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The Roman Civil Service (Clerical and Sub-Clerical Grades)*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

A. H. M. Jones
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Extract

The first and indeed the only Roman clerical officer to achieve historic fame was Gnaeus Flavius, a scriba of the aediles, who published the secrets of the ius civile and of the calendar and was himself elected aedile in 304 B.C. From this incident some interesting facts emerge on the status and organization of the early Roman civil service. Scribae, if one may generalize from Gnaeus Flavius' case, were, unlike the public γραμματεĩς of the Greek cities, professional clerks who normally made the civil service their life's career, and were therefore experts at their job—sometimes considerably more expert than their annually changing masters. On the other hand, they were not, like the δημóσιοι who often performed similar work in Greek cities, public slaves, but citizens, though of rather humble standing. Flavius was the son of a freedman and, when he stood as aedile, the returning officer refused to accept his name until he formally renounced his profession. Servi publici were not unknown at Rome, particularly in the service of the priestly colleges, but the greater and more important part of the civil service consisted of salaried citizens.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 1-2 , November 1949 , pp. 38 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © A. H. M. Jones 1949. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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Footnotes

*

This paper was read to the Roman Society at the Annual General Meeting of 1948. I have left the text substantially unaltered, adding notes and an Appendix.

References

1 The story is told in varying forms in Livy, ix, 46, Pliny, HN, XXXIII, 17, Dig., I, ii, 2, § 27 and Gellius, VII, ix. He is sometimes called a scriba of the aediles (Livy and Gellius), sometimes the scriba of Appius Claudius the Censor (Pliny and the Digest): as will be seen the two versions are not contradictory.

For the first part of this paper, which deals with the apparitores, the basic study is still Mommsen, Staatsrecht, I3, 332–371, though the work of Krause, J. H., ‘De scribis publicis Romanorum’ (Jahrbuch des Pädagogiums Zum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen in Magdeburg, Heft 22, 1858)Google Scholar, is still of value, especially for the social status of scribae during the Republic. I differ from Mommsen on a few points, but my account is mainly a summary of his, where further references may be found.

2 Mommsen's assumption that the tenure of apparitores was originally and always in principle annual, like that of the magistrates whom they served, seems to be arbitrary. Apparitores (except for accensi) are always described as serving a college of magistrates, and not any individual magistrate. Long tenure appears to have been already the rule in the early second century B.C., when L. Petilius, appointed scriba by Q. Petilius as quaestor, is still holding this post when his patron is praetor (Livy, XL, 29).

3 According to tradition citizens were employed from the earliest days of the Republic (Livy, II, 55). The rule is explicitly recorded in Bruns, Fontes 7, 12, 11. 7–8, 12, ‘de eis quei cives Romanei sunt’.

4 Mommsen, Staatsrecht, I3, 320–332.

5 Verres' medicus and haruspex are frequently classed with the apparitores by Cicero (Verr., II, 27, III, 28, 54, 137). Architecti and pullarii are among the staff allocated to Rullus' proposed decemvirs (Cic, de lege agr., II, 31–2). Only the last grade are known to have been organized on a regular basis in decuriae (ILS, 1886, 1907, cf. 1926).

6 Viatores traditionally go back to the earliest days of the Republic (Livy, II, 56, 13, III, 56, 5, Cic, de sen., 56, Festus, p. 371, Pliny, HN, XVIII, 20). They are recorded as serving dictators (Livy, VI, 15, I, XXIII, II, 3), consuls (Gellius, IV, X, 8, Livy, XLI, 15), praetors (Bruns, Fontes 7, 10, 1. 50), aediles (Livy, XXX, 38, 7), quaestors (Bruns, Fontes 7, 12) and in particular tribunes of the plebs (Livy, II, 56, III, 56, XXXVIII, 51, 12, Gellius, XIII, xii, 6, Cicero, pro Fonteio, 29, pro Cluentio, 74, in Vatin., 22).

7 Praecones are recorded for censors (Varro, L.L., VI, 86–7, Livy, XXIX, 37), dictators (Livy, IV, 32, VIII, 32–3), consuls (Varro, L.L., VI, 95, Livy, XXIv, 8, 20), quaestors (Bruns, Fontes 7, 12) and tribunes of the plebs (Livy, XXXVIII, 51, 8, Asconius, in Cornel., p. 51, Auctor ad Herenn., IV, lv, 68).

8 Lictors, of course, by tradition go back to the regal period (Livy, I, 26, 7).

9 Verr., v, 118 ff.; cf. ad Q.f., I, I, §13, ‘sit lictor non suae sed tuae lenitatis apparitor: maioraque praeferant fasces illi et secures dignitatis insignia quam potestatis’.

10 Cicero states this as the traditional practice in ad Q.f., I, I, §13. Timarchides, Verres' accensus, was his freedman (Verr., III, 154, 157). Cicero himself, however, employed another man's freedman (ad Fam., III, 7), and so apparently did C. Nero as proconsul of Asia (Verr., I, 71). Accensi are said to go back to the decemvirate of 450 B.c. (Livy, III, 33, 8). They served consuls (Varro, L.L., VI, 88, 95, Suet., Julius, 20) and praetors (Varro, L.L., VI, 89).

11 Scribae are recorded as serving aediles (Gellius, VII, ix, Livy, Ix, 46, XXX, 39, 7, Cic., pro Cluentio, 126), quaestors (Bruns, Fontes 7, 12, Livy, XL, 29, Plutarch, Cato Minor, 16), and tribunes of the plebs (Livy, XXXVIII, 51, Asconius, in Cornel., p. 51).

12 Verr., III, 182.

13 de domo, 74.

14 Verr., III, 185.

15 This is implied by ‘in secundum ordinem civitatis’ in Verr., III, 184. Scribae are placed immediately after the equestrian tribuni and praefecti and before the unofficial comites of a provincial governor in Cic, pro Rabirio Postumo, 13.

16 Many inscriptions (e.g. ILS, 1894–5, 1898, 1926, 2748, 9036) speak of scribae librarii quaestorii III decuriarum and Bruns, Fontes 7, 12, proves that the three decuriae of viatores and praecones quaestorii served in annual rotation.

17 Lictors: ILS, 1904, ‘l[ict.] III decuriarum, qui Ca[es.] et magistratibus a[ppar.],’ 1908, 1911–2, 9037, ‘lict. III decur., qui imp. et cos. et pr. apparuit,’ CIL, VI, 1874. Praecones: ILS, 1933, ‘praeco ex tribus decuris qui cos. cens. pr. appareresolent, apparuit Caesari Augusto’ (the only mention of censorial apparitores in the inscriptions). Viatores: ILS, 331, ‘viatores qui Caesarib. et pr. apparent.’ 1915, 1920, 1922, 1944, ‘viat. honor, dec. cos. et pr.,’ 5052, CIL, VI, 1916.

18 Lictors: ILS, 1908, ‘decuriali decuriae lictor. cos. trium decuriar.,’ 1910, CIL, VI, 1879. Praecones: ILS, 1934, ‘ordo decuriae Iuliae praec. cos.,’ 1935, 3878. Viatores: ILS, 1534, 1910, ‘exercuit decurias duas viatoria(m) et lictoria(m) consulares,’ 1919, CIL, VI, 1917, cf. ILS, 1921, 6141, ‘decuriae viatoriae equestris cos.’

19 The following table shows the scribae, viatores, and praecones of the lesser magistracies:— It would seem that some decuriae were, perhaps at a later stage, doubled. This is the simplest explanation of ILS, 1883, ‘scribae decur. aedilic. mai.,’ 1896, ‘scr. libr. quaestorius e tribus decuriis minoribus ab aerario,’ 7489, ‘viatori tribunicio decuriae maioris,’ 1886, ‘scrib. tribunicio maior.,’ and CIL, VI, 1848, ‘[scrib. dec. ae]diliciae maior[is].’ Mommsen explains them otherwise (op. cit., 345).

20 Promagistrates are recorded with scribae (Livy, XLV, 29, Cic, Verr., III, 181 ff.), lictors (Cic, Verr., V, 118, 140–2, ad Q.f., I, I, §13), viatores (Cic, Verr., III, 154, 183), praecones (Livy, XLV, 29, Cic, Verr., II, 27, 75, III, 40, 54, 137, 183), accensi (see note 10) and other grades (see note 5). Verres as legatus had a scriba (Verr., in, 187) and a lictor (ib. I, 67, 72).

21 Scribae are mentioned as attending a praetor or iudex quaestionis in court in Cic, Verr., III, 26, pro Cluentio, 147 (cf. Verr., III, 187), as serving a censor in Val. Max., IV, i, 10, and Varro L.L., VI, 87. They were assigned to Rullus' decemvirs (de lege agr., II, 32).

22 Pliny, Ep., IV, 12, cf. schol. on Cic, in Clod. et Cur., ‘apud aerarium sortiri provincias et quaestores solebant et scribae.’

23 Verr., III, 187, ‘quandoque tu nulla umquam mihi in cupiditate ac turpitudine defuisti omnibusque in isdem flagitiis mecum et in legatione et in praetura et hie in Sicilia versatus es.’ Mommsen ignores this passage, which seems to me the clue to the appointment of provincial apparitores.

24 Verr., III, 181–4.

25 It appears from the Verrines that Verres had, as propraetor, one scriba in his employ (III, 181–7), and had employed the same man as legatus in Cilicia, while Caecilius, his quaestor, had another scriba of his own (Div., 29). This is my explanation of the two scribae with whom Cicero worked as quaestor (Verr., III, 182), and the two on Scipio's staff as proconsul in 187 B.C. (Livy, XXXVIII, 55). Mommsen's view was that each quaestor had two scribae allotted to him, who were also at the disposal of his chief. My explanation is borne out by AE, 1921, 38–9, ‘L. Marius Perpetuus scriba quaestorius, Sex. Serius Verus haruspex, L. Pomponius Carisianus scriba librarius, P. Papienus Salutaris scriba librarius’. Here the first scriba is the man officially allotted to the quaestor, the other two might be serving the proconsul or one of his legati. The latter might presumably be drawn from any decuria of scribae at Rome: this would account for a scriba aedilicius dying in Britain (ILS, 1883), presumably on the legate's staff.

26 pace Mommsen the ‘dec. lictor Fufid. Pollionis leg. Gal.’ of ILS, 1914, was a member of the decuriae of lictors at Rome; the ‘decurialis lictor cives urbicus’ who died at Burdigala (ILS, 1906) and the ‘lictor decur.’ at Nicomedia (CIL, III, 6987) would also be members of the urban decuriae serving in the provinces.

27 Verr., III, 184, cf. Suetonius, Vita Horatii, ‘scriptum quaestorium comparavit,’ and schol. on Juvenal, V, 3.

28 Livy, XL, 29. In Bruns, Forties 7, 12, the exceptional nominations to the newly created places are made by the consuls, but normally quaestors appoint viatores and praecones quaestorii.

29 Plutarch, Cato minor, 16, cf. Cic., pro Cluentio, 126 (the trial of a scriba aedilicius by a disciplinary court consisting of the aediles and praetors). Mommsen points out that the clause in Bruns, Fontes 7, 12, 11. II, 14, ‘dum ni quem in eis viatoribus praeconibus legundeis sublegundeis in eius viatoris praeconis locum viatorem praeconem legant sublegant quoius in locum per leges plebeive scita viatorem praeconem legei sublegei non licebit,’ gives security of tenure to apparitores by defining the causes for which they may be replaced.

30 Bruns, Fontes 7, 12, 11. II, 24–30. Cf. ILS, 1936, ‘hoc monimentum apparitorum praeconum aedilium veterum vicarium est,’ CIL, VI, 1947, ‘appar. aedilic. praec. vicar, veteribus.’

31 Verr., III, 182, ‘tuus apparitor parva mercede populi conductus.’ Other allusions to salary are Bruns, Fontes 7, 12, 11. I, 1–6, II, 31–7, Plutarch, Cato minor, 16, and under the Principate, Frontinus, de aqu., 100, and Pliny, Ep., IV, 12.

32 Verr., III, 181.

33 Plutarch, Cato minor, 16–18.

34 Cicero in the Verrines is mainly interested in the financial side of a scriba's work, but in CIL, VI, 1853, a scriba of the aediles claims to be ‘iuris prudens ’, and in ILS, 1896, a scriba quaestorius boasts ‘vixi iudicio sine iudice’.

35 Verr., III, 28, 57, 137.

36 AE, 1921, 38–9. Cf. Dig., V, i, 82 (Ulpian, de officio consults), ‘Nonnumquam solent magistratus populi Romani viatorem nominatim vice arbitri dare, quod raro et non nisi re urgente faciendum est.’

37 Frontinus, de aqu., 100.

38 ILS, 366, 504, 1534, 1909, 1940, 5021; they formed a decuria.

39 e.g. ILS, 1942–4, 1946, 1948–50, 1952.

40 e.g. ILS, 1902–3, 1910, 1915, 1918, 1923, 1926, 1932, 1938. A number of scribae also were freedmen, e.g. ILS, 1877–9, 1899, 1926.

41 e.g. ILS, 1429, 1885, 1893, 2699, 2706, 4951a, CIL, VI, 1806, 1817, 1837, 1841, AE., 1925, 44, 1934, 107.

42 e.g. ILS, 1883, 2727, 2748, 6188, 6954, CIL, VI, 1832.

43 e.g. ILS, 1886, 1889, 1898a, 1901, AE, 1927, 125.

44 munere functi: ILS, 1033, 1893. honore usi: ILS, 331, 504, 2727, 9036, CIL, VI, 967a, 1008, 1854. Also honore functi: ILS, 1891. For the sale of decuriae under the Empire see Frag. Vat., 272.

45 This is to be inferred from the inclusion of the title ‘de decuriis urbis Romae’ by Justinian in the Codex (XI, 14); cf. Cassiodorus, Variae, V, 22 (appointment of a decuriarum rector).

46 Cod. Theod., VIII, ix, 1 (335), ‘ordines decuriarum scribarum librariorum et lictoriae consularis oblatis precibus meruerunt, ut in civilibus causis et editionibus libellorum officiorum sollemnitate fungantur ita ut vetusta aetate servatum est.’ The heading of the title, ‘de lucris officiorum,’ supplies the motive. The privileges of the decuriales are confirmed in XIV, i, 2 (386), 3 (389), 4 (404), 5 (407), and 6 (409). Their fees are alluded to in laws 4 (‘neque ab his commodis quae rationibus adprobentur audeat separare’) and 6 (‘emoluments omnia per diversos erepta redhiberi decernimus’).

47 This is implied by Cod. Theod., VIII, ix, 1, which is addressed to a praetorian prefect and ends with the words ‘rectores itaque quae iussimus observabunt’, by XIV, i, 4, addressed Exsuperantio Iulio et ceteris decurialibus, which warns singulos iudices to observe their privileges, and by XIV, i, 6, where the vicarius Africae is instructed to take proceedings against those who have violated the rights of the decuriae. Among the officials attending the Collatio Carthaginiensis of 411 is the scriba officii v.c. legati almae Carthaginis (Mansi, Concilia, IV, 51, 167, 181). John Lydus (de mag., II, 30) records that at Constantinople in his day the praetor Constantianus had a scriba.

48 Cod. Theod., XIV, i, 3 (389), ‘decurialibus quos binos esse ex singulis quibusque urbibus omnium provinciarum veneranda decrevit antiquitas.’

49 Frontinus, De aqu., 101, ‘apparitores et ministeria quamuis perseveret adhuc aerarium in eos erogare, tamen esse curatorum videntur desisse inertia et segnitia non agentium officium.’

50 There are several studies of the imperial civil service, notably Hirschfeld's Verwaltungsbeamten, but these have concentrated mainly on the functions of the various officials, and the recruitment and promotion of the equestrian grades. I know of no recent study of the humbler personnel from the social aspect: it would be a promising subject for a thesis.

51 For the reason given in the text I forbear to give references, which to be of any statistical value would have to be exhaustive.

52 CIL, VI, 8450 a, ILS, 1521, 1522.

53 ILS, 1514.

54 Hirschfeld, Verwaltungsbeamten, 108–9.

55 See n. 51; for the SC Claudianum see Buckland, The Roman Law of Slavery, 417.

56 The basic study is here von Domaszewski, Die Rangordnungen des römischen Heeres, hereinafter cited as Dom.

57 Caesar, BC, 1, 75, III, 88.

58 Hist., IV, 48.

59 Beneficiarii (beneficia) seem to be used in Tacitus (loc. cit.) and Pliny, Ep. x, 21, 27, to cover all grades, for all the officia in question would have included cornicularii, and those of the proconsul and legate in Africa other grades as well. Cf. ILS, 2073, ‘Sex. Cetri Severi spec. beneficiarii Getae ab comentaris custodiaru.’ and CIL, III, 6754, ‘Bb. et corniculari eius.’

60 IGRR, III, 1230, AE, 1916, 29: a centurion of the officium is recorded in Pliny, Ep., X, 21, Dig., XLVIII, ii, 73, ILS, 1880, AE, 1946, 227.

61 Dom., 29–31, ILS, 1093, 2382, CIL, XIII, 6803.

62 Dom., 31, ILS, 2382, CIL, XIII, 6803.

63 Dom., 32, ILS, 2375, 2382, 2648, CIL, VI, 4122.

64 ILS, 2381 and AE, 1918, 57, both show thirty beneficiarii in the legate's officium. Tacitus' words ‘aequatus inter duos beneficiorum numerus’ seem to be literally correct, for in ILS, 2381, the legate has two cornicularii, two commentarienses, and four speculatores out of a total of three plus three plus ten. To judge by their frequency in the inscriptions beneficiarii consularis must have been numerous.

65 Adiutor principis: ILS, 2448, 4837, CIL, II, 6111, AE, 1916, 29. Adiutor corn.: ILS, 2391, 2586, 3035, 9170, IGRR, III, 1008. Adiutor comm. : ILS, 9076, AE, 1933, 61.

66 Speculatores : Seneca, de benef., III, 25, de ira 1, 18, §4, Mark, VI, 27, Firm. Mat., Math., VIII, 26, Dig., XLVIII, XX, 6. This last passage speaks first of speculatores and optiones and then of optiones siue commentarienses, but the last two words may well be an interpolation. A commentariensis appears in the Acta S. Pionii, 21, and a speculator executed Cyprian (Acta proconsularia, 5).

67 ILS, 1162, 2381, 2383, 4496.

68 Dom., 37.

69 ILS, 1357a, 1358, 2418, 2419a, 2587, CIL, III, 10315, AE, 1935, 100. ‘Unus strator officii Galeri Maximi proconsulis’ and ‘alius equistrator a custodiis eiusdem officii’ arrested Cyprian (Acta Proconsularia, 2).

70 ILS, 486, 2416–8, 2588, 3456, CIL, III, 14387 f, VIII, 9763, AE, 1935, 100.

71 See n. 64. A speculator executed Cyprian when he was condemned by the proconsul of Africa (Acta proconsularia, 5).

72 Dig., 1, XVI, 1, cf. n. 69.

73 Acta S. Pionii, 21.

74 Dom., 6 ff., 17, 20-22; for the praefectus annonae, ILS, 2082.

75 Pliny, Ep., X, 21, 27; for epigraphic references see Dom., 66–7, and ILS, 1389, 1428, AE, 1937, 87, 1939, 60, 1944, 38 (cornicularii), ILS, 4071, 6146, 9127, 9129, 9130 (beneficiarii).

76 ILS, 2118 : so also did the procurator, AE, 1935. 16.

77 Dom., 64–6.

78 ILS, 2118, CIL, III, 9908, VIII, 17635 (bf. to corn.), ILS, 2379, CIL, III, 4179 and 4145, XIII, 1732 (spec. to comm.).

79 ILS, 2118.

80 ILS, 8880.

81 ILS, 2173.

82 Dig., XLVIII, XX, 6. This passage unfortunately cannot be used to prove that proconsuls had speculatores, etc., as Ulpian, though writing de officio proconsulis, is clearly thinking of a legate with troops under him on the frontier.

83 Dig., XII, i, 34.

84 ILS, 2173. Probably the scriniarius praeff. praetor. of AE, 1933, 248 (cf. CIL, III, 13201, ‘Ael. Aelianus eq. praet. et Ulp. Licinius a scr. praef.’) and the primiscrinius castrorum praeff. (ILS, 9074) are financial officers; for, though scrinium is a general term covering any department on the judicial as on the financial side, scriniarius was in later times the technical term for a finance clerk (see n. III) and in the urban prefecture the primiscrinius was the head of the finance branch (see Appendix, p. 54).

85 ILS, 2392, 2424, CIL, in, 7979.

86 de mort. pers., 31. The most important work on the Byzantine officia is Ernst Stein, Untersuchungen über das Officium der Prätorianerpräfektur seit Diokletian (Wien), hereinafter cited as Stein.

87 Eusebius, Mart. Pal., 1, τοὺς μὲν τιμῆς ἐπειλημμένους ἀτίμους, τοὺς δὲ ἐν οἰκετίαις εἰ ἐπιμένοιεν τῇ τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ προθέσει ἐλευθερίας στερίσκεσθαι.

88 Cyprian, Ep., LXXX, ‘senatores vero et egregii viri et equites Romani dignitate amissa etiam bonis spolientur et si ademptis facultatibus Christiani perseveraverint capite quoque multentur … Caesariani autem quicumque vel prius confessi fuerant vel nunc confessi fuerint confiscentur et vincti in Caesarianas possessiones descripti mittantur.’ For Caesariani under the principate see IGRR, IV, 598.

89 Cod. Theod., VI, XXXV, 3. Seeck in the Regesten rightly rejects Mommsen's doubts as to t he date.

90 Cod. Theod., VI, XXXVI, 1, ‘sed nee alieni sunt a pulvere et labore castrorum qui signa nostra comitantur, qui praesto sunt semper actibus, quos intentos eruditis studiis itinerum prolixitas et expeditionum difficultas exercet.’

91 Proximi: Cod. Theod., VI, XXVI, passim. Melloproximi: VI, xxvi, 16, 17; AE 1941, no. 101 gives ‘v(ir) p(erfectissimus) ex prox(imis) mem(oriae)’ for which see A. Degrassi, Doxa II, 1949, 105. For these ranks among the imperial freedmen of the Principate, see ILS, 1477, 1485, 3703 (proximi), 1478 (melloproximus).

92 Cod. Theod., VI, XXX, 7 ( = Cod. Just., XII, xxiii, 7).

93 Cod. Theod., VI, xxxii. 2

94 Cod. Just., x, 1, 5 (Diocletian and Maximian), Cod. Theod., x, vii, 1 (317), viii, 2 (319), IX, xlii, 1 (321), x, i, 5 (326), vii, 2 (364); also Bruns, Fontes7, 95. That they served rationales appears from the law of 319, which is addressed ‘ad Priscum rationalem’ and from Cod. Just., IX, xlix, 9 ( = Cod. Theod., IX, xlii 1), where the by then obsolete term Caesariani is explained as catholiciani (καθολικóσ = rationalis).

95 Amm. Marc, XXVIII, ii, 13.

96 Cod. Just., x, i, 5, and Cod. Theod., x, viii, 2, show that Caesariani dealt with confiscations, which were the province of the res privata.

97 Eus., Mart. Pal., 11, 24.

98 Cod. Theod., VIII, i, 1, ‘Dudum sanximus, ut nullus ad singula officia administranda ambitione perveniat, vel maxime ad tabularios, nisi qui ex ordine vel corpore officii uniuscuiusque est.’ The date is confirmed, as against Mommsen and Seeck, by the use of the term tabularii, which was soon superseded by numerarii (see next note) : Ensslin has noted this (P-W, XVII, 1297).

99 Numerarii is used from 334 (Cod. Theod., VIII, i, 4, cf. 6, 7, 8) in all offices. In 365 (tit. cit., 9) numerarii of consulares and praesides were ordered to be called tabularii. This rule still prevailed in the West in the early fifth century, as the Notitia Dignitatum (Occ., xliii, xliv, xlv) shows. In the East it still prevailed in 382 (Cod. Theod., VIII, i, 12) but in the Notitia (Or., xliii, xliv) numerarii has again become the title in provincial offices.

100 Cod. Theod., VIII, i, 4.

101 tit. cit., 6, 7, 8.

102 tit. cit., 11.

103 John Lydus, III, 35. Stein (p. 20) appears to believe John's allegation that the financial officials of the prefecture were civilian employees till Theodosius I gave them their military status. John cites, it is true, αἱ παλαιαἱ μάτρικεσ for this, but the Codex proves that he was mistaken. He may have found some old matriculae of the period 362–5, when the numerarii were condidonales, and generalized from these.

104 There is a handy comparative table of officia at the end of Seeck's edition of the Notitia. The apparent confusion is largely due to the varying position in which the new posts of the adiutor and numerarius were inserted in the order of precedence.

105 In Cod. Theod., I, xvi, 7 (331), cited on p. 51, the princeps offidi appears to be still called a centurion. The princeps of the Praetorian Prefect of the East still carried the centurion's vitis in Justinian's reign (John Lydus, II, 19).

106 Princeps and cornicularius are mentioned as heads of the officium in Bruns, Fontes7, 103, Cod. Theod., VIII, iv, 10, VI, xxvi, 5.

107 Princeps, cornicularius, commentariensis (and numerarius or tabularius) are listed as the principal officers of every officium in Cod. Theod., VIII, XV, 3 (364), 5 (368).

108 Cod. Theod., IX, xl, 5 (364), VIII, XV, 5 (368), IX, iii, 5 (371), 6 (380), 7 (409), John Lydus, III, 16-17.

109 Athanasius, Apol. c. Arianos, 8, καì παρῆν σπεκουλάτωρ καìκομεντάριοσ ἡμᾶσ εἰσῆγεν (at the Council of Tyre, 335), 83, ὁ μὲν γράΨασ αὐτὰ Ροῦϕόσ ἐστιν ὁ νῦν ἐν τῆ Αὐγουσταλιανῆ σπεκουλάτωρ. (Rufus wh o recorded the minutes of the Mareotic Commission in 335—presumably as an exceptor—was by c. 350 a speculator in the office of the Augustal Prefect), Cod. Theod., VIII, iv, 16 (389), ‘ordinariorum iudicum apparitores, qui vel speculatorum vel ordinariorum attigerint gradum, nullo annorum numero, nulla stipendiorum contemplatione laxentur, priusquam primipili pastum digesta ratione compleverint.’ Ordinarii are also mentioned in VIII, xv, 3 (364), as high grade officiates, and appear in the Notitia (Or., xxxvii) in the praesidial officium of the dux Arabiae between cornicularius and commentariensis.

110 CIL, III, 14068 (bf. cos. under Diocletian and Maximian), Eus., HE, IX, 9 (Maximinus' edict of 311), Cod. Theod., VIII, iv, 5 (date uncertain), 7(361).

111 Cod. Just., XII, xlix, 10, John Lydus, III, 31,35. In the Notitia scriniarii are mentioned only for the proconsul of Asia (Or., xx) in the civil officia. An adiutor numerorum of the vicar of Africa is recorded in Mansi, IV, 51, 167, 181 (Collatio Carthaginiensis of 411).

112 John Lydus, III, 4, 5, 21, Cassiodorus, Variae, XI, 23. Besides the praetorian and urban prefects and vicars, the praefectus Augustalis had a cura epistularum, but not the Comes Orientis, perhaps because his original functions did not include finance (see n. 116).

113 Stein, 61 ff., arguing from Cassiodorus, Variae, XI, 29, and John Lydus, III, 4, 21, corrects the regerendarius of Not. Dig. Or., ii, iii, Occ, ii, iii, to regendarius : the office has no connection with the regerendarius of the Western military offices.

114 Stein, pp. 57 seqq. : he is also called subadiuva or primiscrinius.

115 John Lydus, III, 20, Cassiodorus, Variae, XI, 22, Cod. Just., I, xxvii, 1, §26, II, vii, 26, §3.

116 The office is recorded for proconsuls, consulars and praesides of the East (Not. Dig. Or., xx, xxi, xxvii, xliii, restored in xliv) and for the Comes Orientis (op. cit., xxiii), perhaps because he had not originally the ordinary functions of a vicar, but, like other comites provinciarum, received the complaints of the provincials (Cod. Theod., I, xvi, 6, 7).

117 The system is explained by John Lydus, III, 9-10, cf. 17, 27. Cf. Cod. Theod., 1, xvi, 7 (331, adiutores of the princeps), VIII, iv, 10 (365, of princeps and cornicularius), IX, iii, 5 (371, of commentariensis), Mansi, IV, 51, 167, 181 (411, of cornicularius and commentariensis), 181 (of subadiuvae, i.e. adiutor), Cod. Just., II, vii, 26, §3 (524, of ab actis). The adiutores who appear in the Notitia immediately after the exceptores in the offices of Western proconsul, vicars, consulars, correctores, and praesides may be the same. But the subadiuvae of the praetorian and urban prefects seem to be the assistants of the numerarii or primiscrinius whom they follow.

118 Cod. Theod., VIII, 1, 2.

119 Bruns, Fontes7, 103. The office of a libellis does not appear in the Western section of the Notitia at all. The earliest records of an adiutor or primiscrinius as an independent official are the primiscrinius of the vicarius urbis Romae in Cod. Theod., VIII, viii, 2 (379), and the adiutor urbani officii of Symm., Rel., 23, 67 (385).

120 Found in the praetorian prefecture of Africa as established by Justinian (Cod. Just., 1, xxvii, 1, §29-35). John Lydus mentions singulares, cursores, nomenclatores and praecones, as well as other obscurer grades.in the praetorian prefecture of the East (III, 7 and 8). The Notitia records only singulares of the praetorian and urban prefects and the proconsul of Africa and Western vicars, and nomenclatores and censuales of the urban prefect. For lesser officia the evidence is scanty, but we hear of stratores of a proconsul (Cod. Theod., XIII, xi, 6) an d even of a rationalis (ib., IX, iii, 1) and of a δρακωνάρισ ἐξ ὀϕικίου τοῦ λαμπροτάτου ἡγεμὀνοσ (ILS, 8881).

121 Cod.Just., XII, xxxvi, 6, lii, 3, John Lydus, III, 3.

122 Cod. Theod., VI, xxx, II, attests the issue of vestes to officials : the cingulum is constantly mentioned.

123 Cod. Theod., VII, iv, 35. Annonae are normally mentioned alone, but the detailed schedule in Cod. Just., I, xxvii, I, shows that capitum were also provided. Cf. Ammianus Marc, XXII, iv, 9.

124 e.g. Cod. Theod., VII, i, 5, 6, xxii, 8, 10, VIII, vii, 12.

125 We know singularly little about the officials of vicars, proconsuls and other governors of the spectabilis grade but it may be inferred that these offices were popular from the fact that their numbers had to be limited (Cod. Theod., I, xii, 6, xiii, I, XV, 5, 12, 13) and that entry to them was regulated by probatoriae (Cod. Theod., VIII, vii, 21, Cod. Just., XII, lix, 10) as in the palatine offices. See also n. 127.

126 Cod. Theod., VII, xxii, 3.

127 There is no later allusion to any hereditary obligation except in provincial offices, e.g. Cod. Theod., VIII, iv, 7, 8, XII, i, 79, VIII, vii, 16. In the last law the phrase ‘quibus vel sponte initiatus est vel suorum retinetur consortio maiorum’ refers to the distinction made above to praefectiani and vicariani on the one hand and provincialia officia on the other.

128 Soz., v, 4, 66.

129 Cod. Theod., VIII, vii, 9, 16, 19.

130 Not. Dig. Or., xliii, xliv, Occ., xliii, xliv, xlv, cf. Cod. Theod., VIII, iv, 21-5, 28-30.

131 Cod. Just., XII, lvii, 13, 14.

132 e.g. Cod. Theod., VI, xxxv, 14, VIII, iv, 28, XVI, V, 48, Theod., Nov., iii, §6, vii, 2, 4, x, 1.

133 John Lydus, III, 67.

134 Cod. Just., XII, xix, 7. ‘melloproximo vero vel adiutori pro consuetudine uniuscuiusque scrinii viginti aut quindecim solidos offerre praecipimus.’ This fee is to be distinguished from the price of a place discussed below.

135 A purge of the palatine finance offices is recorded in Cod.' Theod., VI, xxx, 15-16, and of the praetorian prefecture of the Gauls, ib., VIII, vii, 10; cf. I, ix, 1, VI, xxvii, 17, 18, for purges of the agentes in rebus.

136 Establishments : Cod. Theod., VI, xxx, 7, 15-17 (largitionales and privatiani), Cod. Just., XII, xix, 10 (sacra scrinia), Cod. Theod., VI, xxvii, 23, Cod. Just., XII, xx, 3 (agentes in rebus), cf. n. 125. Justinian regularly prescribed establishments for all the offices he created (e.g. Cod. Just., 1, xxvii, i, 2, Just., Nov. 14, §5, Edict 13, §2, etc.). Statuti and supernumerarii are recorded also for castrensiani (Cod. Theod., VI, xxxii, 2), protectores domestici (Cod. Just., 11, vii, 25, §3), scholares (Proc, Anecd., 24, Const. Porph., de Cerim., 1, 86), and silentiarii (Const. Porph., loc. cit., cf. Cod. Theod., VI, xxiii, 4).

137 Cod. Theod., VI, xxx, 11, Const. Porph., de Cerim., 1, 86.

138 Cod. Just., XII, xix, 7.

139 Cod. Theod., VIII, vii, 1 (315). In.392 and 395 the domestici and protectores secured a relaxation of this rule in so far that absentees were struck off the list (Cod. Theod., VI, xxiv, 5, 6). For illicit promotion by influence, see for instance, Cod. Theod., VI, xxvii, 19.

140 e.g. Cod. Theod., VI, xxvi, 6, 11, 17, xxx, 3, 14, 21.

141 John Lydus, III, 9, Cod. Just., XII, xx, 5.

142 Cod. Just., III, xxviii, 30, §2, XII, xxxiii, 5, §3. Apart from the sacra scrinia purchase seems to have been official only in the more ornamental palatine services, scholares (Proc, Anecd., 24, Agathias, v, 15), domestici (Proc, Anecd., 24, Cod. Just., 11, vii, 25, Const. Porph., de Cerim., 1, 86), silentiarii (Cod. Just., III, xxviii, 30, XII, xvi, 5, Const. Porph., loc. cit.), tribuni et notarii (Cod. Just., II, vii, 23). There is no hint in John Lydus that entry to the praetorian prefecture had to be bought, though profitable posts within it were saleable (in, 27).

143 Cod. Just., XII, xix, 7, 11.

144 ibid., XII, xix, 13, 15, Just., Nov. 35.

145 ibid., VIII, xiii, 27, Just., Nov. 97, §4, 136, §2.

146 Cod. Theod., VII, xii, 2, Cod. Just., XII, xvii, 3.

147 Cod. Just., XII, xxxiii, 5, cf. XII, xx, 5, §1.

148 ibid., I, xxvii, 1.

149 The locus classicus is the Notitia appended to Just., Nov. 8 : cf. also Cod. Just., 1, xxvii, 2, Just., Nov. 24-7.

150 Justinian fixed a tariff (Cod. Just., III, ii, 5) which has not survived, but apparently drastically reduced them; John Lydus (III, 25) bitterly complains that a postulatio simplex in the praetorian prefecture, which used to bring in 37 solidi, now cost a few coppers only. Reduced tariffs of sportulae in favour of privileged classes are given in Cod. Just., II, vii, 22, 24, XII, xix, 12, xx, 6, xxi, 8, xxv, 4, xxix, 3.

151 Maj., Nov. 7, §16.

152 Cod. Theod., I, xvi, 7.

153 Bruns, Fontes 7, 103.

154 John Lydus, III, 27.

155 id., I, 14, 15, II, 6, 13.

156 id., III, 22.

157 The change made by Cyrus, Praefectus Praetorio Orientis, 439–441, who is described by John as ‘an Egyptian admired even now for his poetic talent … who understood nothing except poetry’ (II, 12, III, 42). It is one of the counts against John the Cappadocian that he abolished Latin in the scrinium of Europe where it had hitherto survived (III, 68).

158 III, 3, 12.

158 II, 10, III, 23, 40.

160 III, 35.

161 III, 36, 46, 49. He was εīς τῶν τῆς Συρĺας.

162 III, 57. He started as a scriniarius of the magistri militum.

163 III, 26–8.

164 III, 24–5.

165 e.g. Cod. Theod., XI, XXX, 34, ‘iudex … ipse quidem notabili sententia reprehensus X librarum auri condemnatione quatietur, officium vero eius, quod non suggesserit nec commonuerit de relationis necessitate, viginti libris auri fiat obnoxium.’

166 As John Lydus (III, 49) freely admits, καὶ γίνεται μὲν πολύχρυσος, εἴπερ τις ἄλλος, ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ μετ᾿ αὐτὸν ὁ Μαρῖνος καὶ ὅσοι Μαρινιῶντες ἁπλῶς.