Gaius or Lucius Fulvius Plautianus (ca 150 – 22 January 205) was a member of the Roman gens

Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...

 Fulvius

Fulvius

Fulvius was the nomen of the gens Fulvia, a patrician gens of ancient Rome that originally came from Tusculum. They were originally a plebeian family but were upgraded to patricians soon after the Roman Republic was formed...

, a family of the patrician status which had been active in politics since the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

.

Plautianus was originally from Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna also known as Lectis Magna , also called Lpqy, Neapolis, Lebida or Lebda to modern-day residents of Libya, was a prominent city of the Roman Empire. Its ruins are located in Khoms, Libya, east of Tripoli, on the coast where the Wadi Lebda meets the sea...

, southeast of Carthage

Carthage

Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 (modern Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

, North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

). He was a maternal cousin and long time friend of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...

. His father was another Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, born ca 130, brother of Fulvia Pia (ca 125 - aft. 198), the wife of Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta (father of Septimius Severus)

Publius Septimius Geta was the father of Lucius Septimius Severus, father-in-law of the Roman empress Julia Domna and the paternal grandfather of Roman emperors Caracalla and Geta. His name was found as an inscription in Cirta, Africa.Geta was of Libyco-Punic origin...

. His paternal grandfather was ... Fulvius Pius, born ca 100, son of ... Fulvius Pius, born ca 70, grandson of ... Fulvius ..., born ca 40, great-grandson of ... Fulvius ..., born ca 10, and great-great-grandson of Marcus Fulvius Saturnius (ca 20 BC - aft. 25), a Nobleman in Leptis Magna. His paternal grandmother was Plautia Octavilla, born ca 110, daughter of Lucius Plautius Octavianus (ca 90 - aft. 150), a Nobleman in Leptis Magna ca 150, and wife Aquilia Blaesilla, born ca 190, in turn daughter of Gaius Aquilius Postumus, born ca 55, and wife Hateria, born ca 70.

Plautianus was appointed Prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....

 Commander of the Praetorian Guard

Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...

 in 197. Due to their friendship, Severus rewarded Plautianus with various honors including a consular insigina, a seat in the Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 and the Consul

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

ship of 203. During his consulship, Plautianus' image was minted on coins along with Severus' second son Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta

Geta , was a Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209 to his death.-Early life:Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife Julia Domna...

.

He assisted Severus in administering the empire and became very wealthy and powerful. Severus made him his second in command. In 202, Plautianus married his daughter Publia Fulvia Plautilla

Fulvia Plautilla

Publia Fulvia Plautilla, Fulvia Plautilla or Plautilla was a Roman Princess, briefly Roman Empress and the only wife to Roman Emperor Caracalla. Caracalla was her paternal second cousin.-Birth and family:...

 to Caracalla

Caracalla

Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...

 (Severus’ first son) in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Plautianus became so powerful that Roman Empress Julia Domna

Julia Domna

Julia Domna was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Geta and Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire.- Family background...

 and Caracalla began to be concerned.

The marriage between Caracalla and Publia Fulvia Plautilla was not a happy one. In fact, Caracalla loathed both her and her father, threatening to kill them after becoming sole emperor. When Plautianus discovered this, he began to plot to overthrow Severus' family.

When Plautianus' treachery was discovered, the imperial family summoned him to the palace and ordered his death on 22 January 205. After his death, Plautianus’ property was confiscated, his son of the same name, daughter and granddaughter were exiled to Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and then later to Lipari

Lipari

Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the north coast of Sicily, and the name of the island's main town. It has a permanent population of 11,231; during the May–September tourist season, its population may reach up to 20,000....

 and his name was erased from public monuments. His son, daughter and granddaughter were strangled on Caracalla's orders in early 212.

He married Hortensia and had:

• Fulvia Plautilla
  Fulvia Plautilla
  Publia Fulvia Plautilla, Fulvia Plautilla or Plautilla was a Roman Princess, briefly Roman Empress and the only wife to Roman Emperor Caracalla. Caracalla was her paternal second cousin.-Birth and family:...
  
  
• Gaius Fulvius Plautius Hortensianus (ca 170 - executed, 212), married to Aurelia (b. ca 170), daughter of Lucius Aurelius Gallus (ca 140 - aft. 174), Consul
  Roman consul
  A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
  
   in 174, and had:
  • Fulvia (b. ca 192), married to Lucius Neratius Junius Macer (b. ca 185), consularis vir in Saepinum, and had issue

Sources

• http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2739.html
• http://www.trajancoins.com/plautilla.htm
• http://www.livius.org/on-oz/opellius/macrinus.html
• http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/herodian_03_book3.htm
• Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale, 2000