any active participation by apparitoresin processions or sacrifices. The praecones, the
announcers, however, had some very important duties in the context of the cult. It
was their task to announce at the beginning of cultic rites, especially of sacrifices,
that the people had to be silent (favere iubebant, Festus 78 L). The ritual prayer
was not to be disturbed; no ominous word should cross the starting prayer, the for-
mulae, the sacrifice. The prayers themselves – if not performed by the magistrates
and priests directly – were sometimes read first by one of the praeconeslike a prompter.
This scene was depicted on reliefs with the praecoholding the scroll with the text,
the priest or magistrate then repeating the words.
In a narrow sense, neither the apparitoresnor the state-slaves or ministrimade
their living from religion. The lictors and other agents made their living as freeborn
or freed citizens. The apparitores, who were organized in colleges, were only paid
for during their time of office, hence for their annual duties. However, they did not
officiate every year, thus it was not a regular income.
In other cities of Italy and the provinces, the institution of the apparitoreswas
modeled on the Roman one, but it was not the same. The salary of the attendants
was quite low. Two cities’ statutes from Spain, one of the coloniaof Urso in 44bc
(with later additions) and one of the municipiumof Irni in Spain from the late first
centuryad, provide rules for apparitoresin which the salary of the state-attendants
is specified (Urso) or at least general rules to the aes apparitoriumare laid out (Irni).
According to the lex Irnitanachapter 73 (trans. González 1986: 193) the members
of the city council had to decide which payment was appropriate to each kind of
apparitor. The salary would then be paid from the common fund of the city. In the
lex Ursonensischapter 62 (trans. M. Crawford 1996: 422) the rules are as follows
“Whoever shall be IIviri (highest magistrates of the city) has the right and power
...to have two lictors, one servant (accensus), two scribes (scribae), two messengers
(viatores), a clerk (librarius), a crier (praeco), a haruspex[see below], a flute player
(tibicen). And whoever shall be aediles in the colony.. .” etc. The apparitoreswere
exempt from military service throughout the year of their service to the IIviri or aediles.
The fee for each of those “who shall serve the IIviri, is to be so much: for each
scribe 1200 sesterces, for each servant 700 sesterces, for each lictor 600 sesterces,
for each messenger 400 sesterces, for each clerk 300 sesterces, for each haruspex
500 sesterces, for a crier 300 sesterces.” The attendants to the aediles (including
the flute-players with 300 sesterces) received even less than the ones for the IIviri.
According to the next chapter in the city law, they had to serve at least one
quarter of the year before they had the right to receive money. Compared to the
income of a day-laborer with approximately 3–5 sesterces a day (Duncan-Jones 1982:
54), thus about 700 –1,500 sesterces a year, the apparitoresof the city of Urso were
not well off. It is likely that these Roman citizens were only “part-time” apparitores
and, like the magistrates they attended, had other sources of income than the fees
they collected. Some of the apparitoreslater became members of the city council
and took over one of the city’s magistracies or priesthoods (e.g. CIL9.5190, 12.524,
14.4642). Hence, they had to have a good income and social standing, and, for
sure, the income was not based upon their employment as apparitores(Purcell
1983: 147– 61).
Living on Religion 335