The Fiscus in the First Two Centuries 49‘‘patrimonium’’;attemptstoexplainawaytheplainmeaningofthesentence
cannotbeaccepted.^9 Followingonthis,itisnoteworthyhowmanyotheruses
of ‘‘fiscus’’illustratetheprivate-lawpositionoftheprincepsasanownerof
slavesandproperties,apatron(patronus)offreedmen,andapartytoordinary
commercialandlegaltransactions.
Like othercitizens, the emperor received (subject tovarious modifica-
tions and exceptions) the savings (peculia) of his slaves on theirdeath and
halfthesavingsofhisfreedmen;theenormousrevenuewhichwillthushave
accruedmustberesponsiblefortheappearanceofthefiscuslibertatisetpeculio-
rum.^10 SuetoniusrelateshowafreedmanofVespasian,Cerylus,attemptedto
evadetheclaimsoftheFiscusbychanginghisnameandclaimingtobefree-
born,^11 whilethetombstoneofanotherimperialfreedmanbearsthewords
‘‘nordoesthefiscushaveaclaimtohalfashare’’^12 —thisportionofhisprop-
ertyatleastwastobefreeofthefiscus’demands.Anumberofsectionsinthe
FragmentadeiurefisciillustrateindetailtherightsoftheFiscustotheproperty
ofimperialslavesandfreedmen.^13
Afamiliaof slaves could be a source of expense as well as of income.
AgrippahadhisowngangofslavesforworkontheRomanaqueductsand,
whenhedied,leftittoAugustus.OnhisdeathAugustusleftthisfamiliato
the state, while Claudius formed another, twice the size, which remained
imperialproperty.Caesar’sfamiliawassupported‘‘bythefiscus,’’andtheFis-
cusalsosuppliedthematerialsusedbyboth.^14 TheFiscus’controlofbuilding
materialsisfurtherillustratedbyaninscriptionfromthereignofCommo-
duswhichshowstheissueofmaterialsatthepricepaidbytheFiscustoan
imperialfreedman,Adrastus.^15 Someyearslater,in211,oneP.AeliusChres-
tusisfoundbuyingpartofabuildinginRomefromtheFiscusandhaving
hisownershipcertifiedbyafreedmanfinancialofficial.^16
- E.g.,Last(n.3),55–56.
- I.e.,thefiscusintowhichsumswithwhichimperialslavesboughttheirlibertywent,
andintowhich,intheeventoftheirdeath,theirsavingswereabsorbed.See,e.g.,CILVI,
772,8450,8450a.ThispointwasmadebyJones(n.6),26.Itisnotnecessarytoassumethat
allthevarious‘‘fisci’’weresub-divisionsof ‘‘theFiscus.’’ - Suet.,Div.Vesp.23,1.
12.CILVI,10876.ThisistheearliestRomaninscription(fromthereignofHadrianor
soonafter)inwhichtheword‘‘fiscus,’’unqualifiedandinthesingular,occurs.
13.Fragmenta de iure fisci(FIRA^2 II,627–28),1,6ad fin.,2,10,11,12,13(?). - Frontinus,de aquae ductu urbis Romae,116ff.
15.ILS5920.Forrelatedinscriptions,seeR.Macmullen,‘‘RomanImperialBuildingin
theProvinces,’’Harv. Stud. Class. Phil.64(1959):207,n.21.
16.CILVI,10233.