Gaius Pompeius Planta was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

'' eques'' who was a close associate of the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. He is best known for being ''

praefectus ''Praefectus'', often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) but ...

'' or governor of

Roman Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

, which he held from 98 to 100 AD. How Planta came to the attention of Trajan is not known. The only other office he is attested as holding is

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title of ...

Lycia et Pamphylia Lycia et Pamphylia was the name of a province of the Roman empire, located in southern Anatolia. It was created by the emperor Vespasian (69–79), who merged Lycia and Pamphylia into a single administrative unit. In 43 AD, the emperor Claudius ...

: he is mentioned in an inscription recovered from

Balbura ''Balbura'' is a genus of moths in the subfamily Arctiinae The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical spe ...

that also mentions the contemporary governor, Lucius Luscius Ocrea, allowing us to date his appointment around the years 75–78. An inscription found at Syene, modern-day

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

, mentions Planta and a number of other equestrian officers stationed in Egypt, such as ''

praefectus castrorum The ''praefectus castrorum'' ("camp prefect") was, in the Roman army of the early Empire, the third most senior officer of the Roman legion after the legate (''legatus'') and the senior military tribune (''tribunus laticlavius''), both of whom w ...

'' Lucius Genucius Priscus.

Scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

mentions a history Planta wrote about the

Year of Four Emperors A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hour ...

, which otherwise is unknown. He is also mentioned a few times in the collected letters of

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), 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 ...

, 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 Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

for his physician Harpocras. At one point Pliny admits while Harpocras has received Roman citizenship, Pliny learns he should have sought

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

n 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. 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 Adrian Nicholas Sherwin-White, FBA (10 August 1911 – 1November 1993) was a British academic and ancient historian. He was a fellow of St John's College, University of Oxford and President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. ...

dates this letter after 100, when Planta stepped down from his appointment, and before 107.Sherwin-White, ''The letters of Pliny: a historical and social commentary'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966), p. 481

References

Further reading