52 The Imperial Government
were other ways by which they might come to the emperor. A passage in
Pliny’sNatural Historyimplicitlyillustratessomeoftheseprocesses.Afterthe
Cyprusmines,hesays,thebestcoppercamefromamineownedbySallustius
CrispusintheAlpsandthenextbestfromoneownedbyLiviainGaul.These
twosoonfailedandwerereplacedbytheMonsMarianus.^34 Thehistorical
sequencewhich lies behind this passage is clear. Sallustius Crispus died in
a.d.20, and some at least of his property passed, by inheritance or legacy,
intoimperialpossession.^35 Liviadiedin29andTiberiuswasherheir.Sextus
Marius,therichestmaninSpain,wascondemnedin33andhismineswere
taken byTiberius.^36 An inscription shows asilvermine in Aquitania being
workedbyimperialslavesinTiberius’reign;^37 aprocuratorofMarius’mine
isattestedinlateryears.^38
Thebest-knownimperialmineisofcoursetheMetallumVipascensein
Lusitania.Thetwoinscriptionsrelatingtoitshowthatitwascontrolledby
aprocuratorandthatpaymentsbythelesseesoftheshafts,andfinesforthe
non-observanceoftheregulations,werepaidtotheFiscus.^39 Thesystemby
whichtheshaftswereleasedindividuallytocontractorsisthesameasthat
foundintheDacianmines.
TheFiscusinLitigation
Withthecontinuingexpansionoffiscalproperties,thequestionoftheposi-
tionoftheFiscusasapartytoprivatecontractsinevitablybecameofmajor
importance.Inthenatureofthecasetheemployeesoftheemperorcould
oftenpreventtheprocessesofjusticeorignorethemaltogether;andtobe-
come involved in litigation against the Fiscus,or to be a debtor to it,was
adangerousbusiness.Thesituationisillustratedbyoneoftheearliestliter-
aryreferencestotheFiscus,inSeneca’sde beneficiis—theparagraphdiscusses
whenitisallowabletobreakapromiseandwhenitisnot(hewouldkeep
anengagementfordinnerifitwerecoldbutnotifitweresnowing,andso
- Pliny,NH34,2–4.
- SeeO.Hirschfeld,‘‘DerGrundbesitzderrömischenKaiser,’’Kleine Schriften(Berlin,
1913),529. - Tac.,Ann.6,19.Seetextton.115below.
37.CILXIII,1550(Aquitania,Ruteni)has‘‘ToSmargadus,theoverseer...ofthefamilia
ofTiberiusCaesar[employed]inthemines’’;Strabo191mentionssilverminesamongthe
Ruteni.SeeO.Davies,Roman Mines in Europe(Oxford,1935),80–81.
38.CILII,1179.Cf.CILXIV,52(Ostia)Dorotheus Aug. lib. proc. massae Marian(ae).
39.FIRA^2 I,104,105.