96 The Imperial Government
notentirelymisleading,some6percentoftherevenuesoftheEmpirewill
havebeenrequiredeachyearforthepaymentofmilitaryunitsstationedin
Rome.ItthusbecomesveryprobablethattherevenuesofItaly,whereuntil
Diocletiannodirecttaxeswereraised,willnothavesufficedfortheneeds
ofthestateinRome,andconsequentlythattheremusthavebeenaconstant
inflowofprovincialrevenuestoRome.
Ifthisiscorrect,isitnotcuriousthatthisenormoustraffic,inore,inin-
gotsofrefinedmetal,orincoin,hasleftsolittletraceinourevidence?No
stories of ships which sank, taking with them a whole cargo of provincial
revenueincash?Norobbersorbanditswhogainedfamebyinterceptinga
columnofwagonsloadedwithcoinsenroutetoaport,orbeingtransported
towardsRome?Nocaseofasoldierwiththetaskofescortingsuchawag-
gon,whoinsteadhelpedhimselftoasackofcoinanddisappeared?SofarasI
know,wecanfindnoanecdotesofthissort.However,ifourliterarysources
failus,itisalwayspossiblethatsomeoftheknownhoards,onlandorsea,
derivedinrealityfromimperialconsignmentsofcoin.^22
Ihavejuststatedthatitisatleastveryprobablethatasignificantvolume
ofprovincialrevenuewastransportedtoRomeincashforthepaymentof
thetroopsthere.Butwemustrememberalsothefacttowhichreferencewas
made earlier, namely that it must also have been necessary to transport to
Rome(inwhateverform)largequantitiesofgold,silver,andbasemetalsto
be minted—or re-minted—at the mint in Rome.The two categories may
ofcoursehaveoverlapped,andbothmayhaveperformedsimilarfunctions
(e.g.,theunitsinRomecouldhavebeenpaideitherincoinsbroughtastaxa-
tionrevenueorinnewlymintedcoins).
Atanyrate,evenifwethinkonlyofminting(orre-minting),thequan-
titiesconcernedwereconsiderable.AccordingtoAndrewBurnett,forex-
ample,inthesecondcenturysome1millionaurei(goldcoins)peryearmay
havebeenmintedinRome.^23 Forthatpurposesome7,850kilogramsofgold
wouldhavebeenrequired,^24 andifithadbeennecessarytotransportthem
at a single moment some sixteen heavy wagons would have been needed.
- I mention onlya fewexamples, for which I am entirely indebted to information
fromC.J.HowgegoandC.E.King;P.Salama,‘‘LestrésorsmaxentiensdeTripolitaine,’’
Libya Antiqua3–4(1966–67):21–27;R.A.G.Carson,‘‘ATreasureofAureiandMultiples
from the Mediterranean,’’ in P. Bastien, F. Dumas, H. Huvelin, and C. Morrison, eds.,
Mélanges de Numismatique, d’Archéologie et d’Histoire offerts à Jean Lafaurie(1980),59–73. - Burnett(n.11),50.ItshouldbemadeclearthatAndrewBurnetthimselfpresentsthis
figureonlyasahypothesis.Butitwillberetainedhereasameansofproducingaframework
forcomparison,andforposingquestions. - Kent(n.14),570,statesthattheaverageweightofanaureuswas7.85grams.