Plancus

• a Roman surname: plancae tabulae planae, ob quam causam et planci appellantur qui supra modum pedibus plani sunt, Paul. ex Fest. p. 231 Müll.: vola homini tantum, exceptis quibusdam: namque et hinc cognomina inventa Planci, Plauti, Scauri, Pansae, Plin. 11, 45, 105, § 254: plancus, πλατύπους, Gloss. Cyrill.: στεγανόποδες, planci, Gloss. Gr. Lat. So, Munatius Plancus, v. Munatius.—Hence,
• II Plancĭānus, a, um, adj., Plancian: Diana, who had a shrine in the house of the Planci, Viscont. Mus. Pio Clem. 2, p. 21 Mediol.

Πλάγκος, the name of the most distinguished family of the plebeian Munatia gens, is said to have signified a person having flat splay feet without any bend in them. (Plin. Nat. 11.4.5. s. 105; Festus, s. v. Planeae.) Instead of Plancus we frequently find Plancius both in manuscripts and editions of the ancient writers. For a detailed account of the persons mentioned below, see Drumann's Rom. vol. iv. p. 205, &c.

1. Cn. Munatius Plancus, was accused by M. Brutus, and defended by the orator L. Crassuts, about B. C. 106 (Cic. de Or. 2.54, pro Cluent. 51 ; Qnintil. 6.3.44.)

2. L. Munatius Plancls, L. F. L. N., was a friend of Julius Caesar, and served under him both in the Gallic and the civil wars. He is mentioned as one of Caesar's legati in Gaul in the winter of B. C. 54 and 53; and he was in conjunction with C. Fabius, the commander of Caesar's troops near Herda in Spain at the beginning of B. C. 49. He accompanied Caesar in his African campaign in B. C. 46, and attempted, but without success, to induce C. Considius, the Pompeian commander, to surrender to him the town of Adrumetum. At the end of this year he was appointed one of the praefects of the city, to whom the charge of Rome was entrusted during Caesar's absence in Spain next year. He received a still further proof of Caesar's confidence in being nominated to the government of Transalpine Gaul for B. C. 44, with the exception of the Narbonese and Belgic portions of the province, and also to the consulship for B. C. 42, with D. Brutus as his colleague. On the death of Caesar in B. C. 44 the political life of Plancus may be said to commence. After declaring himself in favour of an amnesty he hastened into Gaul to take possession of his province as speedily as possible. While here he carried on an active correspondence with Cicero, who pressed him with the greatest eagerness to join the senatorial party, and to cross the Alps to the relief of D. Brutus, who was now besieged by Antony in Mutina. After some hesitation and delay Plancus, at length in the month of April B. C. 43, commenced his march southwards, but he had not crossed the Alps when he received intelligence of the defeat of Antony and the relief of Mutina by Octavian and the consuls Hirtius and Pansa. Thereupon he halted in the territory of the Allobroges, and being joined by D. Brutus and his army, prepared to carry on the war against Antony. But when shortly afterwards Lepidus joined Antony, and their united forces threatened to overwhelm Plancus, the latter, despairing of any assistance from the senate, was easily persuaded by Asinius Pollio to follow his example, and unite with Antony and Lepidus. He therefore abandoned D. Brutus to his fate, and the latter was shortly afterwards slain in the Alps. Plancus during his government of Gaul founded the colonies of Lugdunum and Raurica (Oreih, Inscrip. No. 590 ; D. C. 46.50; Sen. Fp. 91; Strab. iv. pp. 186, 192.)

In the autumn of the same year, B. C. 43, the triumvirate was formed, and Planeus agreed to the proscription of his own brother L. Plautius. [See Plautius.] He returned to Rome at the end of the year, and on the 29th of December he celebrated a triumph for some victory gained in Gaul. In the inscription given below it is said to have been ex Raetis; and the victory was probably only an insignificant advantage gained over some Alpine tribes, in consequence of which he had assumed the title of imperator even before the battle of Mutina, as we see from his correspondence with Cicero (Cic. Fam. 10.8, 24).

In B. C. 42 Plancus was consul according to the arrangement made by the dictator Caesar, and had as his colleague M. Lepidus in place of D. Brutus. The Perusinian war in the following year, B. C. 41, placed Plancus in great difficulty. He had the command of Antony's troops in Italy; and accordingly when L. Antonius, the brother, and Fulvia, the wife of the triumvir, declared war against Octavian, they naturally expected assistance from Plancus; but as he did not know the views of his superior, he kept aloof from the contest as far as possible. On the fall of Perusia in B. C. 40, he fled with Fulvia to Athens, leaving his army to shift for itself as it best could. He returned to Italy with Antony, and again accompanied him when he went back to the East. Antony then gave him the government of the province of Asia, which he abandoned on the invasion of the Parthians under T. Labienus, and took refuge in the islands. He subsequently obtained the consulship a second time (Plin. Nat. 13.3. s. 5), but the year is not mentioned : he may have been one of the consuls suffecti in B. C. 36. In B. C. 35 he governed the province of Syria for Antony, and was thought by many to have been the cause of the murder of Sex. Pompeius. On his return to Alexandria he was coolly received by Antony on account of the shameless manner in which he had plundered the province. He remained at Alexandria some time longer, taking part in the orgies of the court, and even condescending on one occasion to play the part of a mime, and represent in a ballet the story of Glaucus. But foreseeing the fall of his patron he resolved to secure himself, and therefore repaired secretly to Rome in B. C. 32. taking with him his nephew Titius. From Plancus Octavian received some valuable information respecting Antony, especially in relation to his will, which he employed in exasperating the Romans against his rival. Plancus himself, like other renegades, endeavoured to purchase the favour of his new master by vilifying his old one ; and on one occasion brought in the senate such abominable charges against Antony, from whom he had received innumerable favors, that Coponius publicly upbraided him with his conduct (Vel. Pat. 2.83).

Plancus had no occasion to change again, and quietly settled down to enjoy the fortune he had acquired by the plunder of Syria, caring nothing about the state of public affairs, and quite contented to play the courtier in the new monarchy. It was on his proposal that Octavian received the title of Augustus in B. C. 27; and the emperor conferred upon him the censorship in B. C. 22 with Paulus Aemilius Lepidus. He built the temple of Saturn to please the emperor, who expected the wealthy nobles of his court to adorn the city with public buildings. The year in which Plancus died is uncertain.

The character of Plancus, both public and private, is drawn in the blackest colours by Velleius Paterculus, who, however, evidently takes delight in exaggerating his crimes and his vices. But still, after making every deduction from his colouring, the sketch which we have given of the life of Plancus shows that he was a man without any fixed principles, and not only ready to desert his friends when it served his interests, but also to betray their secrets for his own advantage. His private life was equally contemptible: his adulteries were notorious. The ancient writers speak of him as one of the orators of the time, but we know nothing of him in that capacity. One of Horace's odes (Carm. 1.7) is addressed to him. In personal appearance he resembled an actor of the name of Rubrius, who was therefore nicknamed Plancus. The various honours which Plancus held are enumerated in the following inscription (Orelli, No. 590): "L. Munat. L. f. L. n. L. pron. Plancus Cos. Cens. Imp. iter. VII. vir Epul. triump. ex Raetis aedem Saturni fecit de manubiis agros divisit in Italia Beneventi, in Gallia colonias deduxit Lugdunum et Rauricam." Plancus had three brothers and a sister, a son and a daughter. His brothers and son are spoken of below: his sister Munatia married M. Titius [Titius], his daughter Munatia Plancina married Cn. Piso. [Plancina.] (Caes. Gal. 5.24, &c., B. C. 1.40; Hirt. B. Afr. 4; Cic. Fam. 10.1_24, 11.9, 11, 13_15, 12.8, Phil. 3.15, 13.19; Plut. Brut. 19, Anton. 56, 58; Appian, App. BC 3.46, 74, 81, 97, 4.12, 37, 45, 5.33, 35, 50, 55, 61, 144; D. C. 46.29, 50, 53, 47.16, 48.24, 1. 3; Vell. 2.63, 74, 83; Macr. 2.2; Suet. III. Rhet. 6; Plin. Nat. 7.10. s. 12; Solin. 1.75.)

There are several coins of Plancus. The following one was not struck in B. C. 40, as Eckhel supposes (vol. vi. p. 44), but in B. C. 34 to commemorate the victory over the Armenians (Borghesi, Giorn. Arcad. vol. xxv. p. 359, &c.). It represents on the obverse a lituus and a guttu, which was a vessel used in sacrifices, with the legend M. ANTON. IMP. AVG. IIIVIR. R. P. C. (i. e. M. Antonius Imperator Augur Triumvir Reipublicae constituendae); and it bears on the reverse a guttus between a thunderbolt, and a caduceus, with the legend L. PLANCVS IMP. ITER. In the drawing above the position of the obverse and the reverse has been accidentally transposed by the artist.

3. T. Munatius Plancus Bursa, brother of No. 2, was tribune of the plebs B. C. 52, when in connection with his colleagues C. Sallustius and Q. Pompeius Rufus, he supported the views of Pompeius Magnus. The latter had set his heart upon the dictatorship, and, in order to obtain this honour, he was anxious that the state of anarchy and confusion in which Rome was plunged, should be continued, since all parties would thus be ready to submit to his supremacy as the only way of restoring peace and order. Plancus therefore did every thing in his power to increase the anarchy: on the death of Clodius, he roused the passions of the mob by exposing to public view the corpse of their favourite, and he was thus the chief promoter of the riot which ensued at the funeral, and in which the Curia IIostilia was burnt to the ground. His attacks upon Milo were most vehement, and he dragged him before the popular assembly to give an account of his murder of Clodius. By means of these riots Pompey attained, to a grent extent, his end; for although he failed in being appointed dictator, he was made consul without a colleague. The law De Vi, which he proposed in his consulship, and which was intended to deliver him from Milo and his other enemies, was strongly supported by Plancus and Sallustius, who also attempted by threats to deter Cicero from defending Milo. But when Pompey had attained his object, he willingly sacrificed his instruments. At the close of the year, as soon as his tribunate had expired, Plancus was accused of the part he had taken in burning the Curia Hostilia, under the very law De Vi, in the enactment of which he had taken so active a part. The accusation was conducted by Cicero, and as Plancus received only lukewarm support from Pompey, he was condemned. Cicero was delighted with his victory, and wrote to his friend M. Marius (ad Fam. 7.2) in extravagant spirits, stating that the condemnation of Plancus had given him greater pleasure than the death of Clodius. It would appear from this letter that Cicero had on some previous occasion defended Plancus. After his condemnation Plancus repaired to Ravenna in Cisalpine Gaul, where he was kindly received by Caesar. Soon after the beginning of the civil war he was restored to his civic rights by Caesar; and from that time he continued to reside at Rome, taking no part apparently in the civil war; and the only thing by which he showed his gratitude to the dictator, was by fighting as a gladiator, together with several other citizens, on the occasion of Caesar's triumph after his return from Spain, B. C. 45. After Caesar's death Plancus fought on Antony's side in the campaign of Mutina, but he was unsuccessful; he was driven out of Pollentia by Pontius Aquila, the legate of D. Brutus, and in his flight broke his leg. (D. C. 40.49, 55, 46.38; Plut. Pomp. 55, Cat. 48; Ascon. in Cic. Mil. p. 32, &c., ed. Orelli; Cic. Att. 6.1.10, ad Fam. 12.18, Phil. 6.4, 10.10, 11.6, 12.8, 13.12.)

4. Cn. Munatius Plancus, brother of the two preceding, praetor elect B. C. 44, was charged by Caesar in that year with the assignment to his soldiers of lands at Buthrotum in Epeirus. As Atticus possessed property in the neighbourhood, Cicero commended to Plancus with much earnestverse year, B. C. 43, Plancus was praetor, and was allowed by the senate to join his brother Lucius in Transalpine Gaul, where he negotiated on his brother's behalf with Lepidus, and distinguished himself by his activity in the command of the cavalry of his brother's army. His exertions brought on a fever: for this reason, and also because the two consuls had perished, he was sent back to Rome by Lucius. (Cic. Att. 16.16, ad Fam. 10.6, 11, 15, 17, 21.)

5. L. Plautius Plancus, brother of the three preceding, was adopted by a L. Plautius, and therefore took his praenomen as well as nomen, but retained his original cognomen, as was the case with Metellus Scipio [Metellus, No. 22], and Pupius Piso. [Piso, No. 18.] Before his adoption his praenomen was Caius, and hence he is called by Valerius Maximus C. Plautius Plancus. He was included in the proscription of the triumvirs, B. C. 43, with the consent of his brother Lucius [No. 2]. He concealed himself in the neigourhood of Salernum; but the perfumes which he used and his refined mode of living betrayed his lurking-place to his pursuers, and to save his slaves, who were being tortured to death because they would not betray him, he voluntarily surrendered himself to his executioners. (Plin. Nat. 13.3. s. 5; V. Max. 6.8.5; Appian, App. BC 4.12 ; Vell. 2.67.) The following coin, which bears the legends L. PLAVTIVS PLANCVS, must have been struck by this Plancus, as no other Plautius is mentioned with this cognomen. This coin, representing on the obverse a mask, and on the reverse Aurora leading four horses, refers to a circumstance which happened in the censorship of C. Plautius Venox, who filled this office with Ap. Claudius Caecus in B. C. 312 It is related that the tibicines having qarrelled with the censor Ap. Claudius left Rome and went to Tibur; but as the people felt the loss o them, the other censor, Plautius, had them placed in wggons one sight when they were drunk, and cornveyed to Rome, where they arrived early next morning; and, that they might not be recognized by the magistrates, he caused their faces to be covered with masks, The tale is related at length by Ovid (Ov. Fast. 6.651), and the following lines in particular throws light upon the subject of the coin:--

"Jamque per Esquilias Romanam intraverat urbem, Et Mane in moedio plaustra fuere foro. Plautius, ut possent specie numneroque senatumi Fallere, personis imperat ora tegi."

(Comp. Eckhel, vol. v. p. 276, &c.)

6. L. Munatius Plancus, son of No. 2, was consul A. D. 13 with C. Silius. In the following year he was sent by the senate after the death of Augustus to the mutinous legions of Germanicus in the territory of the Ubii, and there narrowly escaped death at the hands of the soldiers (D. C. 56.28; Suet. Aug. 101; Tac. Ann. 1.39.)

(1) T. Bursa, tribune of the commons in B.C. 52. He took part in the troubles excited by the death of Clodius, and, on the expiration of his office, was accused and condemned, notwithstanding the interest made by Pompey in his behalf.

(2) L. Munatius, a native of Tibur, was in early life a pupil of Cicero's, and obtained considerable eminence in the oratorical art. He afterward commanded a legion under Caesar in Gaul. On the assassination of that individual Plancus acted at first a very equivocal part, and frequently changed sides, attaching himself successively to each party according as it became powerful. Thus we find him, after the victory at Mutina, affecting the utmost zeal for the cause of Brutus and freedom; and subsequently, when he saw Antony reestablished in power, he went over to him with four legions which he had at the time under his command. He obtained upon this the consulship along with Lepidus, B.C. 42. Tired at last of Antony, he sided with Octavius, who received him with the utmost cordiality. It was Plancus who proposed in the Senate that the title of Augustus should be bestowed on Octavianus. The ancient writers reproach him with an absurd performance at the court of Cleopatra , in Alexandria, when he appeared on the public stage in the character of a sea-god, having his person painted green, and in a state of almost complete nudity, wearing a crown of reeds on his head, and with the tail of a fish attached to his body behind. Plancus, however, appears to have been a man of literary tastes, and we have an ode addressed to him by Horace on one occasion, when he had become suspected of disaffection by Augustus, and was meditating his departure from Italy ( Ant.; Vell. Paterc. ii. 63; Horat. Carm. i. vii).

(3) Lucius, a friend of Iulius Caesar, under whom he served both in the Gallic and the Civil Wars. Caesar, shortly before his death, nominated him to the government of Transalpine Gaul for B.C. 44, with the exception of the Narbonese and Belgic portions of the province, and also to the consulship for 42, with D. Brutus as his colleague. After Caesar's death Plancus hastened into Gaul, and took possession of his province. Here he prepared at first to support the Senate against Antony; but when Lepidus joined Antony, and their united forces threatened to overwhelm Plancus, the latter was persuaded by Asinius Pollio to follow his example, and to unite with Antony and Lepidus. Plancus, during his government of Gaul, founded the colonies of Lugdunum and Raurica. He was consul in 42, according to the arrangement made by Caesar, and he subsequently followed Antony to Asia, where he remained for some years, and governed in succession the provinces of Asia and Syria. He deserted Antony in 32, shortly before the breaking out of the Civil War between the latter and Octavianus. He was favourably received by Octavianus, and continued to reside at Rome during the remainder of his life. It was on his proposal that Octavianus received the title of Augustus in 27; and the emperor conferred upon him the censorship in 22, with Paulus Aemilius Lepidus. Both the public and private life of Plancus were stained by numerous vices. One of Horace's odes (Carm. i. 7) is addressed to him.