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

The Aerarium and Its Officials 85

that‘‘theaccountsoftheempire’’(rationes imperii)werepublished(howfre-
quentlyisnotstated)byAugustus,byTiberiusuntilheretiredtoCapri,and
byGaius.^97 Someideaofwhatthese‘‘accounts’’containedcanbegainedfrom
whatissaidofthefinancialdocumentswhichAugustushandedoverin23,^98
andleftina.d.14; the latter listed troops, revenues, and expenditures and
theamountsofcashintheAerarium,theprovincialfisci(treasuries),andthe
arrears of the indirect taxes in the hands of the tax farmers.^99 It should be
emphasizedthatAugustus’financialreporthadnothingincommonwiththe
accountsofagovernor,fortheywereconcernedwiththepublicfinanceof
thewholeEmpire.Someoftheinformationusedincompilingthebreviaria
maywellofcoursehavecomefromtheaccountsintheAerarium.Plutarch
revealsthatCatotheYounger,afterhistermasquaestor,continuedtosend
slavestocopythefinancialdocumentsthereandthuskepthimselfwellin-
formed.^100

CashPayments

TheessentialfunctionoftheAerariumwastobethedepositoryofstatevalu-
ables.IntheearlyRepubliclegionarystandards(signa)werestoredthere,^101
andin49Caesarfoundthere,alongwiththegoldandsilver,aquantityof
silphium;^102 PlinytheElderliststheamountsofgoldandsilver,incashand
bullion,containedthereatvariouspointsdownto49.^103 Theprimarytask
oftheofficials,symbolizedbyapairofscaleswhichstoodinthetemple,^104
wastomakepaymentsinandout.^105 Theymadesuchpayments,notontheir
owninitiative,butonlyontheauthorityoftheSenate.Thisfact,statedex-
plicitly by Polybius,^106 is well illustrated in later sources. At the beginning
oftheLexCorneliadeXXQuaestoribus(theCornelianlawconcerningthe
twentyquaestors)wehave‘‘thequaestor,whoshallhavetheAerariumashis
provinceistopaythatsumtothatscribe,or[those]scribes,ortohisheir’’

97. Suet.,Calig.16;Dio59,9,4.


98. Suet.,Div. Aug.28;Dio53,30,1–2.


99. Tac.,Ann.1,11,5–6;Suet.,Div.Aug.101;Dio56,33,2.SeeJones(n.71),23Studies,
    103–4.


100. Plut.,Cato Minor18,9.


101. Livy3,69,8;4,22,2;7,23,3.


102. Pliny,NH19,40.


103. Pliny,NH33,55–56.


104. Varro,LL5,183.


105. See,e.g.,Plut.,Tib. Grac.10,5;Pro Fonteio2/3.


106. 6,13.SeeJones(n.71),22Studies,101.