Cash Distributions in Rome 101Romeofenormousquantitiesofore,weneedtoreferonceagaintoanim-
portantpaperbyMireilleCorbier,whomakestheessentialcomparisonbe-
tweentreasuresandstorehouses(horrea);^39 thatistosaythatshehasseenthat
coinstoowereatypeofproduct,whichneededtobemanufactured,trans-
ported,andstored.
However,evenifweleaveasidethedifficultquestionofthepraemiaofthe
legionaries,itisobviousthatitmusthavebeennecessarytomaintainstocks
of coin in Rome, sufficient to provide not only for the annual pay of the
praetorianswhileinservice,butforthepraemiawhichtheyreceivedondis-
charge.Giventherelativelysmallnumbersofpraetoriansoldiers,probably
some5,000,andthen10,000inthereignofSeptimiusSeverus,^40 thesums
necessary for paying theirpraemiawill have been correspondingly modest.
But we have to remember that thepraemiumreceived bya praetorian was
higher,andthatitwaspaidafterashorterperiod,sixteenyears.Inrelation
tothenumbersserving,therefore,paymentswillhavebeenmorefrequent,
andthechancesoftheindividualsurvivingtotherelevantagewillhavebeen
higher.
As regards the praetorians, therewas another reason why it will always
have been necessary to have available very large stocks of coin in Rome,
namelydonativa, which could on occasion be as high as 5,000 denarii per
praetorian soldier. Forexample, after the murderof Geta in 211, Caracalla
madeapaymentof2,500denariitoeachpraetorian,^41 henceatotalofatleast
25 million denarii,or, if the payment were made in gold, about 1 million
aurei. If we accept the suggestion made by Andrew Burnett (text to n. 23
above),thatwastheequivalentofthetypicalannualproductionofaureifor
thewholeEmpire.
Theseextendedpreliminarieshavebeennecessary,Isuggest,inorderto
locatetheimperialdistributionsofcashtotheplebsofRome(congiaria)inthe
widercontextofthefinancialandmonetarysystemoftheEmpire.AsIindi-
catedearlier(textton.21above),Iwouldliketofocusattentiononthereign
ofSeptimiusSeverus,aboveallbecauseitisinrelationtothecelebrationof
the tenth anniversaryof his rule ina.d.202 that Cassius Dio offers us the
mostdetaileddescriptionofsuchadistribution:^42 ‘‘Onthetenthanniversary
of hisreignSeverusofferedtoallthosewhowereinreceiptofthe[regu-
- M. Corbier, ‘‘Trésors et greniers dans la Rome impériale (Ier–IIIesiècles),’’ inLe
systèmepalatialenOrient,enGrèceetàRome(ActesduColloquedeStrasbourg,1985)(1987),411–43. - Seen.21above.
- Herodian 4, 4, 7; forother figures see J. B. Campbell,The Emperor and the Roman
Army(1984),170–71. - CassiusDio77,1,1(ed.Boissevain,III,357).