68 The Imperial Government
ablebenefactions;Vespasianwasthefirsttopayrhetorsaregularsalary‘‘from
thefiscus.’’^152 Nerva returned the property to men from whom Domitian
had taken it, if any remained ‘‘in thebasileion’’ (i.e., thefiscus), and made
many benefactions ‘‘from his own property [the property he already pos-
sessed as a private person—see below] and fromta basilika.’’^153 The monu-
ment of Trajan’s general, C. Iulius Quadratus Bassus,was paid for ‘‘by the
fiscus,’’^154 while Trajan also built an aqueduct at his own expense (i.e., ‘‘of
hisownfiscus’’).^155 Fronto,writingtoLuciusVerus,mentionsanoccasionon
whichAntoninusPiushadpaidanimpoverishedsenatortheexpensesofhis
praetorship‘‘fromyourfiscus.’’^156 Pertinax,oncomingtothethrone,found
‘‘thebasileion’’emptyofcashandhadtosellvariouspossessionsofCommodus
tomakethepromiseddonationstosoldiersandpeople.^157 Finally,itseems
likely,ifnotcertain,thatPlinyisspeakingofimperialpurchasesofcornto
subsidize theannona(corn supply) when he says in thePanegyric‘‘thefiscus
buyswhateveritseemstobebuying’’^158 —previousspecialpurchasesforthis
purpose,itisimplied,hadineffectbeendisguisedextraexactions.Itisat-
tested that Augustus, Antoninus Pius, and Severus Alexander bought corn
fordistribution to the people^159 and that Tiberius kept the price down by
cashsubsidiesfromhisownpocket.^160
- Suet.,Div.Vesp18,1.SeeHieronymus,ad Ol.CCXVI.4(a.d.88),‘‘Quintilian...
receivedasalaryfromthefiscus.’’Dio(asinZonaras)66,12,1a,has‘‘heestablishedteach-
ers... who received their salary from theaerarium[to dēmosion].’’ Suetonius’ wording is
clearlytobepreferred. - Dio68,2,1–2.
154.AE1933,268ad fin. - SeeCILXI,3309(ForumClodi).Compare,e.g.,theimperialbuildinginscriptions:
ILS218,245impensa sua(hisownexpense),280sua pecunia(hisownmoney),290,293sua
pecunia. - Cornelius Fronto (ed.Van Den Hout), 128. Compare Vell. Pat. 2, 130, 2, where
‘‘patrimonium’’isusedinconnectionwithanimperialbenefaction. - Dio 73, 5, 4 (310). Compare the occasion (Dio, ed. Boissevain, III, 280, fr. 1, and
HA,Marc. Ant.17,4–5)onwhichMarcusAureliussoldoffpalacetreasurestoraisecashfor
awar. - Pliny,Pan.29,5.
- Augustus,Res Gestae5, 2; 15, 1; 18; Suet.,Div. Aug. 41, 5. On Antonius Pius,Vita
8, 11, ‘‘he relieved a scarcityof wine and oil and wheat with loss to his own treasury by
buyingtheseanddistributingthemtothepeopleforfree.’’SeverusAlexander,Vita21,9. - Tac.,Ann.2,87.