Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

54 The Imperial Government

rium.’’^48 ItisnotclearwhichoftheseremissionsisreferredtointheRoman
inscription,proclaimingaremissionbyHadrian,whichusestheterm‘‘adebt
tothefisci’’(debitumfiscis).^49 Itispossiblethatthereferenceistoarrearsoftaxa-
tionduetotheprovincialFisci(andhencetheoreticallytotheAerarium)^50
or,perhaps,that‘‘fisci’’hereisshorthandfor‘‘totheaerariumandthefiscus.’’
OneoftheprocessesbywhichdebtstotheFiscuswerecollectedseems
tobehintedatintheedictofTiberiusIuliusAlexander,whereareference
ismadetotheselling-upofthepropertyofpeople‘‘who,allegedly,entered
intocontractswithpeoplewhocollectedbackpayments[anabolika]tothefis-
cus’’:^51 ‘‘anabolika’’herecanonlymean‘‘backpayments’’^52 —therighttocol-
lectthemwaspresumablysoldtoprivatepersons.Theseprocessesarefurther
illustratedbyapapyrusfromthereignofCommodusinwhichtheprefect
ofEgyptwritestothestratēgoiofThebais,HeptaNomoiandArsinoe,tosay
thatgoodssequesteredinrespectofdebtstotheFiscusshouldbesoldifthe
debtsarenotpaidwithinsixmonths.^53
The process by which the Fiscus graduallyclaimed more than the legal
rightsofprivatepersonswasthusamajorsourceoftension.Tacitus,praising
theearlyyearsofTiberius,says‘‘andwhenitcametodisputeswithprivate
people,theyweresettledinacourtoflaw.’’^54 Thephraseistakenupandex-
pandedbyDioincommentingonthecaseofLuciliusCapito,theprocurator
inAsiaunderTiberius:‘‘Itwasnotallowedatthattimetothoseadminister-
ingtheEmperor’sproperty[autokratorika chrēmata]todomorethancollect
theprescribedrevenues,andincaseofdisputetheyhadtopleadintheagora
accordingtothelawsjustlikeprivatepeople.’’^55 Capitohadgivenordersto
soldiers and was punished for it. But in the same reign Herennius Capito,
the procuratorof Jamnia, an imperial property,was able to send troops to
pursuetheJewishprinceAgrippatorecover‘‘300,000piecesofsilverowed

48. 69,8,1^2 .CompareDio’sreference,71,32,2(272),totheremissionofdebtstothe
    to basilikonandtheto dēmosionbyMarcusAurelius.
    49.ILS309.


49. OnprovincialFisci(thefundsheldbygovernors)andtheirrelationtotheAerarium,
    seeJones(n.6),22–23.
    51.OGIS669andtherevisedtextbyH.G.Evelyn-WhiteandJ.H.Oliver,The Temple
    of Hibis in El Khārgeh Oasis,PartII:Greek Inscriptions(NewYork,1938),no.4,ll.20–21.


50. SeeR.Macmullen,‘‘TheAnabolicaeSpecies,’’Aegyptus38(1958):184,onpp.192–93.


51. H.Zilliacus,Vierzehn berliner griechische Papyri(SocietasScientarumFennica.Com-
    mentationesHumanarumLitterarumXI,4,Helsingfors,1941),no.3,l.13.
    54.Ann.4,6.


52. 57,23,5.