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epistolarum, &c.; the last was called comes dispositionum; there were numerous officers in it.

5. The armourers of the empire. The master of the offices of the east had fifteen under his direction: Damascus, Antioch, 2; Edessa, Irenopolis, Cæsarea in Cappadocia, Nicomedia, 2; Sardis, Adrianople, 2; Thessalonica, Naissus, Ratiaria, Margus. The master of the offices of the west had nineteen: Sirmium, Acincum, Cornutum, Lauriacum, Salona, Concordia, Verona, Mantua, Cremona, Pavia, Lucca, Strasburg, Macon, Autun, Besançon, Reims, Trèves, 2; Amiens.

II-Quæstor (the questor.)

He judged, in concert with the pretorian prefect, and sometimes alone, affairs referred to the prince; he composed the laws and edicts which the prince was to publish; he signed the rescripts; he had the superintendence of the register (laterculum minus), in which were enumerated the tribunes and the prefects of the camps and frontiers. He was a kind of high chancellor. He sent his edicts to the scrinium dispositionum, where they were kept, and copies distributed throughout the empire. He had no officers attached to his post, but he had twelve secretaries in the scrinium memoriæ, seven in the scrinium epistolarum, and seven in the scrinium libellorum.

III. Comes sacrarum largitionum, (count of the sacred largesses.) This was the high treasurer of the empire; he collected and administered all the public revenues; all the payments issued from his office; Constantine put him in the place of the questors, the præfecti ærarii, &c.

His administration was divided into two offices, scrinia, at the head of which was a primicerius, or magister scrinii, (chief of the office.)

1. Scrinium canonum.-This, it seems, was the office in which was prepared the account of what each province, each town, &c., was to send to the public chest, arcæ largitionum.

These two offices kept an account of the moneys received and expended by the treasury.

2. Scrinium tabulariorum, 3. Scrinium numerariorum, 4. Scrinium aureæ massæ.—This office was occupied in keeping accounts of the bullion which was sent to the treasury, and of the use made of it in coining money, in the decoration of public monuments, in crown jewels, &c. 5. Scrinium auri ad responsum.—They here regulated and furnished the sums of money, whether intended to supply the expenses of the officers whom the prince sent into the provinces, of the armies, &c., or whether to be sent into the different parts of the empire, or for tribute paid to allies, barbarians, &c.

6. Scrinium ab argento.-This was the office where were deposited silver in ingots, the imperial plate, vases, &c

7. Scrinium vestiarii sacri.-This was the office from whence issued the funds for the clothing of troops, the monarch, the imperial family, the people of his court, to whom he furnished clothing.

8. Scrinium annularense vel miliarense.—According to the first reading, this office would be intended to preserve the rings and jewels of the emperor; according to the second, which seems to me the most probable, its intention was to strike and distribute the small silver money, called miliarensium. of which the value was the tenth part of an aureus.

9. Scrinium à pecuniis.-Pancirollus thinks that it was this office which directed the coining of money throughout the empire.

10. Scrinium exceptorum.-The clerks of this office wrote out the account of the cases which had been judged by the count of the sacred largesses.

The attributes of these various offices were very uncertain; their names are obscure, and we can only conjecture their object. It seems that they afterwards added an eleventh office, called scrinium mittendariorum, and composed of officers who were sent into the provinces to get the payment of taxes hastened and completed.

Besides these offices attached to his service, the count of the largesses had a great number of subordinates in the provinces, charged with directing the affairs of his department. The principal were:

1. Six comites largitionum, in the east, in Egypt, in Asia Minor, in Pontus, in Thrace, and in Illyria; there were five of these in the west. They were charged with paying the salaries of the generals, soldiers, and other officers, and to overlook the collection of taxes.

2. Four comites commerciorum, charged with buying the stuffs and jewels necessary for the imperial household, with overlooking the operations of the merchants, and watching that the duties levied upon the commodities should be correctly paid. There was but one in the west.

3. Præfecti thesaurorum; they received and kept, in each province, the money proceeding from taxes, until it was sent to the count of the sacred largesses.

4. Comes metallorum, charged with deducting, from the produce of the mines of gold, silver, or other metals, the portion which went to the prince. 5. Comes vel rationalis summarum Ægypti, charged with collecting the property which fell to the prince in that province, whether by escheat, or any other cause; he also superintended the great commerce in Indian mer chandise, which passed through Egypt; there were eleven rationales of this kind in the west.

6. Magistri lineæ vel tinteæ vestis; they directed all the labourers who worked in flax for the wardrobe, or furniture of the emperor. Their office was filled in the west by a comes vestiarii.

7. Privatæ magistri; they directed the workmen in silk, linen, &c., fór the royal household.

8. Procuratores gynæciorum; charged with the superintending of spun and wove fabrics.

&c.

9. Procuratores baphiorum; inspectors of the dying of stuffs in purple, There were nine in the west.

10. Procuratores monetarum; mint inspectors. There were six of them in the west.

11. Præpositi bartagarum, charged with superintending the transport of goods intended for the public service, or that of the emperor, corn, commodities, merchandise, silver, &c.

12. Procuratores linificiorum, charged with procuring the flax necessary for the imperial fabrics. There were two in the west, at Vienna and at Ravenna.

IV. Comes rerum privatarum, (the crown treasurer.)

The public treasury was called ærarium; the private treasure of the

omperor was called fiscus. Although he equally disposed of both one and the other, yet there was a distinction, and they were administered separately. The comes sacrarum largitionum had the administration of the ærarium, and the comes rerum privatarum had that of the fiscus, whose revenues were the property which devolved upon the emperor in any manner whatsoever, the produce of certain taxes, &c. He had under his orders: 1. A department directed by the primicerius officii, and divided into four offices.

(1.) Scrinium beneficiorum.-Here were managed all affairs relative to gifts of property, real or personal, to the concession of privileges, &c., which the emperor made to such or such of his subjects.

(2.) Scrinium canonum.-This office received the rents of the farms on the imperial property, and kept the accounts of them. The rent was paid in money or in kind.

(3.) Scrinium securitatum.—In this office were deposited the receipts of those who had received the money of the fisc; and the duplicates of those which had been given to people who had paid anything to the fisc.

(4.) Scrinium largitionum privatarum.-Here were kept the accounts of money given by the emperor to individuals, and the salaries which he paid to the people attached to his personal service.

2. Rationales vel procuratores rerum privatarum.-These were officers charged with collecting the revenues of the fisc, in the provinces. They were often judges in cases where the fisc was concerned.

3. Præpositi bastagarum rei privatæ, inspectors of transports made for the service of the prince. There were two of these in the west.

4. Præpositi stabulorum, gregum et armentorum, inspectors of the studs and herds of the emperor throughout the empire. There was also a comes stabuli, answering to our master of the horse.

5. Procuratores saltuum, inspector of the woods and pasturages where the herds of the emperor were taken to graze.

There were, doubtless, many other petty officers, mention of whom has not come down to us.

V. Primicerius notariorum, (first secretary of state.)

This was a magistrate charged with keeping the register in which were inscribed all the public functionaries, their duties, salaries, warrants of nomination, &c. This register was called laterculum majus. The people nominated to the places, paid certain fees to this primicerius notariorum, who thus kept the list of all the dignities which we have just enumerated. There were three classes of notarii.

In each province there was a provincial chest, in all one hundred and eighteen chests. The receivers of taxes transmitted the money to these chests, under the superintendence of the præfecti thesaurorum. These latter gave to the comites largitionum the sums necessary for the expenses of the province, the salary of the officers, &c. They transmitted the balance to the governor of the province, who sent it to the chest of the sacred bounty. The carriages intended to transport it, were furnished by men kept on purpose, and formed part of the public post, (cursus publicus,) which the government alone or those whom it authorised, had to inake use of.

II.

Table of the Hierarchy of Ranks and Titles in the Roman Empire at the commencement of the Fifth Century.

Rack and titles multiplied in the Roman empire, at the same epoch in which the court and central government received their definitive form, as given in the preceding table. These ranks and titles conferred important privileges upon the possessors, with reference to the other citizens, but in no degree rendered them independent of power. They were mere personal distinctions attached to certain offices, and which even the holders of these offices did not enjoy, until they had been authorized to assume them by letters patent from the prince. There were six principal ranks or titles, the rights of precedence among which were minutely regulated.

1. Nobilissimi.

This was the highest of the titles; it came close to the throne, and conferred, to a certain extent, the dignity of Cæsar. It was bestowed upon the members and allies of the imperial family.

II. Illustres.

The persons decorated with this title, were twenty-seven in numberviz.,

1. The pretorian prefect of the East.

2. The pretorian prefect of Illyria.

3. The pretorian prefect of Italy.

4. The pretorian prefect of Gaul.

5. The prefect of Constantinople.

6. The prefect of Rome.

7-11. The five generals, commanders of the army in the East. 12. The general of the horse in the West.

13. The general of the infantry in the West.

14, 15. The two grand chamberlains of the East and West.

16, 17. The two masters of the offices in the East and West.

18, 19. The two questors of the palace in the East and West.

20, 21. The two counts of the sacred largesses in the East and West. 22, 23. The two counts of the privy purse in the East and West.

24. 25. The two counts commanding the body-guard, cavalry, in the East and West.

26, 27. The two counts commanding the body-guard, infantry, in the East and West.

The consuls were also illustres. The date of the introduction of this title is not known. Augustus used to select, every month, at first fifteen, and afterwards twenty, members of the senate, to form his privy council; their decisions were held as having emanated from the entire body of the senate; they were called patricii, while the other senators were only entitled clarissimi. They, in concurrence with the sovereign, discussed and directed public affairs. Constantine formed of them his consistorium principes (council of state,) and entitled the members comites consistoriani. They were, with the consuls, the first honoured with the title of illustres, which was afterwards xtended, probably also under Constantine, to the magistrates above men

tioned. The illustres were addressed thus,-vestra tua, or tua, magnificentia, celsitudo, sublimitas, magnitudo, eminentia, excellentia, &c. Those who neglected to observe the etiquette in this respect, had to pay a fine of three pounds in gold.

The illustres could only be tried for any offence, by the prince in person, or his immediate delegates; they were entitled to have their sentences read by the registrar; they were prohibited from making a traffic of their power and influence, and from marrying women of an inferior rank; this latter prohibition, however, was recalled at a later period; neither they nor their families could be put to the torture, nor be subjected to any of the capital punishments inflicted upon plebeians; they were exempt from being summoned to any court as witnesses, &c.

II. Spectabiles.

Of these there were sixty-two.

1, 2. The two first chamberlains in the East and West. sacri cubiculi.)

(Primiceru

3, 4. The two counts of the palace, in the East and West. (Comites castrenses.)

5, 6. The two chief secretaries of the emperor, in the East and West. (Primicerii notariorum.)

7-13. The seven heads of the principal departments of the central government in the East and West. (Magistri scriniorum.)

14-16. The three proconsuls (governors of dioceses or provinces) of Asia, Achaia, and Africa.

17. The count of the East.

18. The prefect of Egypt. (Præfectus Augustalis.)

19-29. Eleven vicars, or governors of dioceses; five in the empire of the East, and six in the empire of the West.

30-37. Eight counts, or generals of armies; two in the East, and six in the West.

38-62. Twenty-five dukes, or generals of armies; thirteen in the East, and twelve in the West.

The title of spectabiles was also given to the senators, probably under Constantine. It seems to have had no other origin than the mania for the classification of ranks. It was very uncertain in its application; we find it given to men who are called elsewhere clarissimi, or perfectissimi, or even egregii; thus the duces, the silentiarii (ushers in law courts), the notarii (secretaries), are designated sometimes by the one, sometimes by the other of these appellations.

IV. Clarissimi.

We find this title already, under Tiberius, in possession of the senators and senatorial families. After a certain number of senators had become illustres, the rest continued to assume the title of clarissimi, and by degrees it became extended to all the inferior officers employed in the provinces. At the commencement of the fifth century there were, it would appear, 115 persons addressed by this title-viz.,

Thirty-seven consular personages, governors of provinces; fifteen in the East, and twenty-two in the West.

Five correctores, governors of provinces; two in the East, and three in the West.

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