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

66 The Imperial Government

chrales).Thereisnothingtoshowthat,eventhoughtheyhabituallyspecify
particularsumstobepaid,theyhadanybasisineitherHellenisticorRoman
law—anditisperhapsbesttoregardthemasaconventionofreligiousori-
gin.^136 Althoughmanyoftheseinscriptionsmakethepenaltypayabletothe
Fiscus,variousotherbeneficiariesarenamed:gods,localcommunities,colle-
gia(associations),ortheAerarium.^137 Theexplanationofthecustomcannot
thereforelieinthenatureoftheFiscusandwehavenoevidenceastohow,
ifatall,theproceedsaccruedtoit.

ExtraordinaryTaxes

Finally, among the revenues of the Fiscus, comevarious exactions and ir-
regularformsoftaxation.Ofthesethemostimportantisprobablytheaurum
coronarium(crown gold). Only one text, and that a third-century papyrus,
makes a formal statement that theaurum coronariumwent to the Fiscus;^138
butitisclearfromthenatureoftheinstitution,whichwasfromtheearliest
times a personal gift from subject communities to a rulerorconqueror,^139
thattheproceedsmusthavegonetotheemperorhimself,astheyhadtore-
publicangenerals.^140 Withtheeverincreasingfrequencywithwhichaurum
coronariumwas demanded, it must have been a major source of revenue.^141
ThenCaligula,wheninneedofcash,inventedanumberoftaxes,including
one on prostitutes;^142 one and a half centuries later, in the reign of Com-
modus,we find soldiers in the Crimea collecting this tax and (apparently)
payingittotheFiscus.^143 ThatitinfactwenttotheFiscusseemstobecon-

136. Wesenberg(n.132),75–78.


137. See,e.g.,theindicesofIGR(s.v.multae sepulchrales)andFIRA^2 III,257–58.


138. ABerlinpapyrusfirstpublishedbyG.Parthey,Nuove Memorie d. Instituto Arch.2,
     455,no.21,andrestoredbyU.Wilcken,GriechischeOstrakaI(LeipzigandBerlin,1899),300,
     whichhastheexpression‘‘thestephanoswhichformerlyusedtogototheking’streasure[to
     basilikon]andnowgoestothefiscus.’’Aurumcoronariummaybethepaymentreferredtointhe
     Opramoasinscription,IGRIII,739,II,59–60:‘‘payingtothefulltheeusebeiaofthepeople
     tothefiscus’’;eusebeiasuggestsapaymentwhichwasnotformallyanobligation(compare
     thesameinscription,III,88–89,hispaymentoftribute).Similarly,P. Giss.61(Heptakomia,
     a.d.119)showsalogia(specialcollection)beingmadeforthebenefitoftheFiscusnotlong
     afteranemperor’saccession.


139. Th.Klauser,‘‘AurumCoronarium,’’Röm. Mitt.59(1944):129.


140. See,e.g.,Cic.,in Pisonem90,de leg. ag.2,59;Res Gestae21,3;Pliny,NH33,54.


141. SeeS.L.Wallace,TaxationinEgyptfromAugustustoDiocletian(Princeton,1938),281–


142. 
     


143. Suet.,Calig.40.
     143.CILIII,13750Latyschev,IOSPEI^2 404.Seel.39(41inCIL).