The Reputation of L. Munatius Plancus and the Idea of “Serving the Times”

Abstract

The evaluation of the career of L. Munatius Plancus has been inextricably bound up with the idea of “serving the times”—a phrase which Cicero once used in reference to him. But was survival through various political vicissitudes the chief virtue or achievement of Plancus? Did he see it that way? By putting Plancus back at the center of his own story, this chapter explores how his reputation was constructed in a complex process of competition and in-fighting with his contemporaries, as his peers critiqued his actions and he tried to defend and glorify them. Unpacking Plancus’ negative reputation ultimately proves to be an important part of reconstructing not only his career, but also the political discourse of the period.