86 The Imperial Government
(quaestorque quei aerarium provinciam optinebit eam pequniam ei scribae scribeisque
heredive eius solvito).^107 CiceroretailstheSenate’sinstructionsfortheerection
ofastatuetoP.Servilius‘‘thatGaiusPansaAulusHirtiustheconsuls,either
orboth,iftheyseefit,shoulddirecttheurbanquaestorstomakeacontract
fortheconstructionandtheplacementontheRostraofthesaidpedestaland
statueandseetoitthatthesumagreedbeallocatedandpaidtothecontrac-
tor.’’^108 AslightlydifferentformulaoccursinthedecreeoftheSenate(senatus
consultum)relatingtotheSecularGamesof17b.c.‘‘thattheconsuls,either
orboth,infuturecommemorationoftheeventerectonecolumnofbronze
andoneofmarble,andalsocontractfortheconstructionofthework,and
direct the praetors in charge of the Aerarium that the sum agreed be paid
tothecontractors’’(uti cos. a(lter) a(mbo)ve ad f[uturam rei memoriam columnam]
aheneam et alteram [m]armoream...[...eoloco statuant et id opus eidem] locent,
praetoribusque q(ui) [a(erario)] p(raesint) imperent uti redemptoribus ea[m summam
qua locaverint solvant]).^109 The decree of the Senate for the secular games of
204providesfurtherevidence‘‘towardsthesegamesandsacrifices...letthe
paymentsbemadefromtheAerariumoftheRomanpeople.’’^110
TheSenatethusretainedtherighttovotefundsfromtheAerarium.Em-
perorstoocoulddisposeofpublicfunds,asDioexplicitlystates.^111 Thethree
latestreferencestotheprefectsoftheAerariumatworkshowthemmaking
paymentsontheinstructionsofanemperor.Thereferencesareinthree‘‘let-
ters’’of ValeriangivenintheLifeofAurelian.Oneisaddressedtothecity
prefect(Praefectus Urbi)andgivesinstructionsforAureliantoreceiveprovi-
sionsasarewardforhisservices—‘‘therestwillbeprovidedbytheprefects
oftheAerarium’’;thesecondtellsAeliusXiphidius,theprefectoftheAera-
rium,toprovideAurelianwithmaterialsandcash‘‘toholdthecircusgames
[circenses]’’;thethirdisaddressedtotheSenateontheopeningoftheSibyl-
line books—‘‘whatevercosts there might be, I have ordered to be paid by
theprefectoftheAerariuminalettersenttohim.’’^112 Thegenuinenessof
thelettersmaylegitimatelybedoubted;buttheevidencetheyprovideisre-
- CILI^2 587Bruns,Fontes^7 ,no.12Riccobono,FIRAI^2 10,ll.2–4.
- Cic.,Phil.9,7/16.
109.CILVI 32323 Riccobono,FIRAI^2 40 Ehrenberg and Jones,Documents30B,
ll.61–63.Forthes. c.of11b.c.(establishingthecuratores aquarum),seetextton.82.
110.CILVI32326l.29(cf.VI32324l.5). - 53,22,4.SeeJRS53(1963):41(chapter3inthisvolume).MarcusAurelius’request
totheSenatetovotefunds(seetextton.81)suggeststhat,inpuristtheorythoughnotin
practice,thesolerightoftheSenatewasstillrecognized. - SHA,vita Aurel.9,7;12,1;20,8.