Plancia Magna and the function of a Roman benefactress in Perge FOLLOWING HADRIAN

The traditional metropolis of Perge, situated on the coast of southern Asia Minor within the Roman province of Pamphylia, gives a captivating case research of elite benefaction within the Roman East. In Perge, Roman euergetism was frequent, with rich people contributing a portion of their wealth to their neighborhood. Prosperous residents funded public buildings, meals, gymnasium provides, and different facilities (Boatwright, 1993). In return, donors had been celebrated and honoured, typically by public recognition corresponding to inscriptions or statues commemorating their contributions.

Perge flourished through the Hellenistic and Roman durations, rising as a number one metropolis. The town underwent important urbanisation and Romanisation, incorporating each Hellenistic and Roman architectural components. Below Roman management, in depth rebuilding occurred, together with the development of main roads and public buildings. Its city format included nymphaeums, baths, a theatre constructed right into a hill, a stadium, an agora, colonnaded streets, and defensive fortifications, corresponding to partitions and gates. The town was identified for its native deity, Artemis Pergaea, who retained her Anatolian origins regardless of being likened to the Greek pantheon.

Perge turned a centre of euergetism, the place elite members commissioned public works to raise their social standing and profit the neighborhood. One of many metropolis’s most notable monuments, the Hellenistic Gate advanced, underwent transformation through the early Hadrianic interval. Round AD 120–122, Plancia Magna, a outstanding girl and benefactress of Perge, commissioned its renovation, reworking it from a defensive construction right into a monumental entryway that includes a horseshoe-shaped courtyard with two tales of statue niches. Plancia Magna’s new gate advanced included a large honorific arch at its northern finish, constructed from native limestone and revetted with imported marble. The arch featured statues of Roman imperial relations and native deities, which had been recognized by bilingual inscriptions.

Plancia Magna belonged to the outstanding Plancii household, with connections to the Cornuti household, each of whom had been influential in Perge. The Plancii household probably migrated from Atina in Latium, establishing themselves in Perge by commerce and land possession. Marcus Plancius Varus and Gaius Plancius Varus had been her father and brother, respectively, each concerned in native benefactions. Throughout the reign of Vespasian (69-79), her father Varus served as governor of the general public province of Bithynia and Pontus. Throughout his time in Nicaea, Varus struck coinage honouring the Roman State and himself and contributed to the development of the North Gate of Nicaea, which Hadrian repaired after the earthquake of AD 120 (see right here).

Her husband was Gaius Iulius Cornutus Tertullus, a Roman senator and buddy of Pliny the Youthful, in all probability born in 43 or 44 and should have married Plancia Magna between 100 and 110. In keeping with the timeline of his cursus honorum on an inscription discovered at Tusculum (CIL  XIV, 2925), he held a protracted profession, serving in a number of places of work within the Roman East, and took up his final submit in Africa as proconsul between 116 and 117, the place he died. In keeping with the Tusculum inscription, Plancia Magna would have been a widow when she made her benefaction to Perge.

Their son, Gaius Iulius Plancius Varus Cornutus, started his political profession throughout Plancia Magna’s main renovation of the Hellenistic gate advanced. He served as legate of Cilicia through the early reign of Hadrian, about 120. Plancia Magna additionally devoted a bilingual inscription to her son (IK Perge 127). Moreover, a statue honouring him was erected by the boule and demos (IK Perge 128), the place he’s celebrated as a patron and benefactor of the town, in addition to the organiser of the Varus-Agon video games, athletic contests named in honour of their household.

As attested by quite a few inscriptions, Plancia Magna held essential civic and non secular positions, together with serving because the priestess of Artemis Pergaia, a job with tenure for all times, and as a priestess of the imperial cult. She was honoured because the daughter of the town and demiourgos (a metropolis official or Justice of the Peace). Guests to Perge would see her title on the statue bases, with statues of her erected by her freedmen, Marcus Plancius Pius and Marcus Plancius Alexander.

A number of students have contributed to the research of Plancia Magna and her function as a Roman benefactress, in addition to the broader context of euergetism and ladies’s roles within the Roman Empire. Mary T. Boatwright explored Plancia Magna’s contributions and ladies’s roles in Roman Asia Minor, significantly in her works “Plancia Magna of Perge: Ladies’s Roles and Standing in Roman Asia Minor” and “The Metropolis Gate of Plancia Magna in Perge.” Sencer Sahin carried out in depth epigraphic analyses of inscriptions from Perge, together with these associated to Plancia Magna. Riet Van Bremen examined ladies’s civic participation within the Roman East, together with debates on their independence and familial roles. Extra lately, Barbara F. Caceres-Cerda wrote a thesis, which gives an in depth evaluation of Plancia Magna’s renovation of the Hellenistic gate advanced and her function in Perge. Collectively, these students have contributed to our understanding of Plancia Magna’s distinctive place as a benefactress and the implications of euergetism and ladies’s roles within the Roman Empire.

Plancia Magna’s benefactions in Perge weren’t solely acts of generosity but in addition deliberate efforts to solidify her place as a outstanding determine in Perge’s civic and cultural life. She actively promoted her legacy by inscriptions and statues, making certain her title and contributions had been prominently displayed and surpassing the popularity of her male relations (Caceres-Cerda, 2018). As well as, by commissioning a monumental triple arch with statues of Roman imperial relations, she demonstrated her allegiance to Rome. She positioned herself and her metropolis as loyal members within the Roman Empire. Her architectural and programmatic decisions elevated Perge’s standing throughout the area. It has been steered that Plancia Magna commissioned the renovation of the Hellenistic gate advanced and the development of the honorific arch in anticipation of Hadrian’s go to to Perge in AD 123. Nevertheless, it seems that the Emperor might have modified his route and didn’t come to Pamphylia till his second journey to the East in 131/132 (Özdizbay, 2008).

Plancia Magna’s transformation of the Hellenistic Gate in Perge was a exceptional architectural venture. The unique round courtyard was reconstructed right into a horseshoe form, measuring 20.35 meters deep and 17.80 meters extensive. The perimeter partitions had been rebuilt to a top of 11 meters, revetted in marble, and featured two sequence of fourteen niches organized on two ranges. A two-storied Corinthian columnar facade with finely carved architectural ornament rose from two steps in entrance of the partitions. ​The facade resembled a scaenae frons, a Roman stage constructing type (Boatwright, 1993). The decrease niches displayed statues of Greek gods, whereas the higher niches displayed statues of the town’s mythological founders (IK Perge 101 – 107), and Plancia Magna’s relations, together with her father and brother, recognized as metropolis founders.

Primarily based on fragments of marble statues discovered, all labelled with Greek inscriptions on their bases, the Greek gods included Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, the Dioscuri, Pan, Heracles, and an unknown male deity (Sahin, 1996), and their presence emphasised the connection between Perge and the divine. Seven fragmentary statue bases inscribed in Greek point out that the town’s legendary founders, known as “city-founders” (ktistai), had been Mopsos, Kalchas, Leonteus, Machaon, Minyas, Labos and Rixos. These heroes, all described as hailing from mainland Greece, are principally identified for his or her participation within the Trojan Battle. Nevertheless, a few of these founders, corresponding to Rixos and Labos, are in any other case unknown, however inscriptions counsel that they had historical cults in Perge (Boatwright, 1993). Along with the statues of the Hellenic founders, there have been additionally representations of Plancia Magna’s father, M. Plancius Varus, and her brother, C. Plancius Varus, each known as ktistai. In keeping with Sencer Sahin, the legendary founders of the town had been initially depicted as bronze statues however had been later repurposed throughout antiquity (Sahin, 1996).

Inscriptions of city-founders (ktistai):

Labos / κ[τ]ίσ[τ]ησ λάβοσ Δαειο[υ Δ]ελφός άφ ού λα[βεια] Translation: “The founder Labos, son of Dae, the Delphian.”

Leonteus / κτίστης [Λ]εοντεύς Κορώ[νου] Λαπίθης Translation: “The founder Leonteus, son of Koronos, the Lapith.”

Machaon / [κτί]στης [Μαχ]άων Ασκλη[πιού] θεσσαλό[ς] Translation: “The founder Machaon, son of Asklepios, the Thessalian.”

Inscriptions of benefactors, additionally known as city-founders:

M. Plancius Varus (Plancia Magna’s father) ​ / [κτίστη]ς [Μ.] ​ Πλάνκιος Ούδρος [πα]τήρ Πλανκίας Μάγνης Περγαίος Translation: “[The founder] M. Plancius Varus, father of Plancia Magna, Pergaian.”

C. Plancius Varus (Plancia Magna’s brother) ​/ κτίστης Γ. Πλάνκιος Ούδρος άδελφός Πλανκίας Μάγνης Περγαίος ​ Translation: “The founder C. Plancius Varus, brother of Plancia Magna, Pergaian.”

The 5 lacking statues from the courtyard probably depicted different outstanding kinfolk of Plancia, corresponding to her son, C. Iulius Plancius Varus Cornutus, or her husband, C. Iulius Cornutus Tertullus, or probably even Plancia herself. Collectively, these statues would have created a show of seven modern civic benefactors, mirroring the seven mythological founders on the other facet (Gatzke, 2020).

The monumental triple arch on the northern finish of the courtyard was a continuation of Plancia Magna‘s architectural and sculptural program and served as a symbolic transition between the Greek civic area and the Roman imperial world. It was a three-tiered two-story monumental arch constructed from native limestone and revetted with imported marble, complementing the ornamental courtyard. It was 9.10 meters extensive and 20 meters lengthy and consisted of three arches supported by 4 pillars (Boatwright, 1993). Freestanding Corinthian columns on pedestals had been positioned in entrance and behind the center pillars, a design seen in different Hadrianic arches. The arch marked the start of the principle thoroughfare of Perge, the north-south colonnaded avenue. It rose on a marble-paved platform, and entry to it from the courtyard was supplied by a large flight of 4 steps that obstructed vehicular visitors. This exhibits that the arch served a ceremonial operate quite than a sensible one as a passage.

The arch was devoted to the town of Perge, as indicated by the big, bilingual tabulae ansatae on the gateways (IK Perge 86). The Latin dedication was on the south facet, whereas the Greek dedication was on the north facet. This placement displays Plancia Magna’s intention to speak with totally different audiences, Latin for Roman guests and Greek for the native inhabitants of Perge.

(south facet)
[Plancia M(arci) f.] Magna
[pat]riae [— ]o
Plancia Magna, daughter of Marcus, for her fatherland

(north facet)
Πλα[νκία Μάγν]α θυγάτηρ Μ.
Πλα[νκίου Οὐάρο]υ τῆ πατρίδι
Plancia Magna, daughter of Marcus Plancius Varus, for her fatherland

Free-standing statues adorned the architraves, niches, and the highest of the triple arch. These statues depicted Diana Pergensis, the town’s deity, and Tyche, the town’s tutelary spirit, who probably topped the arch. As well as, there have been representations of a number of imperial figures, together with Hadrian, Diva Marciana, Plotina, Diva Matidia, Sabina Augusta, Divus Nerva, and Divus Traianus (IK Perge 89–99). Every statue was accompanied by a bilingual textual content figuring out the statue and naming Plancia Magna because the dedicator.

The inscriptions from the honorific arch point out that it was constructed between AD 120 and 122, with potential later additions to the statuary program (Sabina Augusta after AD 128). Since Plotina just isn’t known as diva, this implies a date earlier than her loss of life in 122 and after that of Matidia in December 119, who’s known as diva, indicating she was deceased. Hadrian’s statue base (IK Perge 94), which lists his tribunician energy, dates this statue to AD 121.

Dianae Pergensi
Plancia M. f. Magna.
Ἀρτέμιδι Περγαίᾳ
Πλανκία Μάγνα.

To Pergean Diana / Artemis. Plancia Magna, daughter of Marcus (devoted this).

Statue base of Diva Matidia. IK Perge 98.

Statue base Sabina. IK Perge 99.

Statue Base of Diva Marciana. IK Perge 96.

Statue base of Plotina. IK Perge 97.

The statues of Sabina and Hadrian are the one surviving statues from the honorific arch. Just like the surviving statue of Plancia Magna, the statue of Sabina shows the Giant Herculaneum Lady Kind, characterised by voluminous material, swish poses, and idealised options. ​This type was generally used for feminine statuary within the Roman Empire, significantly for members of the imperial household (learn extra right here).

The shortage of statues of Plancia Magna within the gate advanced doesn’t diminish her significance, as her title was inscribed on every base. She was, nevertheless, current simply south of the gate, on a type of show wall that includes three niches, every showcasing a statue. Two of those statues depicted Plancia Magna and had been commissioned by her freedmen, Marcus Plancius Pius and Marcus Plancius Alexander. The primary statue is unbroken and represents her as a priestess of the imperial cult. The second statue, nevertheless, is headless and has a distinctly totally different physique type. Each statues of Plancia Magna depict her in almost the identical method because the statue of the empress Sabina. Standing between these two statues is a 3rd, unidentified male statue, additionally headless and missing an inscription.

The show wall measured 10 meters in size and was utterly revetted in marble. The niches had been 1.10 meters deep, however their widths diverse in response to the scale of the statues they held (Boatwright, 1993). Regardless of the variations between the statues of Plancia, the inscriptions on them had been an identical, honouring her because the priestess of the imperial cult, the daughter of the town, and a demiurge.

This show wall was a reinstallation from the Severan interval, subsequent to the big monumental nymphaeum constructed by Aurelia Paulina, one other benefactress of Perge. Sahin means that the statues of Plancia Magna initially fashioned a part of an honorific monument devoted to her, however had been finally dismantled. The so-called show wall allowed guests to study extra about Plancia Magna earlier than coming into the gate advanced.

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In her architectural monuments, Plancia Magna promoted each herself and the town of Perge by honouring the traditional cult of Artemis Pergaea (Diana Pergensis), whereas additionally embracing Roman traditions. She embodied this duality by serving as a priestess of the goddess and taking part within the Roman imperial cult.

The cult devoted to Artemis Pergaea was very energetic in Perge, having emerged when Greek immigrants mixed the native Anatolian goddess Wanassas Preia with the Greek goddess Artemis. Earlier than the Hellenization of Perge within the archaic interval, the native inhabitants worshipped a mom goddess referred to in an archaic inscription as Wanassas Preia. This inscription, courting again to the Fifth century BC and later discovered reused within the Severan nymphaeum, identifies Artemis Pergaea within the archaic Pamphylian dialect.

The phrase “Wanassas” is a Mycenaean time period which means ‘queen’ or ‘mistress,’ whereas “Preia” is expounded to the Hittite phrase “Parha,” an early type of the phrase ‘Perge.’ Due to this fact, the phrase “Wanassas Preia” interprets to ‘Queen of Perge.’ Using the Mycenaean title helps the narrative that Greek audio system settled within the area through the Bronze Age. Wanassas Preia later developed into Artemis Pergaea in Greek and Diana Pergensis in Latin.

A significant temple on a hill close to Perge was devoted to Artemis Pergaea, and the sacred stone (baetyl) of Wanassas Preia was integrated into a novel cult statue that turned the town’s foremost non secular image. Whereas the unique cult statue of Artemis Pergaea is lengthy misplaced, its look will be inferred from depictions on cash and public monuments. It was aniconic and described as a baetyl with the goddess’s face in flat aid, surmounted by a polos (a cylindrical crown).

In public monuments, such because the Roman theatre, the cult statue is depicted in aid. It seems as an oblong form with a rounded high, showcasing a feminine head adorned with a big headdress and necklace, together with different ornamental components. The goddess Tyche holds a cornucopia in a single hand and, within the different, the cult statue of Perge. This cult statue is rectangular with a rounded high and incorporates a feminine head with a big headdress and necklace, complemented by further ornamental particulars. There was one other depiction of this cult picture within the theatre, as a part of a frieze adorning an aedicula on the primary stage of the scaenae frons.

The Roman theatre of Perge was constructed in AD 120 through the reign of Hadrian and was a really elaborate constructing. It was funded by Marcus Plancius Rutilius Varus, the daddy of Plancia Magna, since a fragmentary inscription was discovered within the ruins of the theatre entrance, figuring out Marcus Plancius Rutilius Varus (IK Perge 49). Positioned outdoors the town partitions and constructed in opposition to a hill, the theatre had a scaenae frons with carved pillars, not less than 17 statues, and panels depicting the battle between the gods and the giants. It mixed creative points of the Roman world with the cult of Artemis Pergaea.

The imagery on the cash minted in Perge depicting the cult of Artemis Pergaea consists of the pinnacle of Artemis, the temple, the cult statue, and varied attributes related to the deity, corresponding to a bow and a quiver (Rietveld, 2017). A coin from 50 BC exhibits the cult statue inside a distyle temple on one facet and Artemis Pergaea’s quiver with a strap on the opposite (see right here). One other coin from the time of Hadrian exhibits the temple that includes 4 columns, inside which stands the cult statue of Artemis Pergaea. The statue itself is represented as a block with a baetyl on high. An eagle is positioned on the temple’s pediment.

Plancia Magna’s mausoleum stood simply outdoors the town partitions, set upon a finely chiselled four-tiered base generally known as a crepidoma. It featured two projecting partitions (antae) and had three further steps main as much as the tomb itself, giving it the looks of a small temple. The inscription on the outside of the burial chamber accommodates particulars concerning the Plancius household, to which Magna belonged.

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Contemporaneous with the brand new Hellenistic Gate Advanced and visually linked by a collonaded road with an open-air water canal, the North Nymphaeum, standing on the southern slope of the Acropolis, appears to have been a part of a unified city planning venture. Its architectural type and ornament counsel it was financed by personal patrons, probably underneath the patronage of Plancia Magna (Y. Ng, 2016). Nevertheless, with the unique dedicatory inscription for the North Nymphaeum misplaced, it’s not possible to determine the patron with certainty. Some students, together with Fabrizio Slavazzi, hypothesise that Plancia Magna might have been the patron, however this stays unconfirmed.

Conventionally dated by its sculpture and architectural ornament to the Hadrianic interval, the North Nymphaeum was a double-storied pi-shaped nymphaeum, with two projecting facet wings fronted by columnar façades. The primary story of the central rear wall featured three openings: two barrel-vaulted passageways on both facet of the basin and an arched opening in the midst of the again wall. The barrel-vaulted passageways supplied entry to the road that led as much as the Acropolis. The second story included three niches designed for statuary.

The sculptural ornament included reliefs with Dionysiac themes corresponding to thyrsoi, masks, and tritons, which had been frequent in Hellenistic and Roman fountain homes. Freestanding statues included over-life-size figures of a Versailles-type Artemis (see right here), a heroically semi-nude Zeus (see right here), and a youthful nude hero recognized as Machaon, the son of Asclepius and founding father of Perge (Y. Ng, 2016). These statues had been probably displayed within the three niches within the higher story of the central again wall. Moreover, a reclining statue of the river Kestros, which fed the nymphaeum through an aqueduct, was positioned on the very centre of the monument, above the spout supplying water to the basin.

The nymphaeum additionally featured two life-sized portraits of Hadrian, one cuirassed and the opposite heroically nude, and two feminine portraits, probably depicting the patron’s household or imperial ladies. These statues had been probably positioned within the decrease stage of the central part or facet wings. Just like the Plancia Magna’s courtyard, the sculptural program of the North Nymphaeum emphasised Perge’s historic and cultural id, connecting the town’s prosperity to its origins and devotion to Hellenic and native cults.

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The architectural monuments and distinctive design decisions made by Plancia Magna set a development that influenced different rich ladies, together with Aurelia Paulina, through the late 2nd and early third centuries AD. Born within the province of Syria, she had emigrated to Pamphylia, married a person named Aquilus from Sillyon who was additionally very rich and concerned within the priesthood of the imperial cult in Perge, and acquired a grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor Commodus, thus including Aurelia to her title (IK Perge 195). Aurelia Paulina was additionally a priestess of Artemis Pergaea and a priestess of the imperial cult.

Impressed by Plancia Magna’s instance, she contributed a monument to the town of Perge. She constructed and inaugurated a monumental nymphaeum and its ornamentation at her personal expense, which she devoted to Artemis Pergaia and the reigning emperor, Septimius Severus, alongside along with his spouse, Julia Domna, and his sons, Caracalla and Geta (IK Perge 196). The monument stood close to one of many foremost entrances to the town of Perge, a main location that ensured it acquired important consideration from each native residents and guests coming into the town. Like Plancia Magna’s courtyard, it borrowed from the theatrical scaenae frons design with a marble colonnaded facade and niches displaying statues, to focus on her hyperlinks with the gods and the imperial household.

A statue of Aurelia Paulina in Syrian gown stood on the centre of the monumental nymphaeum she donated. It depicted her sporting a protracted tunic, lined by a stole draped over her shoulders and forearms. Her head was lined with a material that prolonged to her knees on the again, accessorised with bands above her brow. She wore heavy, intricate jewelry masking most of her chest, together with layered necklaces with distinctive beads and a shell pendant that fell to her waist. The shell pendant is believed to symbolise connections to deities corresponding to Artemis Pergaia or probably Aphrodite. Her alternative of gown and jewelry, which emphasised her Syrian heritage, might have been impressed by Julia Domna, who was additionally a local of Syria and celebrated in Asia Minor as each Artemis and Aphrodite. This connection elevated Aurelia Paulina’s standing and aligned her with essentially the most highly effective household within the Roman Empire.

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Plancia Magna considerably elevated her personal standing and that of her household in Perge by her contributions and public illustration. Her distinctive function as a benefactress exemplifies feminine company within the Roman East, difficult conventional gender roles and perceptions concerning ladies’s involvement in euergetism through the Roman Empire. Her statues, modelled after imperial figures like Sabina, additional aligned her picture with the grandeur of the Roman elite. Plancia Magna’s legacy as a novel and influential determine within the Roman East is solidified by her means to form her personal id, handle her wealth, and go away a long-lasting affect on her metropolis by her benefactions.

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