Lucius Munatius Plancus
Encyclopedia
Lucius Munatius Plancus (born in Tibur, ; died in Gaeta
) was a Roman senator
, consul
in 42 BC, and censor
in 22 BC with Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
. Along with Talleyrand eighteen centuries later, he is one of the classic historical examples of men who have managed to survive very dangerous circumstances by constantly shifting their allegiances.
's officer during the conquest of Gaul
and the civil war against Pompey. His funerary inscription attests that he founded the cities of Augusta Raurica
(44 BC) and Lyon
(43 BC) and in June 43 BC, a letter attests to its passage through the village of Cularo
(present Grenoble
) in the Dauphiné Alps
.
When Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC, Plancus was the Proconsul
of Gallia Comata. But the following year he turned to Mark Antony
, and he held the consul
ship with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
in 42 BC. He became proconsul of Asia in about 40 BC. During Mark Antony's expedition (36 BC) to Armenia
and Parthia
, to avenge Crassus' death (17 years earlier) he was proconsul of Syria
. But when Antony's campaign against the Parthians failed, he chose to leave him and join Octavian
. According to Suetonius
, Plancus was the one who suggested Octavian adopt the title "Augustus" rather than be called Romulus
as a "second founder of Rome."
In 22 BC, Augustus appointed him and Aemilius Lepidus Paullus to fill the office of Censor. Their censorship is famous not for any remarkable deeds, but because it was the last time that such magistrates were appointed. According to Velleius Paterculus' Roman history, it was a shame for both of the senators: ". . . the censorship of Plancus and Paullus, which, exercised as it was with mutual discord, was little credit to themselves or little benefit to the state, for the one lacked the force, the other the character, in keeping with the office; Paullus was scarcely capable of filling the censor's office, while Plancus had only too much reason to fear it, nor was there any charge which he could make against young men, or hear others make, of which he, old though he was, could not recognize himself as guilty . . ."
In Suetonius' Life of Nero, we read that the emperor Nero
's grandfather, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, whose wife was Antonia Major
, daughter of Mark Antony, "was haughty, extravagant, and cruel, and when he was only an aedile
, forced the censor Lucius Plancus to make way for him on the street": the story seems to hint at the poor reputation Plancus held after his censorship.
Plancus is one of the very few important Roman historical figures whose tomb has survived and is identifiable, although his body has long since vanished. The Mausoleum of Plancus, a massive cylinder tomb now much restored (and incongruously consecrated to the Virgin Mary in the late 19th century), is in Gaeta
, on a hill overlooking the sea: it houses a small permanent exhibit in honor of him.
By his wife, whose name is unknown, Plancus had a son and a daughter: Lucius Munatius Plancus (ca 45 BC - aft. 14), Consul in 13 and Legate in 14, who married Aemilia Paulla, daughter of Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
and wife Cornelia Lentula; and Munatia Plancina
(ca 35 BC - aft. 20), wife of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
.
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
) was a Roman senator
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, consul
Consul
Consul 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...
in 42 BC, and censor
Censor (ancient Rome)
The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
in 22 BC with Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus or Paullus Aemilius Lepidus was a member of the Roman Senate. Paullus was a member of the gens Aemilia....
. Along with Talleyrand eighteen centuries later, he is one of the classic historical examples of men who have managed to survive very dangerous circumstances by constantly shifting their allegiances.
Biography
Plancus's early career is rather unclear, and we know little about him, only that he was the namesake of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was Julius CaesarJulius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's officer during the conquest of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
and the civil war against Pompey. His funerary inscription attests that he founded the cities of Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland. Located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst, it is the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine....
(44 BC) and Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
(43 BC) and in June 43 BC, a letter attests to its passage through the village of Cularo
Cularo
Cularo was the name of the Gallic city of Grenoble until 381. From this date it will be called Gratianopolis.The first reference to Grenoble dates back to July 43 BC. At that time the market town...
(present Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
) in the Dauphiné Alps
Dauphiné Alps
The Dauphiné Alps are a group of mountain ranges in southeastern France, west of the main chain of the Alps. They are separated from the Cottian Alps in the east by the Col du Galibier and the upper Durance valley; from the western Graian Alps in the north-east by the river Arc; from the lower...
.
When Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC, Plancus was the Proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of Gallia Comata. But the following year he turned to Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
, and he held the consul
Consul
Consul 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...
ship with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus may refer to:* Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , consul in 232 BC and 221 BC, and augur* Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , consul in 187 BC and 175 BC, Pontifex Maximus 180–152 BC, and censor...
in 42 BC. He became proconsul of Asia in about 40 BC. During Mark Antony's expedition (36 BC) to Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
, to avenge Crassus' death (17 years earlier) he was proconsul of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. But when Antony's campaign against the Parthians failed, he chose to leave him and join Octavian
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
. According to Suetonius
Lives of the Twelve Caesars
De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
, Plancus was the one who suggested Octavian adopt the title "Augustus" rather than be called Romulus
Romulus
- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...
as a "second founder of Rome."
In 22 BC, Augustus appointed him and Aemilius Lepidus Paullus to fill the office of Censor. Their censorship is famous not for any remarkable deeds, but because it was the last time that such magistrates were appointed. According to Velleius Paterculus' Roman history, it was a shame for both of the senators: ". . . the censorship of Plancus and Paullus, which, exercised as it was with mutual discord, was little credit to themselves or little benefit to the state, for the one lacked the force, the other the character, in keeping with the office; Paullus was scarcely capable of filling the censor's office, while Plancus had only too much reason to fear it, nor was there any charge which he could make against young men, or hear others make, of which he, old though he was, could not recognize himself as guilty . . ."
In Suetonius' Life of Nero, we read that the emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
's grandfather, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, whose wife was Antonia Major
Antonia Major
Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and a relative of the first Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, daughter of Mark Antony, "was haughty, extravagant, and cruel, and when he was only an aedile
Aedile
Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
, forced the censor Lucius Plancus to make way for him on the street": the story seems to hint at the poor reputation Plancus held after his censorship.
Legacy
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
, on a hill overlooking the sea: it houses a small permanent exhibit in honor of him.
By his wife, whose name is unknown, Plancus had a son and a daughter: Lucius Munatius Plancus (ca 45 BC - aft. 14), Consul in 13 and Legate in 14, who married Aemilia Paulla, daughter of Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus or Paullus Aemilius Lepidus was a member of the Roman Senate. Paullus was a member of the gens Aemilia....
and wife Cornelia Lentula; and Munatia Plancina
Munatia Plancina
Munatia Plancina was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the early times of the Empire founded by Augustus. She was the wife of the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. The couple was accused to have poisoned Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of the Emperor Tiberius...
(ca 35 BC - aft. 20), wife of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso , Roman statesman, was consul in 7 BC; subsequently, he was governor of Hispania and proconsul of Africa.In AD 17 Tiberius appointed him governor of Syria...
.