Avl Plavtius (praetor)

Aulus belonged to the plebeian family of Plavtiev , whose representatives often held consular posts in the 4th century BC. e. Then Plavthia disappeared from history and returned to it in the second half of the II century BC. e. There is no exact information about their genealogy ^[1] ; Aulus could be the son of a legate of the times of the Allied war of the same name ^[2] .

Researchers allegedly identify ^{[3] [4]} with Avl Platius the legate of Plotius , who, according to Appian ^[5] and Lucius Annea Flora ^[6] , in 67 BC. e. acted against the pirates in Sicily under the command of Gnei Pompey the Great . In this case, Aulus was supposed to be before 67 BC. e. to hold the position of a quaestor . Presumably in subsequent years he was a subordinate of Pompey - now in the East, as part of the Third Mithridates War , and, in particular, fought in Judea . It was in connection with this experience that Plavius ​​could later, during his edilitet , mint coins with the inscription Bacchius Iudaeus , demonstrating the subordination of the Eastern kings to Rome. Anticologist Friedrich Münzer states that at the first stage Avl’s career was rather slow and that the reasons for this remain unclear ^[4] .

In 56 BC e. Plavtius held the position of the people's tribune ^[7] . In this capacity, he acquainted the Senate with the letter of the ousted Egyptian king Ptolemy XII Avlet , in which he asked the Republic for help against his rebellious subjects ^[8] . In 54 BC e. Plavtius held the post of kurul aedil (together with one of the tribune’s colleagues, Gnei Planzii ) ^[9] and, in particular, was in charge of minting coins. In 51 BC e. he was a praetor ^[10] - either urban ( praetor urbanus ) or for foreigners ( praetor peregrinus ). Scientists draw such a conclusion ^[4] from one letter from Mark Tullius Cicero from Cilicia , where the author asks the rhetorical question: “Do I have to make a trial in Laodicea when Avl Plotius does it in Rome?” ^[11] .

After this, Aulus was mentioned in the surviving sources only once ^[4] . Cicero reports that after the battle of Farsalus (August 48 BC), his friend Titus Antistius took refuge “at Platius in Bithynia, ” and there later met with Guy Julius Caesar ^[12] . It is known that the latter instructed Domitius Calvin to govern Bithynia Gneus , which means that Plavius ​​could be the governor of this province from the Pompeian camp. In this case, he could become a victim of a civil war. In 47 BC e. Aulus house in Rome was put up for sale ^[13] , and this may mean that at that time Aulus was already dead ^[4] .

Sources

1. Lucius Anney Flor . Epitomes // Small Roman Historians. - M .: Ladomir, 1996 .-- 99-190 s. - ISBN 5-86218-125-3 .
2. Appian of Alexandria . Roman history. - M .: Ladomir, 2002 .-- 878 p. - ISBN 5-86218-174-1 .
3. Dion Cassius . Roman history (neopr.) . Date of treatment January 11, 2019.
4. Mark Tullius Cicero . Letters from Mark Tullius Cicero to Attica, relatives, brother Quintus, M. Brutus. - SPb. : Nauka, 2010 .-- V. 3 .-- 832 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-025247-9 , 978-5-02-025244-8.

Literature

1. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1952. - Vol. II. - P. 558.
2. Münzer F. Plautius // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1951. - Bd. XXI, 1. - Kol. 1-4.
3. Münzer F. Plautius 7 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1951. - Bd. XXI, 1. - Kol. 6-7.
4. Münzer F. Plautius 8 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1951. - Bd. XXI, 1. - Kol. 7-8.