New Inscriptions from Perge 3: A New Honorary Inscription for Marcus Plancius Varus

Abstract

This study deals with Marcus Plancius Varus, who is honoured by an inscription newly discovered during the excavations at Perge in 2024. The activities of the euergetai (urban elite) were the driving force behind the transformation of the city during the Roman Imperial period. The family of Plancii Vari played an important role in defining Perge’s identity. The most important figure of the Plancii Vari for Perge is Plancia Magna, who was involved in important philanthropic activities during the reign of Hadrianus. The father of such an influential figure as Plancia Magna was Marcus Plancius Varus, a very important person of senatorial rank. During the 2024 excavations in Perge, a new Greek inscription in his honour was unearthed. The inscription was secondarily used as a cover slab for a water channel. The discovery of a honorary inscription for the senator Marcus Plancius Varus is important because it includes almost his entire cursus for the first time. The second significant aspect is that this inscription allows us to consider the possibility of other philanthropic activities by Marcus Plancius Varus, whose only other documented building sponsorship in Perge is related to the theatre.