Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

The Fiscus in the First Two Centuries 65

amount,’’^128 and another froma.d.254 a penalty paid ‘‘to the most sacred
treasury’’(toiērotatontameion).^129 InEgypt,ontheotherhand,whiletheinsti-
tutionoftheprostimoncontinuesincontractsoftheRomanperiod,itispaid
‘‘tothepublictreasury’’(to dēmosion).^130 Aclearexampleoftheinstitutionin
thewesternprovincescomesfromaninscriptionrecordingabenefactionto
thecollegium fabrum Narbonensium(thesocialclubofengineersinNarbo)in
a.d.149;thefunds,ifmisused,weretorevert‘‘tothefiscusofthe[our]great
princeps.’’^131 But,whilethefactsarethuswellattested,thelegalbasisofthe
institutionremainsentirelyobscure.^132 Inspite,however,ofthedubiouslegal
basisofsuchpenaltieswedofindacase,thelonginscriptionrelatingtothe
bequestbyVibiusSalutaristoEphesusin104,inwhichtheproconsulofAsia
approvesthedecreesofthecityrelatingtothebenefactionandfixesfines,
duetotheFiscus,fortransgression:‘‘Iwishhim[theoffender]topayforth-
withapenaltytothetempleofthegreatestgoddessArtemis25,000denarii
andtothefiscusofourlordCaesar’’(ll.278–81).^133 Onlytwopassagesinthe
Digestrefertosuchpenalties,andtheycontradicteachother;intheonecase
an agreement to submit to arbitration (compromissum) has been madewith
theprovisionofapenalty(poena)payabletotheFiscus,butinvalidly—‘‘the
fiscusacquiresnothingunderthisjudgement.’’^134 Theotherreferencecomes
inthelistofoccasionsof‘‘denunciationbeforethefiscus’’(nuntiatio ad fiscum)
whichformstheprefaceofCallistratus’de iure fisci—‘‘orthatapenaltyisdue
tothefiscusunderaprivatecontract.’’^135 Thisisperhapsaninterpolation.
Evengreaterdifficultiesattendthesubjectofsepulchralfines(multaesepul-

128. Ibid.,no.31.Uppertext,ll.19–20,lowertext,ll.47–48‘‘andthesameamountto
     thefiscus.’’
     129.Ibid.,no.32,l.17.


129. Berger(n.4),32–33.
     131.CILXII4393,ll.15–16.


130. SeethediscussionbyG.Wesenberg,VerträgezugunstenDritter:Forschungenzumrömi-
     schen Recht,Bd.I,Abh.II(Weimar,1949),70–71.
     133.IBM481,ll.278–81partiallyreprintedinB.Laum,Stiftungen in der griechischen und
     römischen Antike2 (Berlin, 1914), no. 74, and Abbott and Johnson, no. 71. See nowI. K.
     EphesosIa,27,ll.406–10.Thereadingoftheselinescanbeconfirmedbycomparisonwith
     ll.220–21(I. K. EphesosIa,27,ll.323–25).Furtherexamplesofendowmentswithpenal-
     tiestotheFiscusaregivenbyLaum,Stiftungen,nos.19b(Eleusis,secondcenturya.d.),72
     (Attaleia, second century), 124 (Iasos). See also K. M.T. Atkinson, ‘‘The ‘Constitutio’ of
     VediusPollioatEphesus,’’RIDA,ser.3,9(1962):262,onp.287(wherethelegalcomplexities
     arenotappreciated).
     134.Dig.4,8,42.
     135.Dig.49,14,1,praef.