.113)

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo, better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him.

Lucius Neratius Marcellus was an imperial Roman military officer and senator who held a number of posts in the Emperor's service. Marcellus was elected consul twice, first under Domitian in 95 AD and again under Hadrian in 129. His life provides several examples of how patronage operated in early Imperial Rome.

Gaius Bruttius Praesens Lucius Fulvius Rusticus was an important Roman senator of the reigns of the emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. A friend of Pliny the Younger and Hadrian, he was twice consul, governed provinces, commanded armies and ended his career as Urban prefect of Rome. Bruttius’ life and career left few coherent traces in the literary record, but a number of inscriptions, including his complete cursus honorum, fills out the picture considerably.

Manius Laberius Maximus was a Roman senator and general, who was active during the reign of Domitian and Trajan. He was twice consul: the first time he was suffect consul in the nundinium of September to December 89 AD as the colleague of Aulus Vicirius Proculus; the second time as ordinary consul in 103 as colleague to the Emperor Trajan.

Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus was an Iberian Roman politician. He was a prominent public figure in the reigns of Roman emperors Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. He was the last private citizen to receive a third consulship; such honors came to be reserved for members of the emperor's family.

Sextus Attius Suburanus Aemilianus, commonly abbreviated as Suburanus, was a Roman eques who helped Trajan consolidate his position as emperor. Originally procurator of Gallia Belgica, Suburanus was appointed prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, in the year 98 and brought this important military unit under Trajan's control. For his achievement, at the end of his command of the Guard, Suburanus was adlected into the Roman senate inter praetores, then held the suffect consulship as the colleague of the consul posterior Quintus Articuleius Paetus in AD 101.

<i>Epistulae</i> (Pliny) Personal missives by Pliny the Younger

The Epistulae are a series of personal missives by Pliny the Younger directed to his friends and associates. These Latin letters are a unique testimony of Roman administrative history and everyday life in the 1st century. The style is very different from that in the Panegyricus, and some commentators maintain that Pliny initiated a new genre: the letter written for publication. This genre offers a different type of record than the more usual history; one that dispenses with objectivity but is no less valuable for it. Especially noteworthy among the letters are two in which he describes the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 during which his uncle Pliny the Elder died, and one in which he asks the Emperor for instructions regarding official policy concerning Christians.

Antonia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Antonia was a Roman family of great antiquity, with both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Titus Antonius Merenda, one of the second group of Decemviri called, in 450 BC, to help draft what became the Law of the Twelve Tables. The most prominent member of the gens was Marcus Antonius.

The gens Caecinia was a plebeian family of Etruscan origin at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and they remained prominent through the first century of the Empire, before fading into obscurity in the time of the Flavian emperors. A family of this name rose to prominence once more at the beginning of the fifth century.

Pliny the Younger on Christians Pliny the Youngers views on Christianity

Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor of Bithynia and Pontus wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan around AD 112 and asked for counsel on dealing with the early Christian community. The letter details an account of how Pliny conducted trials of suspected Christians who appeared before him as a result of anonymous accusations and asks for the Emperor's guidance on how they should be treated.

The gens Minicia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the first century, achieving the consulate under the emperor Claudius. Owing to the similarity of their names, the Minicii are regularly confused with members of the ancient and far more prominent gens Minucia.

Gaius Minicius Fundanus Roman senator and consul of the early 2nd century AD

Gaius Minicius Fundanus was a Roman senator who held several offices in the Emperor's service, and was an acquaintance of Pliny the Younger. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of May to August 107 AD with Titus Vettennius Severus as his colleague. Fundanus is best known as being the recipient of an edict from the emperor Hadrian about conducting trials of Christians in his province.

Lucius Fabius Justus was a Roman senator active in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD, who occupied a number of offices in the imperial service. He also served as suffect consul in 102, replacing Lucius Licinius Sura as the colleague of the consul who opened the year, Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus; both Justus and Servianus closed their nundinium at the end of April.

Pomponius Mamilianus was a Roman senator who held several offices in the service of the emperor. He was appointed suffect consul in the nundinium of May to June 100 as the colleague of Lucius Herennius Saturninus. He is known through surviving inscriptions, and was a correspondent of Pliny the Younger.

Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator was a Roman senator and lawyer. He served as ordinary consul for the year 118 AD as the colleague of the Emperor Hadrian. Salinator was a member of the circle of friends and peers around Pliny the Younger.

Publius Calpurnius Macer Caulius Rufus was a Roman senator of the 2nd century AD who held a number of offices in the imperial service, as well as serving as suffect consul for the nundinium of November to December 103 as the colleague of Annius Mela. His relationship to the Republican Calpurnii is unknown; he could be descended from a freedman of their family, or a cliens who was enrolled as a citizen with their help.

The gens Satria was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in the first century BC, and under the early Empire, but none of them rose higher than the rank of praetor. Otherwise the Satrii are known largely from inscriptions.

The gens Statia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early decades of the Republic, but the name does not appear again in history until the time of Cicero. The Statii remained relatively undistinguished until the reign of Trajan, when Lucius Statius Aquila was raised to the consulship.

Gaius Vibius Maximus was an eques active during the reign of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. His appointments include prefect of Roman Egypt. Maximus was also a figure in literary circles, and said to have written a history that has not survived.

Gaius Valerius Paullinus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Trajan. He is best known as a friend of Pliny the Younger, having received a number of letters from Pliny. Paullinus was suffect consul in the nundinium of September to December 107 as the colleague of Gaius Julius Longinus.

References

  1. Guido Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , 17 (1975), p. 279
  2. IGR 3.466
  3. CIL III, 14147 = ILS 8907
  4. Epistulae X.5-7, 10
  5. Epistulae IX.1
  6. Sherwin-White, The letters of Pliny: a historical and social commentary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966), p. 481

Further reading

Political offices
Preceded by Prefect of Egypt
98100
Succeeded by