98 The Imperial Government
minted coins.This is precisely the question which forms the subject of an
importantworkbyP.Bastien,dealingwithdonativainthelateEmpire,their
relationtominting,andtheutilisationfortheseoccasionsofspecifictypesof
coin.^30 Bastienaskstheprecisequestion:weretherecoinswhichwerestruck
specifically fordonativa? His reply is that there were, at least for the more
importantoccasions.
Iamnotinapositiontoreviewwithanyconfidencetheproductionof
coinsinthefourthcentury.So,asregardsthisquestion,Iwouldonlywish
tosaythattomethePanopolispapyrusofa.d.300,referredtoearlier,^31 sug-
gestsasignificantlydifferentprocedure:thatistosaythatthetwoformally
distinct types of payment to soldiers—stipendiumanddonativa—were both
carriedoutbytheuseofamixtureofcoin,noneofwhichseemstogivethe
impressionofbeingaspecialnewissue.Inthelastletterinthepapyrus,re-
ferredtoabove(textton.19),thewriterspeaksalsoofaquantitycalculated
inpoundsofsilver.
As regards the soldiers who belonged to legions or auxiliary units sta-
tionedintheprovinces,Iseenoreasontobelievethattherewasasystemfor
thepaymentofeitherstipendiumordonativawhichnecessitatedthestriking
ofnewcoins.Inthecaseof legionsorauxiliaryunitsinthewesternprov-
inces,suchasystemwouldhaverequiredthetransporttothemintofRome
ofenormousquantitiesofcoinsoringots,aconstantprocessofminting,or
re-minting,atRome,andthenthetransportofthecoinsbacktotheprov-
inces.Everythingispossible.ButIcanfindnotraceofsuchasysteminour
evidence.
Butnonethelessweneedtobecautious.Ihavesofarleftasideanother
typeofpaymentmadebytheRomanstateforthebenefitofsoldiers.Imean
thepraemia(dischargebenefits)paidtolegionaryveteransatthemomentof
theirdischargefromservice(oratanyratetothosewhosurvivedtothere-
quired age of about forty-five). As is well known,we are concerned with
relatively substantial sums compared to the annualstipendium.Duringthe
firsttwocenturiesoftheEmpirethepraemiumgrantedtoaveteranseemsto
havebeensome12,000sesterces,or3,000denarii,whichwasequivalentto
thepayforabouttwelveyearsofserviceinthefirstcenturyand(iftheprae-
miumremainedthesame)abouttenafterDomitian.^32 SofarasIknow,noone
hasattemptedtocalculatehowmanysoldierswillhavesurviveduntiltheage
- P.Bastien,Monnaie et donativa au Bas-Empire(Numismatique romaine17,1988),37.
- Textton.19.
- SeetheclassicarticleofP.A.Brunt,‘‘PayandSuperannuationintheRomanArmy,’’
PBSR18(1950):50–71;andalsoJahn(n.19).