f7) A~ M 94 TREATISE OF T HE REVENUE AND FALSE MONEY O F T H E ROMANS. To which is annexed, A DISSERTATION upon the Manner of diftinguifhing Antique MEDALS from coun- terfeit ones. Tranflated from the ORIGINAL printed at Pan's 1740. LONDON: Printed for J. and P. K M A p T o N, at the Crown in Ludgate-ftreet. M occ XLI. f TAB L E Of the CH AP TE RS and MATTER 8 contained in this Volume. CHAP. I. O7? the Demefne of the Romans, Page t i. lie Funds of the Demefne, ibid* 2. Conquered Countries, 2 3. Confifcated Eftates and E/effs, 3 4. Eftates reunited to the Demefne, 4 5. Extent of tbe Demefne of the Romans, 6 6. Forefts, Rivers, Wrecks, &c, 6, 9 7. Farms of the Demefne, 10, &c. 8. Alienations and PrefcriptionS) 18, 19 CHAP, II. Of the real Tattle or falliage incident to Lands* 25 CHAP. III. Of various other real Charges which the Ro- mans laid upon Lands , 3 7 CHAP. IV. Of the Perfonal faille or Poll-tax, 4? A 2 CHAP, 2003134 TABLE. CHAP. V. Of Confifcations and Fines, 59 CHAP. VI. Of the Crimes which were punijhable with a Con- ffcation of EJlates, 54 CHAP. VII. Of Efcheats, or the Revenue arifmg from the SucceJJlons, and teftamentary Legacies, 68 CHAP. VIII. Of Eftates that were vacant, and had no cer- tain Proprietor, 74 CHAP. IX. Of Impofts laid upon Merchandife and Provi- fionsy 7% CHAP. X. Of federal other Duties or Impojls, 90 CHAP. XI. Of the Money which the Romans drew from their Enemies and from War, 92 CHAP. XII. Of the Money which the Romans drew from their Allies, $6 CHAP. TABLE. CHAP. XIII. Of the Prefents or Free Gifts which were volun- tarily made to the Emperor, IQQ CHAP. XIV. r\ ~ _ -Tji <^v.> :: ', ..." &$&& .' rv v - v . .. Of federal extraordinary Impofts, 103 CHAP. XV. Of the Revenue arijing from Salt, Mines, Trea- fures found, Rivers, the Sea, &c. 113 CHAP. XVI. Of Loans and borrowed Money, j i ^ CHAP. XVII. Of the great ILxaftions of the Romans, 119 CHAP. XVIII. Of the Releafes and Abatements of Taxes made to the Roman People, 129 CHAP, XIX. Of the moft confederate Differences between tht Revenues of the Romans, and thofe of France, *35 CHAP. XX. Of the Superintendants of the Revenue among the Romans, 144 CHAP. XXI. Of the Officers employed under the Superinten- dant of the Revenue, 1 50 C H A . TABLE. CHAP. XXIL Of tie Offices tbat depended on the Superinten* dant of the Revenue* 157 CHAP. XXIIL Of the Superintendant of the Demefne, 1 62 CHAP. XXIV. Of the Officers that depended on the Superin- tendant of the Demefne, 164 CHAP. XXV. Of the Officers called Palatini, depending on tit Superintendant of the Demefne, 166 CHAP. XXVI. Of divers fubaltern Officers employed Ukewife in the Revenue^ 167 E N D of the Table of the Treatife of the Revenue of the Romans. TABLE Of the Treatife of the FALSE MONEY of the Romans, &c, PART i. 174 PART IL 178 Of the Diflertation on the Manner of diftinguifhing Antique MEDALS, &c. A R T I C L E ' I. OF Medals of modern Coin? moft of which are known by the name of the Paduan, Page 191 ARTICLE H. Of Medals cajt upon fuch as are of modern coining, 195 ARTICLE III. Medals caft upon Antiques, 198 ARTICLE IV. 'Antique Medals refitted, the Heads and Figures whereof are cbetngedy 201 ARTI- TABLE. ARTICLE V. Of Medals ftruck with the Hammer, and fucb as are encafted or joined together, 206 ARTICLE VI. Of Medals that have Cracks and Countermarks* 210 ARTICLE VII. Of Medals that are plated, and of fucb as art mifcoined, 212 ARTICLE VHL Of caft Medals that are Antique, and of Me- dallions compofed of different Coppers, 216 ARTICLE IX. Of Medals that are merely invented, and of fucb as have been very feldom counterfeited, 219 A R T I C L E X. 224 H I S T O- HISTORICAL PREFACE, O R INTRODUCTION to the t freafij$ of the Revenue of the ROMANS. M COLBERT, whofe views ex- tended to every thing that might contribute to augment the riches of the State, and eftablifh a wife adminiftration of the Revenue, engaged a perfon very capable of the work to draw him up a Memoir upon the Revenue of the Romans. It is the very Memoir which is now published. The author hath with equal accuracy and clearnefs given us in it an idea, as well of the Revenues of that renowned nation, as of the manner of re- ceiving them, and the different perfons employed in that collection. This piece, though fufceptible indeed of larger details, feems ftill to me to take in every thing that can be deemed eflential upon the fubjeft. It hath likewife the advantage of offering nothing but what is drawn out of the au- thentic monuments of Antiquity, the on- (a) ly ii Bijlorical PREFACE. ly ones that are capable of giving us juft notions in this point. The author, whofe name is ftill a fecret, hath obferved (but might have been more particular in his obfervations) how exceedingly the Roman revenues increafed by their fuccefsful mili- tary expeditions. Rome, almoft from the very moment of its origin, derived from war various fources of riches, which me never fuffered to dry up in all the height of her power. I mail enter into fome par- ticulars upon this fubjedt, but without con- fining myfelf ftri&ly to a chronological exadtnefs. I readily agree, that it was the poverty of the firft inhabitants of Rome which gave rife to this politic oeconomy, whereof I am going to fpeak : but it was found fo very advantageous, that the practice was continued in the mod flourifhing ages of the Republic. Among the towns of Italy that were jealous of the conquefts of Ro- mulus and of the aggrandizing of the Ro- mans, Veii, the capital of Etruria, figna- lized herfelf above other rivals. She did not fail declaring in favour of her neigh- bours that were attacked by this new peo- ple. Romulus having vanquished them in battle, granted them a truce for an hun- dred years, upon condition that they gave up a part of their territory which lay ad- joining to the Tyber, and was called Sep- v tern Hiflorical PREFACE. iii tern Pagi, or the Seven Burroughs, and furrendered likewife the falt-works which they had at the mouth of this river. I mall here take notice, that of all the con- ditions impofed upon conquered people by the Romans, I mall touch only upon fuch as fome way or other relate to the fubjecl: treated of in this work. Tullus Hoftilius trod in the fteps of Ro- mulus. When he had overcome the Sa- bines, he obliged them, by way of fati- fad ion for the large and fmall cattle which they had taken, and the booty which they had carried off from the peafants that cultivated the lands of Rome, to pay fuch a fine as mould be fixed by the Roman Senate. Ancus Martius, when he raifed the fiege of Velitrce, infilled that the Volfci mould repair all the damages they had done : and made the valuation there- of himfelf. Tarquinius Prifcus, follow- ing the example of thefe his prede- ceflbrs, not only obliged the inhabitants cf Collatta, a town in the country of the Sa- bines, to acknowledge him for their Sove- reign, but impofed on them likewife a fine to be paid in money. He caufed re- fHtution to be made to the peafants of all the money which the Latins had extorted from them, and condemned them to make fatisfaction for all the damages they had done in their incurfions into the Roman ( a 2 ) terri. tiljlorical PREFACE. territories. The Veians, ever ready to raife all the people of Etruria in arms againft them, were forced in like manner to yield to the valour of Servius Tullius, who ftripped them of part of their lands, which he diftributed among the citizens of Rome. Under this King there was an alteration made in the money, which muft not be omitted in the Preface to a Trea- tife upon the Revenue of the Romans. The firft money that they made ufe of was made of brick and leather. This laft kind of money was called AJjes fcortei\ it was ufed at Rome before the reign of Nu- ma, and according to an ancient writer, there was a fmall mark of gold upon thefe leather pieces. Numa next introduced the ufe of brafs pieces, which were taken by weight in exchange for merchandife and provifions. This lafted till the reign of Servius Tullius, who was the firft that caufed brafs money to be coined at Rome. This Prince caufed the figure of an ox or ram to be ftamped upon the coin. Thefe animals having ferved for victims at the Luftral Sacrifice, this was imagined to be the reafon why he took it into his head to embellim the coin with thefe figures. I {hall here obferve further, that there was no other money in the city till the year 485 from the foundation of Rome, at which time the firft pieces of filver money were Hijlorical PREFACE. were coined. Sixty-two years afterwards, they began to ftrike pieces of gold coin. In thefe firft pieces of brafs money they engraved as many points, as they were worth ounces. Tarquin the Proud, aiming at a tyran- nical and defpotic fway, employed the great fums of money which he found in Sueffa-Pometia, to finim the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and to recompenfe the foldiers whom he had allowed to pillage the town. We (hall fee in the courfe of this hiftorical relation, how thefe examples animated the Roman Generals to enrich the Republic. In the time of the Commonwealth, Va- lerius Publicola finding the Confuls over- burdened with the management of the Revenue, engaged the people to chufe two men of integrity, who were called <$U(Z- ftors, and entrufted with the care of the public Treafure. He caufed this Treafure to be removed to the Temple of Saturn, conceiving it a place where it would be kept with the greateft fecurity. It was af- terwards divided into two parts j one being deligned for the daily occafions of the State, was compofed of the ordinary tri- butes and imports ; the other was formed of the gold arifing from the import of the twentieth penny which was levied upon the fale of Haves. This was the reafon (as) why vi Hiftorical PREFACE. why they called it Aurum vicefimarium. This laft treafure was never touched but in the moft pre/Ting exigencies and necef- fities of the State. When Annibal had ravaged Italy for ten years together, the Republic, over-whelmed with difafters and calamities, implored in vain the fuccour of twelve of the thirty Latin Colonies: it was only in this terrible extremity, that flie came to the refolution of making ufe of the gold raifed out of the fale of flaves. They took out of this treafure four thou- fand pounds, which amount to near two millions. Julius Cosfar having invaded the Roman liberty, plundered this facred trea- fury. Florus, who is as much a Poet as an Hiftorian, flouriihes upon this facl. " Pompey (fays he*) was fcarce drove and be bath paid the purcbafe- money for it x . The words of Honorius and Theodofius on this fubject are not lefs remarkable. Neither equity nor honour, fay they, allow tbe Prince's Treafury to refume what it bath once fold y . w ExptHi, in his Pltadingt. * Graviffimum vcrccundia mea duxit, ut cujus rci pre- tium (cum bona fide eflec addifta) femel fifcus accepcrit, ejus controverfiam referat. r Retraftare fifcum quod femel vendidir, zequitatis ho- meftatifque ratio non patitur. L. 2. Cod. 2 TVo- of the R O M A N S, 17 Theodofius and Valentinian decide this point in terms ftill more exprefs. We enatl, fay they z , by this prefent Declaration, that the pur- chafers of the lands of our Demefne in perpetuity , Jhall remain for ever poffeffed thereof, notwith- Jkanding any grant or alignment thereof that the Emperor may make himfelf to a third perfon, ei- ther at the requeft of fuch perfon, or of his own proper motion, under the penalty of an hundred pound fine to be laid on the Superintendant of the Demefne that Jhall any way infringe this Ordi- nance, and the like fine upon the officers of our Demefne, to be paid to us, whatever high and advantageous offers of greater value may be made from other quarters. Our meaning therefore is, that thefe kinds of public contracts Jhall be for (ver irrevocable ; and likewife the eftates fold and affigned may not for the future be refumed nor taken away from the pur chafers to whom they have been affigned, or from their children, fuc- cejfors, heirs and ajjigns, on any claim or pretence whatfoever. The fecond law on this fubject is likewife cxprefs. Conftandne the Great hath left an univerfal and inviolable Edict, which is couch- ed in thefe terms. We notify to all perfons, that whoever purchafetb or hath purchased any ejlate of our Exchequer, he and his hsirs and fuccejjlrs Jhall continue perpetual and indefeajable Lords and owners thereof, without being liable to any refum- ption on our part, or to be outed of their po/ejjion on pretence of any right of ours whatever . z L. 7. C. Eodera. * Univcrfl cognofcant, has poiTeffiones quas de fifco noftro comparanc feu comparaverunt, nullo a nobis jure re- trahi, fed propria firmitate pofleffas, etiam ad poileros fuos dominii perpecui durabilitate dimitti. C Gratian, Of the R E v E N u E s Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodofius ex- tend thefe regulations even to the pure grants and donations proceeding from the mere boun- ty of the Prince without any other confidera- tion. Whoever, fay they, enjoys in virtue of. cur own Imperial liberality or that of our prede-. ceffbrs, any eftate or lands of our Demefne or Patrimony, Jituated either m the Diocefe of Afia or in that of Pontus, Jhall be abfolute proprietor thereof, and have power to tranfmit the fame to his pofterity, and not only to convey them to bis heirs, but even fell and alienate them from his family by any kind of contraft wbatfoever b . More than this, the purchater of fuch eftates became fo entirely mailer thereof', that he had the privilege and authority of enfranchi- fing the flaves that were, by the misfortune of their condition and birth, reduced to fervitude, and tied to the ploughing and cultivating of the lands ; though the contrary was inviolably obferved fo long as thofe eftates remained in the hands of the Exchequer d . The Emperor Anaftafius carried afterwards this right to a farther length : for he enacted that whoever mould have continued forty years in a peaceable and undifturbed pofieflion of any eftate of the Imperial Demefne, or of lands of the Church, either by himfelf or by any other proprietor from whom he derived b Hi quibus patrimoniales pofleffiones per Afianam & Ponticam Dicecefim, vel a Divis parentibus noflris facra largitate donate funt, inconculse poffideant, atque ad fuos poileros transferant : quod quidem non folum in haeredibus, fed etiam in contraftibus omnis generis volumus cuflodiri. c L. 12. C. De fimdis patrim. - - L. i. C. Ne rei dominica: vindicatio temporis prz* fcriptione fubmoveatur. ' his of the 'ROMANS. 19 his claim % whether his pofleffion was autho- rized and warranted by authentic writings, or was deftitute of" evidences, mould be deemed to have acquired an entire and perfect proper- ty therein ; fo as even to plead prefcription againft the quit-rent originally referved and afterwards acquitted, if in the courfe of thofe forty years it did not appear to have been paid, and the pofleflbr had not been fued on that account. This Ordinance in truth derogates from that of Valentinian the Second, Theodofius the Great, and Arcadius ; the purport whereof is, that no prefcription mould be allowed in fa- vour of fuch as mail have purchafed parts of the Demefne from fellers who had intruded in- to the pofleffion and ufurped the property thereof fraudulently and illegally f ; but that in fuch cafe, the Prince mould on the contra- ry be at liberty to turn out the wrongful de- tainers of fuch lands, without any restitution of the fums of money difburfed by the pur- chafers, how long foever their enjoyment and pofleffion thereof had continued. In a Jaw of the Emperors Dioclefrm and Maximian upon this fubjecl:, there is inferted a circumftance which deferves attention - ; which is, that if the officers of the Revenue proceeded to the fale of an eftate, for want of the talliage incident to the lands being paid, the purchafer thereof, by a legal pofftflion of thirty years, becomes the unqueftionable and * L. 14. C. De fundis patrim. f L. 2. C. Ne rei dominicae vel templorum. 8 L. i. C. De pnefcriptione triginta vel quadraginta an- norum, C 2 inde- 2O Of the R E V E N U E S indefeafable proprietor thereof, though the ufual folemnities prefcribed by the law in the cafe of fuch fales had been either infringed or negle&ed -, the defeft arifing from fuch omif- fion being removed and repaired fufficiently by fo long and peaceable a poffeflion. This feems to be the proper place for giving fome account of the different motives which engaged the Roman Empire and the French Monarchy to lay down, in affairs of the fame nature, fuch different rules, and to eftablifh laws fo direftly contrary -, particularly as to the fale of the Demefne. We fhall follow the order of time, and begin with the Romans. 1 . The Romans were perfuaded, that there might be an effective commerce carried on be- tween the Commonwealth and the Citizens, between the Public and Private Perfons, as well for lands as the produce thereof, and for immoveable goods as well as the moveable h . 2. They had found by experience that in certain conjunctures the State had as much oc- cafion to fell, and as much intereft to make purchafes, as fubjefts had '. Now in purcha- fes the perpetual right of redeeming or repur- chafing the eftate fold was fometimes ftipula- ted, but ftill in favour of the purchafers, who might on giving back the land re-demand their money, but never in favour of the State. 3. They thought it was going againft the nature of things, to attempt to perpetuate the k C. De vendend. rebus su Civit. pcrtinentibus, L \ i. tit. 31. 1 'Tit, Liv. 1. 29. n. 26. 2 property of the ROMANS. 21 property of certain lands to one and the fame mafter -. 4. They deemed it a point of religion, and conceived themfelves obliged in confcience to keep the conditions and claufes of fales and adjudications '. 5. This carried with it at leaft a mew of ho- nour, and tended to the fecurity of families *, 6. They were of opinion that they might fell things confecrated to the Gods, and much more fuch as belonged to the Public n . 7. They were perfuaded that whatever be- longed to private perfons, belonged alfo to the State . 8. The power which all the world had of recovering the poffefilon of their eftates, con- tributed fomething to the fecurity of the Em- peror reigning ; for his fall would hardly have been deferred for any confiderable time after his promotion, if the military officers and fol- diers had not been in continual apprehenfions of being ftripped by his fuccefTor, (in virtue of the right of refumption or redemption) of thofe lands which the ambition of their mafter k Nam propriae telluris herum natura neque ilium, Nee me, nee quemquam flatuit : nos expulit ille; Ilium aut nequities, aut vafri infcitia juris, Poftremum expellet certe vivacior hajres. Hor. L. 2. Sat. 2. 1 Grave & immutabile fanftis Pondus adeft verbis, & vocem fata fequuntur. Vifg- n L. i. C. Ne fifcus evincat quae vendidit. n Non contra Religiones fieri quod Numinum fimulacra venditionibus hortorum & domorum accedant. Tac. An- nal. 1. i. Aliam apud Scipiones, aliam apud Fabricios pecuni- a'm, fed cunfta ad Rcmpublicam refcrri. Id. Ann. 1. 2. C had 22 Of the REVENUES had engaged him to grant and put into their pofifcflion P. 9. Princes had likewife the vanity to ima- gine, that univerfal property was an attribute of their Empire , and that they poflefied them- felves by a right of fovereignty, whatever their fubjects poflefled by a right of property . 10. The Emperors reckoned it vaftly for their glory, to be obfervant of the laws of the State, and fubmit to them as well as private citizens r . 11. And laftly, the privilege of redeeming and recovering eftates leflened the price and value of purchafes. Such were the motives of the Romans for their regulations : but the French are able to produce much ftronger reafons in favour of their own. 1. It is God, and the natural right of birth, which put the Kings of France upon the throne ', and not the uncertain chance of ele- ction, nor the voices of foldiers ever ready to be given to the higheft bidder. 2. There muft ever be a fixed and certain fund in a State for its fupport in all exigencies : and on this its fecurity and tranquillity chiefly depend '. P Appian, I. 4. of the Civil Wars. * Gefar cundta poffidet imperio, finguli dominio. Sett. 1 Q^anquam Jegibus foluti iumus, attamen legibus vivi- mus. Nihil ram imperil proprium qu^-tn legibus vivere : digna vox eft majeftate Regnantis, legibus obligatum Prin- cipem fe profited ; & revera majus imperio eft fubmittere Jegibus Principatum. L. 31. Jf. de Legibus, L. 3. C. de Teft. ( M. Le Bret, Du Tillet. 1 Nee quies gentium fine armis, nee arnia fine ftipen- diis, nee ftipendia line tributis haberi queunt. Toe. Hift. of the ROMANS. 23 3. In France the greedinefs of Courtiers is bounded and reftrained by the moderation and prudence of the Prince -, whereas under a ** Ne- ro, Caligula, and Galba t it drained and ex- haufted all the fources of the Revenue u . 4. The redeeming or re-purchafing of De- mefne-Iands does no injury to private perfons : the law is publickly known, and people pur- chafe on that very condition. 5. This re-purchafing is of very great ad- vantage to the King, being a very fure re- fource againft the necefllty of the alienation. 6. Private men often infert this condition in the bargains of fale and contracts that they make : and in the Parliament of Touloufe it is. a received rule in the judgment of caufes, that the right of redeeming or re-purchafing thus refer ved is imperfcribable ; whereas in' countries governed not by the written law, but by their particular cuftoms, it is prefcribed againft by a pofTefiion of thirty years . 7. The lands of the Demefne confift gene- rally in Duchies and other appanages diftin- guiihed by pompous titles, which were utter- Jy unknown to the Roman Empire -v . 8. If in France they have received or intro- duced the right of primogeniture, and that of redeeming or re-purchafing eftates by the Lord of the fief, and by the next lineal heir, in or- der to the keeping up and confervation of fa- milies, why fhould they not likewife keep up- * The Licenfer Jlruck out tbefe three names, and inferted in their Jlead tbefe 'words, certain Emperors. " Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio. v Olive, in bis Arrets. Louet. w Cbopin, in bis Treatife of the Demefne. C 4 and 24 Of the REVENUES and obferve the perpetual right of redemption in order to the fupport and confervation of the Crown, under the grandeur whereof ail the families of the Kingdom enjoy their quiet and find a protection x ? 9. The Emperors exprefsly prohibited the fale of their palaces, in what places or pro- vinces foever they were fituatcd >. The Kings of France have frequently drawn from theirs very confiderable fuccours in the neceffity of their affairs. This perpetual and univerfal right of re- demption hath alfo fome kind of refemblance and affinity with the fiftieth year of the Jews, which was their Jubilee z ; that is, a general reverfion of all eftates and lands to their ori- ginal and firft diftribution. * * [Very good reafons however may be brought to prove, that the King of France may alienate indefeafably. 1. 'The alienations that were formerly made of the Duchies of Guienne and Normandy, and of the County of Flanders, Jhew it clearly ; for tbo* the Lords of tkofe fne Prwinces held of the Crown, they yet were Sovereigns as much as the ElecJors of the Empire a . 2. All the noble fiefs and ignoble tenures in the Kingdom, depend either mediately or immedi- * Du Moulin* Cotttum. de Paris, tit. de Fiefs; Grimau- 4'.t d* Retrait lignagtr. y Sleidan, du Btllay. * Levit. xxv. 10. * Popalus liber eft, ctiamfi fcedere comprehenfum eft ut aherius populi imjeftatem confervet ; hoc cnim adjicitur ut intelligatur non effe liberum. L. 7. J. i. jf. de Capti- VJJ. Chopin du Domaint. etely of the R O M A N S. *g. tttly on the King , fo that this defendant allows him to alienate them h . 3. Ckopin and all the French lawyers are of opinion, that the King may alienate indefeafably ty exchange. 4. < TheJafety and good of the people ought to le the fo-vereign law c . 5. Plato fays, that great Kings ought in fame places to command and over-rule CHAP. II. Of the Real Tattle or Tattiage incident to Lands. THIS real Taille was levied upon all the fubjecls of the Roman Empire, and certainly produced an immenfe revenue; for in the reign of Trajan the Empire was fo widely extended, that its boundaries were Scot- land, the Rhine, the Leffer Poland, the Caf- pian Sea, the Tigris, the Perfian Gulph, the Defarts of Africa, and the Pillars of Her- cules ". The real Taille confifted, i. In the tenth of all the arable lands which were ufed to lie fal- low or unfilled b . 2. In a quit or annual rent payable for fuch as were ufed to be tilled c ; and b Du Mtu/itt, Caututne de Paris, e Salus populi fuprema lex efto. Dio, Tacitus, Jppian. k Appian, Bell, civil. 1. i.e. 20. e Servius Tullius, the fixtb King of the Romans, Jpeakt thus in Dionyfius of Halicarnaffui. Ut tributa quac in aera- 26 Of the RE VENUES and this rent or duty was of two kinds, be- caufe when they farmed out any of the lands which were actually laboured, they received and took all the profits and income thereof, as proprietors do of their eftates ; and the great lawyer Paulus calls thefe Agri vefligales '. The Romans, when they had conquered a country, fometimes fold the inhabitants their own lands : and in fuch cafe they received at firft the price of thofe lands, and then laid upon them an annual quit-rent, which was ge- nerally the tenth or eighth part of the yearly value of the eftate. They ftiled thefe lands, like thofe of the former kind, Agri vefligales feu Empbiteuticarii e . 3. The real Taille confifted in the fifth part of the produce or profits of all forts of fruit- trees, or according to others, in the eighth part of the faid revenue f . Cicero in his Ora- tion againft Verres fays, that the Sicilians paid only the tenth of their wine and oil ; which fhews plainly that this impoft was not uniform in all places alike. 4. The fhepherds and herdfmen, as well of large as of fmall cattle, paid a certain duty for each kind of their flocks and herds to the pub- lic farmer, that they might have the liberty of rium conferuntur, ob quae pauperes gravantur, coguntur- que fcenore pecunias fumere, levius impofterum feratis, vo- lo omnium bona cenferi, & unumquemque pro cenfu fa- cultatum fuarum conferre, ut in optime inftitutis civitatibus fit. Juftum autem & Reipublicae utile exiftimo, ut qui multa poffident, multa conlerant ; qui vero tenuibus./unt facultatibus, pauca. d L. 4. C. 2. /. i.ff. Si ager veftigalis. Ibid. f Jtfnan, Btll, civil. 1. I. c. 2. leading of the ROMANS. 27 leading them to pafture. This duty, accord- ing to Feftus, was called Scriptura ; and the field in which they grazed was called Scriptu- rarius ager. It is what the French now call Paijfi/is & Pannage. 5. No lands whatever were exempt from this real Taille ? . The Emperor Dioclefian laughs at a Philofopher, who petitioned him for the favour of fuch an exemption ; fo that no condition or age, no tendernefs or favour of children, nor any confideration of fex ex- cufed any body from thefe burdens or duties incident to lands. They even evicted the Im- perial families, and the Churches themfelves, out of lands which they legally enjoyed and had fairly purchafed, if they did not pay the Taille h . There is an exprefs decifion of the Emperor Leo to this purpofe. Gratian, Va- lentinian, and Arcadius revoke all immunities in this cafe which had been formerly granted ; and ftrictly forbid the procuring, and even the pretending to any for the future, under pain of being burnt ; . What is ftill more remarkable is, that the very lands of the Emperor himfelf were fub- jedt to this tax k . The lands of the Churches too paid this Tal- liage ; as the Emperors Theodofius and Va- lentinian fignify to Taurus, the Prafeftus Pra~ torn . t L. 2. C. De manerib. patrim. * L. 8- C. De exaftor. *- L. ii. C. De immunit. neminl conced. k L. 15. C. 7/V.47. /. 10. 1 L. 2. Cod. Tit. De quibus muner. nemini liceat fe cx- cufare. Thp 1J1C 28 Of tie R E v E N u E s The exemptions which were obtained by any to excuie them from paying it, were deemed null, and ftood them in no ftead m . If any perfon did not pay the Taille, they proceeded to fell the ground on which it was laid ; and if the debtor had only a part of a clofe, the officers of the Imperial Exchequer fold it all entire ; putting afterwards the price of the part which belonged to the debtor into the Emperor's coffers, and reftoring the over- plus to the other proprietor, according to the Ordinance of Alexander Severus, which was afterwards enacted into a law by Conftantine n . The real Talliages were liable to no prefcrip- tion, and the lands were fold if the Taille laid on them was not paid . The Emperor or his particular Exchequer was paid and ranked for the arrears that were owing, preferably to all other creditors: and this was the order and method obferved in that refpect. The Exchequer fell in the firft place upon the principal debtor or his fecurity, and in the fecond place (on fuppofmon of their in- folvency) upon the third Detainer, as the Ci- vil Law ftiled a perfon who had in his hands any effects of debtors which had been before engaged to another P : for, according to the great Civilian Paulus, the Exchequer could bring an action againft the debtor of a perfon that was indebted to the Prince, who on that * L. 3. tit. De muncr. patrim. n L. 12. &f 6. Cod. lib. io. Tit. De fide & jure haftae fifcalis. L. unic. C. De vendit- rerum fifcalium L i C. De cap. & diftrah. pignoribus. * L. 3. C. De przfcript. triginta vel qaadraginta anno- rum. * , i. C. DC convcn. fifci dcbitoribus. account of the R O M A N S. 29 account had acquired a tacit kind of mortgage upon all his effects : but could not conftrain cither the debtor's debtor or the third detainer, till after having diftreined upon and fold the effects of the principal in the obligation >. Godefroy hath very well obferved, that in this refpect the Exchequer had lels favour fhewed it than private creditors r . In fhort, the obligation in folidum 9 ( by which, as in a common bond, each fingle per- fon is obliged to pay the whole debt for all the parties) was prohibited in point of the Taille : and the Emperor Zeno fays, it clafhes both with the Civil Law and with natural equity, that one man fhould be profecuted for the debts of another f . The reafon of this is plain enough j becaufe the real Taille is an- nexed to the thing, is incident to the land, and is proportioned to the quality and quantity thereof; but the cafe is not the fame with re- gard to the perfonal Taille, where it is very poffible for fraud to intervene, either by fome miftake of the charge in the rolls of affeff- ment, or through the fault of the affeffors, or elfe on the part of the collectors, who may be either negligent or infolvent , and in this cafe it is always fuppofed that there is a frau- dulent combination among all the perfons fub- ject to the Taille, which of courfe infers a per- fonal fraud, and obligeth them all and every one to make good the lofs and damages. i L. Af~j.ff- De jure fifci. r Sup. Leg. De conv. fifci debit. f L. un. Cod. Ut nullus vicaneus pro alienis vicanco- rum debitis teneatur. The Of the REVENUES The Emperor Theodofius granted the Church of Thefialonica an exemption from the Taille, with a prohibition of extending it to any other lands under their name '. It is very probable that this was after he had put to the fword feven thoufand of the inhabitants of that city, for having mutinied and killed one of his Lieutenant-generals in the tumult. There were fome Provinces and Towns, in which a compofition was made for the Taille ', Thefe Tailles were impofed by officers, called Cenfitores, Pertzquatores^ Infpettores : they were properly fpeaking afleffors. They wrote down in the Tax-roll or Terrier the names of the proprietor and tenant of the territory or diftrict, the butts and boundaries of the land, the number of acres, and the quality thereof; they fpecified whether they were arable lands, or vineyards, olive-plantations, meadows, fo- refts, copfes, falt-works, ponds, ports, &c. u But the proprietors were obliged to declare and give an account of all thefe particulars, as is pra&ifed to this day in France in furveys and the writings between the landlord and tenant, and to pay the Taille at the office of the Re- ceiver for the diftricl: where the lands were fi- tuated w . Thefe officers were empowered to make al- lowances and abatements, when the lands were damaged or lefTened in their value x . They * C. 14. De annon. & tributls. v Ulp. 1. i, 2, 3. ff. De cenfib. v Cod. De cenfibus & cenfitoribus^ w Ulp. 1. 4. ff. De cenfibus. * D. L. 4. f i. 1. 3. C. were of the ROMANS. 3* were likewife authorifcd to dilpofe of lands that were wafte, defart, untilled and unoccu- pied, to whom they thought fit, and to make their afTeflment in fuch a manner, that the bar- ren lands mould be made up or compen fated by the fruitful ground, the ftrong carrying the weaker y . If it happened that the proprietors or occu- piers of lands had cut down their vines, and impoverifhed their grounds, in order to obtain an abatement of the tax, they were punifhed z . The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and The- odofius provided againft this practice, and gave orders about it to Eutropius the Prcefeftus Pr&torii. If thefe afieflbrs, out of favour to any far- mers, eafed them in their tax, the goods of the proprietors were confifcated, and they un- derwent the penalty of paying four times the value of the fum taken off the land ; and if they laid the taxes too high, they were con- demned to reftore fourfold '\ This is the pe- nalty ordered by Arcadius and Honorius. The pofleflbrs of eftates that were over- charged had the liberty of complaining with- in a year, in order to be relieved " : minors who had nobody to defend their caufe, and perfons employed for the fervice of the State, had time allowed them till they could adfc for themfclves *, but in the mean while they were to pay by provifion the rate which had been afifeffed on their eftates. The Emperor Con- T L. 4. C. De cenfibus. * L. 2. C. De cenfibus. * L. 6. Cod. fc L. 5. C. eod. 2 ftantine. Of the REVENUES ftantine, in confideration of the payment of their ordinary Taille, difcharged them purely and fimply of what they had been over-rated, in order to eafe the tich c . Such as were concerned in the collecting and receiving of this tax, if they kept the mo- ney anting thence in their hands, or diverted it to any other purpofe, were fubject to the penalty of paying four times its value, and were rendered incapable of that employment for the future d . Hufbandmen however were not allowed the liberty of removing from the Parim or Collection in which their abode was fituated, without the Emperor's licenfe e ; and when they got his permifllon to do fo, the lands that they held in the diftrict which they had quitted, were incorporated into the public Demefne -, the relations which they had upon the place having no right to fucceed to them f . This is the decifion of the Emperor Diocle- fian. If the officers of the Exchequer fold an eftate for the quit-rent's being in arrears, or if it was difpofed of and adjudged to any body out of favour, a third peribn was admitted to demand an adjudication of it to himfelf, upon his paying the true and full value of the land at the Receiver's office ?. It rnuft be obferved, that thefe levies and afiefiments were fettled and laid every year, and were called Indifliones h : but Tbeodofius L. i. Cod. eod. L. 8. Cap. De jure fifci. L. l z. C. De fufceptoribus. L. 4. C. De jure fifci. L. 3. C. ibid. Plin. jun. Epift. ad Trajan. the of the ROMANS. the Great, as Cedrenus relates, or ConftantinCj according to Onuphrius, ordered them only to be made once in every fifteen years* Thefe indictions or afiefiments were charged only upon lands, and never upon perfons j 5 and nobody could be charged with them higher than in proportion to the amount and value of the eftate he poffefled. The Emperors Honorius and Arcadius de- clare, as hath been already obferved, that it is an ordinary charge, and that nobody could be exempted from it, whatever privilege he had to alledge or produce k . This real Taille was fometimes increafed and raifed to an higher rate than ufual 5 and this additional charge was called Supcrindi- Elum '. It was paid like the ordinary Tailles, provided it was ordained and fettled by the Emperor, without which the people of the Provinces were not obliged to it. It was ftrictly forbidden to exact more of fuch as were fubject to this tax, than was charged upon them or came to their mare, on pain of reflitution of double the fum wrong- fully exacted to the fufferers : this was the pe- nalty for the firft offence, but in cafe of a fe- cond, the punifhment was capital . Before this Ordinance of Arcadius and Honorius, the Emperors Conftantine II. and Julian the Apo- ftate had condemned the exactors to reftore four-fold n . s Indi&iories non perfonis, fed rebus indici folent. Di* tcl. fcf Maxim. 1. 3. De Ann. & Tributis. k L. I . C. De indidionibus. 1 L. un. C. De fnperindi&o. L. un. C. De fuperexaftion. * L. 8. C. De exaft. muner. D The 34 0/*/& REVENUES The Emperor Leo V. afterwards by his fixth Ordinance regulates the penalties incurred by fuch as exacted more than they ought. For the firft time he condemned them to double the fum exacted ; for the fecond offence to pay four times its value ; and for the third, to the forfeiture of half their effefts and eftate. This Taille upon lands was not laid equally in all the Provinces ; Italy was not charged fo high as the reft, as may be feen in Sigonius, Ulpian and Caius quote feveral examples, which evidently mew that the Emperors had grati- fied feveral Provinces with the fame privileges as Italy enjoyed p . It is likewife out of alf queftion, that the ten Provinces which Au- guftus left to the People of Rome, according to Suetonius and Dio Caffius, were much more heavily rated than the eleven which he referved to his own immediate infpeftion and admini- ftration ; fince Tacitus in his Annals, to ex- prefs how Tiberius Casfar had eafed Achaia, fays, that he freed it from the load of the Pro- confular government q . Now the Provinces afligned to the People were called Tributaries and Proconfitlares ; and thofe kept in the Em- peror's hands were diftinguifhed by the name of Stipendiaries : thefe laft were governed by Prefidents of the Emperor's appointment, and the others by Proconfuls. The Taille was not paid in all places in the fame fpecies of money r : there were fome lands that paid it in gold, others ufually in Lib. De jure Italias & Provinciarum. f L. i &f 8. ff. De Cenf. Achaiam Proconfulari imperio levavit. * L. i. C. De argenti pretio quod thefauris infcrttir. filver, of the R O M A N S. 35 filver, and fome in brais. The Emperors Ar- cadius and Honorius, by a Law of the Code, give leave for the receiving it in gold from fuch as were taxed to make their payments in filver, provided they paid five ducats of gold for every pound of filver. This Taille incident to lands was ordinarily paid at three terms, viz. on the firft of Sep- tember, the firft of January, and the firft of May f . This cuftom was particularly efta* blimed by a Declaration of the Emperor A- naftafius, in which he leaves the Armenians their choice of paying either in this manner* or in the way they had ufually done, that is to fay, at two half-yearly payments l . The Theodofian Code prescribes the very fame re- gulation v ; and from thence it comes, that the acquittances which the Receivers of the Taille ufed to give to the pofleffbrs or occupiers of eftates, were ftiled Quadrimeftres breves ; be- caufe they were given for a four months aflefT- ment. There is likewife a paflage to be feen in Caffiodorus, which confirms this ufage, and entirely removes all the difficulties that might otherwife be raifed on the fubjecl:. It is an Imperial regulation directed to an officer em- ployed in collecling and receiving the real Taille, and enjoining him to make all perfona pay it regularly at three terms, without allow- ing them any farther delay ". No retrofpedion was f L. i. C. De militari vefte. 1 C. De Annoti. & Tributis. T L. 15, 16. Tit. eod. L. i. . 2. C. De Apochis. B Admonemus ut trina illatione dcvotus pofieflbr confli- tutis temporibus fuam compleat funftionem, ita ut ceflee venalis ilia dilatio, quae non ad tributariorum compendia, D * fed Of the REVENUES was allowed beyond the three laft years 5 fo that whoever produced acquittances for thofe years could not be profecuted, or have any demand made upon him on pretence of arrears antecedent to that time w . The filver or gold that was levied, was put into the hands of the Receivers y , who are filled fometimes Sufceptores, and fometimes Ex- aftores of Perfecutores esrarii. The law did not allow them to offer an exception non nume- rate pecunia^ or to plead that they had not received the money, when the land-holders produced their acquittances. There were generally two Receivers in eve- ' ry diftridt or collection ; which the Romans called Metrocomia y . The acquittances which the Receivers gave, were patted before public Notaries, who arc ililed Chartularii ; and they contained the day of payment, the name of the perfon charged to the Taille, the month, the year, and the caufe or reafon of the payment, which is pro- perly fpeaking a libelled or declarative acquit- tance z . Thefe Receivers had fome inferior officers depending upon them ; as Calhiers, who are ftiled Arcarii\ Comptrollers, who Were called 'Tabularii , and Clerks to draw up and difpatch the acquittances, who went like- wife by the name of Chartularii. fed ad fraudis ambitum cognofciturexquifita. Nam qui de hujufmodi onere fublevare dicunt, aliud majus pondus abo- minabilis nundinationis imponunt. L. \\.c. 7. w L. 3. C. De Apochis. x L. 4. C- De exaftoribus & fufceptoribus. y L. i. C Non lucre habitat. Metrocomiae. L. 8. De cxafloribus, faV. z L. i. f 2. C. De Apochis. As of the R O M A N S. 37^ As foon as they had received either gold or filver, they were obliged to fend it immediate- ly to the General Office of Receipt of the Pro- vince. The Emperors Honorius and Theo- dofius enjoined the fame thing ftill more ex- prefsly a . Befides thefe Receivers, there was fent eve- ry year into each Province of the Empire, an officer of the Imperial Houfhold, called Canonicarius, to ufe compulfory ways of pay? ment, if any body were in arrears. A month after the term was expired, an officer ftiled Compulfor was fent to force the inhabitants to pay ; and had authority to diftrein upon fuch as were indebted for paft arrears, to condemn them to fines or amerciaments, and to levy upon them the fees due to him for his time in the journey, as well as his travelling charges b . But this cuftom was aboliflied by the Empe- ror Juftinian c . CHAP. III. Of various other real Charges, which the Romans laid upon Lands. BEfides the impofition of the Taille, the proprietors or occupiers of lands were obliged to furnifh every year a certain quanti- ty of corn for the magazines, the military * L. 7. C. eod. L. un. C. De aerarii public! perfeq. L. un. De officio Comitis facraram largit. b L. 9. . i. C. De exaftor. r f Novel, j 28. D 3 men* 3 8 Of tie R E v E N u E s men, and the ftore-houfes a . This impoft or duty was termed Annona Militaris : and thefe kinds of contributions and levies of corn were an ordinary charge, from which nobody had a privilege of exemption. Such as lived neareft to the magazines on the frontiers, or to the public ftore-houfes, were obliged to carry them thither b . Thefe ftore- houfes were called Manfiones. They were not to be made but at convenient and fmall di- ftances from one another ; and whenever they could make them more conveniently by water than by land, either upon the fea or upon ri- vers, they were obliged to take that method, on pain of a capital punifhment to be inflicted upon fuch as infringed this Ordinance c . Neither the lands of the Minifters or Coun- fellors of State, nor thofe of the military men, nor even thofe of the Emperor himfelf, were exempted from thefe impofitions of corn, which were made as beft fuited to the conve- nience of places d 5 fo that fuch as could not make their payments in money, were fome- times admitted to pay in provifions e ; and from thence were ftiled Tranjlati : as in like manner thofe that could not pay in provifions, were allowed to pay in money, and for that reafon were called Adarati. The Clerks or officers that received thefe contributions of corn were called Qpinatorss f . C. De Annon. .5^7. C. eod. b L 6. C. L. 8. C. eod. fcf L. 2. C. De Lucris. c L. 9. C. DC Annonis. d L. 3. DC Difcurforibus. * L. un. Cod. De collat. donat. & tranflatorum. * L. i . C. De exaftione & tranflai. roiHtar. Annonamm. *** There of the ROMANS. 39 There were Jikewife fome officers appointed for the keeping of this corn, called ARuarii. There was no houfe whatever exempt from carriage and making ammunition-bread : the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius refufe fuch an exemption to the very lands of their own Demefne ?. This corn and bread were put in- to granaries and magazines, from whence they made every year a diftribution thereof among the foldiers. The Romans likewife laid other impofitions of bacon, mutton, vinegar and wine ; the dif- tribution whereof was by the Emperor Con- ftantius ordered to be made in this manner h . They gave the military men for two days one after the other a certain quantity of bifcuit, called Panis buccellatus ; and on the third day a proportion of ordinary bread ; one day they distributed wine, and the next vinegar ; one day bacon, and the two days following mut- ton. They impofed in like manner a quantity of hay upon the pofleflbrs of lands ; but thofe who were fubject to this contribution were not obliged to carry it to the camp '. The keepers of the magazines and ftores were termed Acluarii^ becaufe they were obli- ged to keep a regifter of all the various kinds of provifions ; and were, within thirty days after they were brought into the ftores, to de- liver an exact account thereof, fpecifying the quantity of corn, and the rations of bread, and of all the feveral kinds of provifions that were * Ibid. L. 2. h L. i . C. De erogatione militaris Annonze. 1 L. 8. C. tod. D 4 & Of the R E v E N u E s in the magazines k . Thefe Rolls or lifts of provifions were called Pittacia. They furniflied alfo draw to the foldiers ; and they were not bound to go and fetch it at a greater diftance than a mile ', In favour alfo of the military men, a mo- derate rate was fet upon the provifions proper for them, always fomething under the current price, and called Stellatura m . The landed men in the Provinces were like- wife bound to furnifh cloaths to the foldiers, which were to be delivered in the winter quarter, viz. from the firft of September to the firft of April, that is to fay, before the be- ginning of tne Campaign n . This kind of impofition was regulated in fuch a manner, that twenty heads of families or twenty ploughs furniflied a fuit of cloaths. There was how- ever a variation in this rule, according to the different Provinces. If there were any overplus or remainders of thcfe provifions and cloaths, the officers of the magazines fold them at the current rate of the market, and not upon the foot of the original price and value at the time they were laid in -, becaufe fometimes the purchafe thereof had been very moderate. Thefe remains of mu- nitions were called Species reftftentes* fcf annoncs vacantes . If they thought it would be more conveni- ent, either for the foldiery or the inhabitants, k L. c. C. tad. 1 L. 2. C. eod. m Altiat. on the Law 1 1 . C. * L. \. C. De militari vefte. L. \2. C. DC erogatione. tQ of the R O M A N S. to convert the cloathing, provifions, and other munitions into money, it was done according- ly p. The practice of this converfion was called Adarare. In confideration of thefe con- tributions, ftrict orders were given to all the officers and foldiers of the armies, forbidding them to moleft, injure, or abufe the inhabi- tants, to demand money or relief of them in their marches or pafiing from one place to an- other, or to compel them to furnim them ei- ther with wood for firing, with mattrefles for their bedding, with oil and nice fort of meats for their eating, or with any other kind of perquifites and gratifications q . Befides thefe burdens, the inhabitants of the Provinces were fubject to the quartering of the foldiers r , and were obliged to furnim them with houfes to lodge in, which were called Metata ; as the harbingers that diftributed and marked them out, were ftiled Metatores. There were however feveral kinds of per- fons that were exempt from this charge of quartering foldiers ; as the Phyficians of Rome, the great Artifts, Painters, and other people diftinguifhed by their talents and endowments f . In order to be excufed and difcharged from this lodging of foldiers, they paid certain taxes called Epidemetica, as Alciatus interprets the word . P I. 1 9. C. L. 4. De milk, vcfte. L. . C. De colla- tione donatorum. * L. 5 . C. De erogat. militaris Annonae. L. un. C De Salgamo militibus non praeftando. T L. i . C. De Mctatis, & L. 2. C. eo. L. i. 7. Such 60 Of /^REVENUES 7. Such as in writing the laft will of any body, put down themfelves for legacies /. Lampridius however relates, that the Em- peror Adrian did not proceed to execute the rigor of this law, but contented himfelf with the cutting off of the fingers of a perfon guilty of forgery. Falfe coiners fuffered the penalty of this law, as to confifcation of their effects, as well for having filed, clipped, or altered, as for having ^counterfeited the coin. It took in like- wife fuch as did not prevent this practice when it was in their power to do fo, and fuch as put off and vended falfe money z . The lands and houfes of perfons where it had been coined were alfo confifcated. , The Emperor Conftantine the Great de- clares falfe coiners to be guilty of high treafon, and condemns them to be burnt alive 2 . Whoever changed his name with any ill defign in view, underwent the rigor of this law ; but excepting the cafe of fraud, it was allowable for all perfons to change their names at pleafure b . Such as fuppofed children were likewife fub- jedt to the penalties of this law ; and in this cafe no time whatever could introduce a pre- fcription, and fave the guilty from profecu- j tion and punifhment c . Such as offered any violence to others, without carrying arms about them, forfeited 7 L. 4. C. eod. z L. 9. . i, z.ff, L. i.C. De falfa moneta. L. z. C. eod. b L. un. Cod. De mutatione nominis. * X7.KC. eoJ. L. i. . i.ff. L. 19. 5. i.ffi only of the ROMANS. 61 only a third part of their eftates : but if they had weapons about them when they committed the violence, they were fentenced to a perpe- tual exile, and all their eftate was confiscated d . This penalty was alfo incurred by thofe that exacted new impofts, with an armed force, by their own authority. The eftates of fuch as committed rapes up- on maidens, widows, virgins confecrated to Religion ; as alfo the effects of thofe that ac- companied them in the enterprize, or har- boured, lodged, and entertained them in their houfes, were confifcated ; and their perfons moreover were punifhed capitally e . The eftates of fuch as were convicted of facrilege, of robbing the treafury, and em- bezzling the public money, were alfo confif- cated ; but in the laft cafe five years was enough to create a prefcription, and fave the embezzler from punilhment f . Such as kept the public money in their hands, and made ufe of it for their own pro- fit, were condemned to make reftitution, and pay a third part of the fum fo diverted over and above by way of fine g . Such as being employed in a poft committed any exactions, were banifhed, and fentenced to an amerciament, which was often four times the value of the fum that had been exacted ir- regularly and unjuftly from people h . d L. 10. f ult.f.adL. Jul. De vi publ. L. ult.f.eoJ. * L. un. $. z. C. De raptu Virg : num. f L. g.JT. ad L. Jul. Peculat. &c. I. 4. f eod. h Novel. 159. L. 7. . $. ff, ad Leg. Jul. Repetundar. Extor- 62 Of the R E v E N u fc a Extortioners were fometimes punifhed ac- cording to the Cornelian Law, by which they were fubjected to have their eftates confifca- ted 1 . Such as bribed to get into offices, and pur- chafed fuffrages, were fined an hundred crowns of gold k . Plagiaries were alfo generally condemned to the mines, and their eftates confifcated '. Prevaricators that ufed collufion, and be- trayed a caufe or truft, differed fometimes the lofs of all their whole eftate, and fometimes only of a moiety m . Such as diverted, mifapplied, or embezzled the affets awd eftate of a fucceffion, were fome- times condemned to very heavy fines ; for it was a criminal affair. Cheats likewife that fold or mortgaged a thing twice over, or by a falfe title, were treated in the fame manner >. Such as formed focieties and combinations, and affembled multitudes of people together without the Prince's perrniffton, were fentenced alfo to fevere fines . Subaltern Judges, in country villages, called from their not being allowed feats at the hear- ing of caufes, pedanei^ were, when guilty of bribery and corruption, punifhed with the lofs of their eftates, and banifhment p . 1 L. 2.ff. De concuffione. L. 3. 8. 5. ad L. Corbel. De ficariis. k L. un.ff. ad L. Jul. Ambitus. 1 L. ult. C. eo .ff. Dejurefifci. and 66 Of the R E v E N v E s and the purchafe-money was paid into the Ex- chequer f . Such as defrauded the treafury of any of its dues, were condemned to reftore fourfold g . Such as opened the teftament of a perfon whilft he was living, incurred the penalties of confifcation of eftate and banifhment h . If a man caufed any pillars or works of marble to be carried out of the town into the country to any of his eftates, the eftate was confifcated '. There was an exprefs prohibition of pulling down houfes in order to fell the ftones, the marbles, and the pillars feparately, under pain of nullity of the fak, and of double the price being paid to the Exchequer by the purchafer. It appears neverthelefs that this double was paid equally by the feller and the purchafer k . The Magiftrates that were commiffioned to take care of the bringing in and receiving of the corn for the army, when it was not done within the year, were fentenced to pay double '. The Commiflaries of provifions that had kept any of them to themfelres, were alfo condemned to pay double, the moiety where- of went to the Exchequer m . If any perfon engaged in a law-fuit wa* convicted of having given money to the Judge r D. L. . 2. L. unit. L. C. Tit. cj. D. L. i. f ult. * L. 38. . -j.f. De pcenis. * L. C. De JEdif. privatis. k L. $z.ff. De contrah. emptione. L. 4. f 5, 6, 7, g f 10, 11, 12, & ff. De legatis. L. 4. C. De /Edif. privatij, L. ult. De donat. inter virum & oxorem. ' .". 1 L. 7. C. De exaftoribus. ? D. L. 7. in of the ROMANS. 67 in a civil affair, he was fentenccd to pay four times the fum ; and if it was in a criminal cafe, his eftate was confiscated ". Such as made appeals from the fentences of the Courts of Judicature rafhly and caufelefs- ly, were condemned to pay fifty pound weight of filver . The effects and eftates of the chief and o- ther Magiftrates of towns, whenever they quitted their towns, were employed in defray- ing the charges of collecting the public mo- ney, if they did not return within the year ?. The falaries and perquifites due to officers deceafed, belonged to the Exchequer q . All fines were to be carried to the Treafu- ry, as foon as ever they were received r * Such as gathered thefe fines > if they diverted any part of what was due to the Treafury 5 were condemned to pay fifty pounds of gold to the Exchequer ' . The Judges might condemn a Barretter who had loft his caufe to pay the cofts of fuit, and to pay moreover ten per Cent, of the fum?, to which the faid cofts amounted into the Ex- chequer, The Serjeants or Bailiffs that let any perfons committed to their cuftody make their efcape, incurred a fine of ten pounds of gold '. The Judges were ftridtly forbidden to mo- n Authentic. Novo jure, C. De pcenis. L. 5. . ult. Quorum Appellationes non recipiuntur. * L. 5. C. De Decurionibus. 1 L. i.C. De Annon. 5c Tributis. L. i. C. Tbeod. De Annonrs civilibus. 1 L. i. C. De modo mul&arum. f L. 13. .3. r L. 2. C. De fportulis. F 2 left Of the R E v E N u E s left and opprefs the people of the Provinces* under the penalty of a fine of fifty pounds of gold ; and were enjoined to obierve and keep to the Ordinances, on pain of paying ten pounds of gold for each infringement thereof". CHAP. VII. Of Efeheats, or the Revenue arifing from Succejfions, and teftamentary Legacies. AUguftus Casfar firft introduced this right, which was eftabliflied by the law Pa- pa Popptza a ; and took in, i . Every thing that was left by will, in the way of inheri- tance, or in truft, as a donation on account of death, or by any other title whatever, to per- fons living and capable of fucceeding at the time of making the teftament, but who chanced to die during the teftator's life-time, or after his deceafe before the opening of his will h . 2 . Every thing that was left under any condition whatever which came to fail, and all legacies or inheritances that were re- nounced or not claimed by thofe that had a right to receive and inherit them. The Emperor Juftinian fupprefied this right, becaufe t fays he, // having been eftablijhed an occafion of the Civil Wars, it is very reafon- tble and proper'* to aboli/h it during the calm of " 1.4. . 2. C. N. 112. C. 2. * Tac. Annal. 3. Dion Cajfius in Aug. b Ulp. in Fragm. 1 1 1. De Caduc. & L. mtic. $ 2. C. De siducis tollcfidis. peace 3 of the R O M A N S. peace <= ; expreffing himfelf very finely on the fubjecT: in the following words : What is gene- rally beneficial to all, we deem -preferable to our private intereft j being in our Imperial way of thinking perfuaded^ that the advantage of our fubjefts is our own particular advantage d . 3. Every thing that was left by will, on any account or by any title whatever, to per- fons that lived in a (late of celibacy, was claimed by the Exchequer, if the legatees did not marry within an hundred days after the death of the teftator ; unlefs the unmarried perfon, if a man, was a minor not five and twenty years old, or if a female, under the age of twenty years e . This right of debar- ring batchelors from inheriting, was called the penalty of celibacy, and was introduced chiefly for two reafons. The one was, in order to bring money into the Prince's coffers ; the other was, to oblige the men to marry, for the quicker repcopling of the Commonwealth, which had been ex- tremely thinned and wafted by the civil wars of Marius and Sylla, of Pompey and Casfar, of the Triumvirate, and of Anthony and Au- guftus f . The Emperor Conftantine confidering this ufage as contrary to the tenor of the Chriftian. Religion, thought fit to fupprefs it ?. * L. unica. * Quod communiter omnibus prodeft, hoc private no- ftrae ucilitati praeferendum efle cenfemus, noftrum eflc pro- prium fubje&orum commodum imperialiter exiftirnantes. e Ulp. ibid. Tit. 13. De ccelibat. & orbit. Cujacii PA- ratttla in Codice. f Velhius Patercitlus, dppian, Dion Caftus. * Z.. I . C. De infirmandis pcenis coelibatus. F Suclx Of the REVENUES Such as were married, but yet had no chil- dren, loft half of what was left them by will, the other half efcheating to the Exchequer h : but if they were charged to make it good to other perfons who were qualified to inherit, they took po0eflion of the whole, according to the opinion of Javolenus \ Befides, if they had a fon, or their fon had died after attain- ing the age of fourteen, they had in this cafe too the whole. Conftantine abrogated this right alfo. When a hufband made his wife his heir, or gave her any thing by will ; and when a wife made a like difpofition of her effects in favour of her hufband ; if they had no children, they had only the tenth part of what fhould have accrued to them by fuch legacy ; the other nine parts belonged to the Imperial Treafury *. But in cafe they were minors, that is, the man under five and twenty, and the woman under twenty years of age ; or if the man was above fixty years old, and the woman turned of fifty-eight, they then had the whole. If they had children by another marriage, each child was worth a tenth to them, procuring them that further /hare of the fucceflion. If they had by the fame marriage a fon or a daughter who had died after the ninth day, they got likewife another tenth oh that account: if they had two children who had thus died after li- ving nine days, they not only gained two tenths, but enjoyed allb the ufe and profits of the reft. But if they procured a faculty from k U/p Tit. DC ccelibat. & 01 bit. j L. ^z.ff. De Legatis. U)'t. Tit. f i & 2. * L. 2. C. Be infirmar.dis ri cnis ccelibatus. the of the ROMANS. 71 the Emperor, giving them the rights .and be- nefit of children, they entirely cut off all de- mands and pretenfions of the Exchequer '. In cafe an hulband or wife died without heirs, the furvivor barred the Exchequer from any claim, and was qualified to inherit, in Virtue of the Praetor's Edict m . But if they had never had any children, the furvivor took only the the tenth, or feveral tenths, according to the number of children which he had by other marriages : and the Law Papia (what- ever Godefroy may fay of it) extended in this cafe to the fuccefiion of perfons dying inte- ftate, as is eafy enough to be proved n . The Emperors Honorius and Theodofius abrogated the claim of the Exchequer in this point, and gave the right of children to all married per- fons in general. Every thing that was left, in any manner whatever, to perfons undeferving of fuch kind- nefs and liberalities, belonged al/o to the Prince's Exchequer . 1. An inheritance or fucceffion that fell to an heir who did not revenge the death of the deceafed, devolved to the Exchequer, and the unworthy heir was obliged to refund the pro- fits he had received out of the eftate p . 2. Whoever had let his wife die for want of care, was deemed unworthy of fucceeding to her effects q. 1 Ulp. Tit. 15. De Decimis. 81 L. i.C. Unde vir & uxor. n Bafilk. 1. 45. Tit. 5. L. i. C- De infirmandis poems coelibatus, fcf L. i. Cod. De jure liber. C. De iis quibus ut indignis hseredit. auferuntur. r L. i.C. eod. *-&s.j!. F 4 3, Who- Of the R E V E N U E S 3. Whoever had married a wife of the Pro- vince whereof he was Governor, was deprived and excluded from her fucceffion r . 4. Whoever had difpofed of the eftate and effects of one of his parents during the life and without the knowledge of fuch parent, loft all his right to the inheritance f . 5. Whoever wrongfully charged a will with being forged, incurred the fame penalty '. 6. Whoever lent his name, in order to fe- cure a legacy or truft to a perjon incapacitated by law to receive it, was deprived of it, but with this difference however, that if he gave information of it himfelf, he only loft a moie- ty thereof ; and if the information came from another quarter, he loft the whole i the lega- cies ftill remaining valid ". 7. An hufband that did not revenge the death of his wife, loft her fortune, if Ihe had brought him any v . 8. If a fuppofuitious child fucceeded to an eftate, as foon as ever it was difcovered that he was fo, the eftate and iucceflion devolved to the Exchequer w . Whoever had fupprefied a teftament, had hindered any body from making a will, or forced him to make one in his favour, fo that he came to fucceed to an eftate by one of thefe < D. L. 2. i 3. L. 5. J. i. L. 10. /. L. 3. $. ff. De jure fifci. I. vnk. C. D Jus qui fe dcferunt. T L. 20. ff. Dehisqus, fcfc. * I. 46 ff. De jure fifci. thret of tie R O M A N S. 73 three means, loft all right to it, and the fuo ceffion fell to the Exchequer x . Women that married contrary to the laws, forfeited their dower, and all the advantages to which they would otherwife have been en- titled : and all the effects and eftates of fuch as contracted inceftuous marriages were con- fifcated y. The Governors of Provinces, who either married themfelves within the diftrict of their government, or fuffered any belonging to them to marry there, were fined ten pounds of gold, befides the nullity of the marriage z . Women that engaged haftily in a fecond marriage, before the year of mourning for their former hufband was expired, loft every thing that was left them by will, all legacies, trufts, or donations on account of death which might fall to them : all belonged to the Exchequer, which claimed alfo, and obliged them to refund, whatever they had got by the teftament of their firft hufband and by their marriage- articles a . A widow that within the year of her mourn- ing had a child by any body but her firft hufband, was liable to the fame penalty b . x L. 2. ff. ad L. Cornel. De falfis. L. 2. C. Siquis ali- quem teftari prohibuerit. y Authentic. Inceftas. C. L. 4. De inceflis & inutilibu* nuptiis. z 1. unic. C. Si quacumque praeditus poteftatc rcl ad cum pertinentes, &c. L. i. C. De fecundis nuptiis. b Authentic, eifd. pcenis. C. CHAP, 74 Of the REVENUES CHAP. VIII. Of Hflates that were vacant, and bad n* certain Proprietor. TH E eftatcs of fuch as died without heirs belonged to the Exchequer, exclufive even of the privileges of the towns, corpora- dons, and private men that might have fome claim to them, either by a long poffeflion, or by a particular privilege: but this did not take place, unlefs the heirs both on the father's and mother's fide came to fail. Such inheri- tances however, if they had not been incorpo- rated into the Demefne, were prefcribable, and all the pretenfions of the Exchequer were barred by a poffeffion of four, or rather of forty years 3 . It muft be obferved likewife, that the hufband or wife excluded the claim of the Exchequer. Tn eSecls and eftates of foreigners, and of fuch as had been given for hoftages purfu- ant to treaties made with enemies, belonged alfo to the Exchequer b 5 and hoftages could not make a will without the Prince's licenfe e . * L. i. \. 2. fl". DC jure fifci. L. i. C. De bonis va- camibus, &< . L. 4. C. L. i . C. De quadriennii praefcri- ptione. L. 4. C. De praefcriptione triginta vel quaaraginta annorum. jf. Unde vir & uxor. b Dirus Commodus obfidum bona ficut & captivorum omoimoda in fifcum efle cogenda refcripfu. Ulp. l.$\.ff. De jure fifci. c L. \\.ff, Qui teftamcnta faeere poflunt. Tacitus, Po- im, fee. Now of the R O M A N S. 75 Now there was always a great number of ho- ftages and prifoners of war among the Ro- mans j for they never made any treaty, but they took hoftages to infure its being obferved. This kind of confifcation or efcheat is called in France the Droit d* Maine : the Royal De- mefne aflumes all the benefit of it, exclufive of private Lords of Manours, notwithftanding the cuftoms which prevail in fome places, be- ing founded on the law of the Emperor Corn- modus, whofe regulation eftablifhed the pra- ctice here mentioned. If the foldiers purchafed any eftates in trie countries where they were employed in ma- king war, they were confifcated, becaufe it was a thing exprefsly forbidden them d . All kinds of merchandife fubjeft to the payment of any duty were confifcated p , if they did not pay it, and were not declared at the offices of the Receivers of the Cuftoms. Run goods and commodities that were fmug- gled, were ftiled imprcfeffa merces ; and the right of forfeiture in cafe of that illegal pra- ctice was called Commiffum f . Merchandife belonging to the foldiers was not liable to fuch forfeiture and feizure. The hopes and profpeft of gain tempted informers and delators to look out for frauds and rnifdemeanors of this kind, and to make a difcovery thereof. We fee in Appian feve- ral inftances, where the accufers had fometimes all the confifcation of the perfons condemned. Tiberias Caefar was far from being inclined to * L. g. ff. De re militari, fcf L. l$.jf. tod. e L. 3. De veftigal. & comraiffis: D. L. 3. L. 2, C. eod. leffcn 76 Of the R E v E N u E 3 leffen their perquifites and emoluments, ailed- ging that they were the guardians of the laws e. Under the various Tyrants of the Empire, J thefe public nuifances and pefts of fociety mul- tiplied in an extraordinary manner, and made themfelves exceeding terrible. Tacitus de- fcribes with energy die terror they infpired in faying, Every lody dreaded for fear the very walls bad ears. The delators or informers of run and for- feited goods, of eftates efcheated for want of heirs, of the effects of foreigners, of frauds and other things fubject to confiscation, had at firft the half of the profits : but in Nero's time they were dinted to a quarter part ; which gave occafion to their being diftinguifhed by the name of Quadruplatores^ fo odious among the Romans h . If any man accufed another falfly of a crime, the legal punifhment whereof was the Jofs of life, of the city, or of liberty, he incurred the fame penalties of death, banifhment, or fla- very ; befides the confifcation of all his ef- fete '. In like manner, if the informers gave in falfe informations againft any body, all their eftates were confifcated, and they underwent the corporal punifhment of fcourging : if they were in any pofts or employments, they were turned out immediately k . The Emperors Carus and Numerianus brand this kind of pro- * Tacit. Annul 1. 4. h Suetonius in Nerone. 1 C. De accufat. infcriptionibus. * L. //. $. 10. C. DC delatoribus. feffioa of the R O M A N S. 77 Feflion by the ftile of Execrable l . The name of delator or informer was infamous ; and if any one had called another an informer, he had an action againft him, and might recover damages m . Every thing that came into any one's pof- feflion by lucrative title, (that is to fay, by way of a teftamentary heirfhip, or in the courfe of fuccefiion to a perfon dying inteftate) by way of legacy, truft, donation on account of death, or donation and conveyance between living parties (except moveable goods) was fubjedt to the payment of a duty which was impofed upon all immoveables, and confifted in a certain quantity of gold charged by the acre. The Senators themfelves were not ex- empted from paying this duty ". The Senators paid feven hundred crowns of gold : but the Emperors Arcadius and Hono- rius fupprefled this duty. Cujacius fays in that place, and Godefroy after him, that this gold was called Aurum debate, when the feven hundred crowns of gold were exacted from the Senators ; and Aurum Coronarium^ when le- vied upon the Magiftrates of towns ; and that the Tradefmen paid their duty in filver : which notion doth not feem to me to be well foun- ded . 1 Omnibus notiffimum eft eos execraliles nunciatores eflc qui fifco deferunt. L. 4. Cod. m L 3. C. De injuriis. n Tbeodof. & Valentinian. L. unic C. De imponenda lu- crativa defcriptione. .. 4. C. De dignkatibus. * L, 2. DC prjetoribus. CHAP. Of the R E v E N u E s CHAP. IX. Of Impofts laid upon Merchandife and Provifions. HERE was an impoft laid not only JL upon merchants and tradefmen, but alfo upon all kinds of merchandife : and this all forts of perfons were obliged to pay ; the ve- ry foldiers themfelves having no exemption in this refpeft any more than others a . This im- poft was at the rate of twelve and a half per Cent, and all the exemptions that were pro- cured to be excufed from paying it were of no effect, being declared null by the Ordinance of the Emperors Honorius and Theodofius b The third penny arifing from all impofts in general was annexed to the local charges and employments, except from fuch as had from time immemorial belonged to the Emperor's Demeihe : the two other thirds were carried and paid into the Imperial Treafury c . Now as I have already obferved, all merchandife and commodities that were not declared either at the Co* 1 lector or Receiver's office, or at the Guftom-houfe, fpeaking in the language of our ufages, were liable to be feized, and be- ing difcovc red were confiscated : but this right of feizure a nd confifcation was taken away by a prefcription of five years, if no fuit had L. 7. C. De Vcftigalibas & Commiffis. L. 12. L. 13. Cut. been of tie R O M A N S. 79 been carried on, nor profecution made, on ac- count of this right within that time ; and if the merchandife or goods were no longer in being, or had not been concealed with a frau- dulent defign d . There was no cuftom, excife or impoft paid for fuch merchandife or goods, as were bought for a man's own ufe, or for the ufe of the Prince and State : but all other goods were fubject thereto e . Foreign ambaf- fadors paid the duties for fuch merchandife and provifions as they brought from their own country, but were exempt from paying for fuch as they carried home with them f . Soldiers were obliged to pay the duties as well as others : but yet if they could run or pafs their merchandife without carrying it to the Cuftom-houfe or declaring it at the Col- lectors offices, they were fo much favoured that it was not fubject to confifcation *. This peculiar privilege was granted them by the Emperor Severus and his fon Caracalla. There was alfo an impoft upon certain beafts that came from Egypt, but not upon all kind of cattle h . The Magiftrates of Towns and Corpora- tions had a power of laying fome impofts to provide for the necefiities of thofe particular places ; and nobody could oppofe or deny the payment of them : but however, before they could exert this power, they were obliged to apply for leave either to the Governor of the 4 Seir. &f Antonin. L. 2. Cod, L. 5. C. eod. f L. 8. C. eod. L. 3. C. ted. * L. Q. Cgd, See Cujanut. Pro- So Of tie R E v E N u E 8 Province, or elfe directly to the Emperor him* felf \ This is obferved likewife to this day in France : Towns and Corporations have no authority to lay any impofitions upon them- felves without letters patents from the King ; in confequence whereof the fums of money levied by fuch impofts are called Oftrois, Grants. The farmers of thefe duties upon merchan- dife were ftiled Offavarii, fignifying as it were, that they were farmers of the eighth penny. It is generally thought that the payment was at the rate of a Ihilling in the pound ; and yet the Law which I have juft quoted fays the contrary. This eighth penny was levied even upon the Eunuchs of the Palace ; but the Emperor Leo forbad the farmers to receive it, as being a thing prohibited by the law of Conftantine the Great k . If the officers employed in col- lecting thefe duties exacted any things for com- modities and things that were exempted and ought not to pay, it was a capital crime, and they were punifhed with death. If they le- vied any thing without the Prince's letters au- thorizing them to do fo, they were obliged to make reftitution: and fuch as molefted and oppreffed the people of the Provinces were condemned to perpetual banilhment l . The officers that levied thefe duties were called Stationarii) and were indeed foldiers . 1 L. 10. C. L. 2& 3. C. Veftigalia nova non infh'tui poflc. k L. i fcf 2. C. De Eunuchis. 1 L. i. C. De veftigalibus. L. 3. C. Veftigalia nova. " D. L. 5. L. 1 6. D. 5. DC publicanis & veftigaJibHs. There tftbe ROMANS. 81 There is in the Digeft a fmall book of rates of the things fubjeft to this duty of the eighth penny j and thefe are feveral forts of fpices and grocery ware, among" others pepper : yet there is no manner of doubt to be made, but that all other kinds of merchandife were fub- ject to this duty n . Julius Casfar was the firft that laid a duty on foreign merchandife . The Romans car- ried on a very great traffick in India ; and Pliny p relates, that they bought in that coun- try every year to the value of above two mil- lions of merchandife, upon which the mer- chants gained an hundred-fold their prime coft and value. Now according to Strabo, thefe foreign commodities paid double duty, that is to fay, both for import and export h ; fo that this impoft afforded a confiderable produce. There was alfo a duty of entry that was paid at the gates of Towns, and called Veftigal in port a. A Toll was alfb paid at bridge, and on the high roads r . Herod ian however fays, that thefe duties were tyrannical impofitions, and that they were abolifhed by the Emperor Pertinax. How- ever this was, it is certain that the merchants and tradefmen who furnifhed goods for the Emperor's ufe, and provilions for his houfhold, n Cod. De Veftigal. & Commiflis. Portoria peregrinarum mercium inftituit. Suefan. in Cafare. P Hijl. lib. 12. L ult. Cod. 27. 1 Lib. 17. * Nee indignabitur fapiens aliquid impendere ut iimen tranfeat, ccgitans & in pontibus quibufdain p,o traafitu dari. Senec. G were 82 Of fie R E V E N U E 8 were not exempt from paying them f ; and that nobody was difpenfed with in that re- fpect, unleis it were the body of Mariners, called in the Civil Law Navicularii !. The farms of thefe imports were always ad- judged and fet to the higheft bidder : the leafes were ufually granted for three years at leaft ; and Varro fays, that in ancient times they ge- nerally were made for five years. A man who in the heat of the auction and in the ea- gernefs of bidding had offered the higheft fum, was not admitted to farm them, unlefs he gave good and fufficient fecurity for payment ; and all the eftates and effects of fuch as owed any thing to the Imperial Exchequer on account of their farms, were bound to make it good u . Nobody was compelled to take thefe farms y : but if the farmers who had made great pro- fits by their leafes were for quitting them after their term was expired, and there offered no new tenants that would give as much, the old ones were obliged to continue their farm upon the fame rent and foot as before *' : and this regulation was very juft and reafonable. Far- mers that were behindhand in their accounts, were not admitted to take a new leafe of their { L- i. C. De commerciis. * L. 6. Cod. u L. 4. C. L 4. De Lingua Latina. Cujacius cap 14. De prafcript L. 3. $'. b.ff. De jure nTci. Pau/us, L. 9. 'Jf'. De Publicanis. L. nit. Cod. T Ad conducendum veftigal nemo compellitur, & ideo impleto tempore conducHonis elocanda hint. D. L. $. i. Callijlr. L. 3. . b.Jf. De jure fifci. w Qui maximos fru&us ex redemptione ve&igalium con- fequuntur, fi poftea tan to locari non poffunt, ipfi ea prio. ribus pen/ionibus lufcipere compelluntur. L. 1 1. $. ult. ff. farm, of tie ROMANS. 83 farm, if they had not firft cleared their ac- counts, and difcharged the arrears of their former *. It was provided by law, that no perfons indebted to the Exchequer of the Prince or State, fhould be admitted to take the farms, unlefs they provided fubftantial fureties for paying as well what they owed upon their old leafe, as what was to become due upon the new/. If the farmers did not make the payments ftipulated by the articles of their leafe, there was a remedy againft them by evicting them out of pofieffion, vacating their farm, and forcing them to pay intereft from the day that they, came to be in arrears 7 . If there were feveral aflbciates concerned in thefe. farms, each having his diftinct mare in the management thereof, they might upon occafion force one of their company to part with his lhare in the adminiftration "-. All mercantile goods and commodities, as well fuch as were liable to pay duty, as thofc that were free and paid none, were equally fubjed to the regulation which required that * Reliquatores ve&igalium ad iterandam conduflionem, antequam fuperiori conduction! fatisfaciam, adrnittendi non funt. L. 9. $. z.jf. V Debitores fifci itemque Re'publicse vcfligalia condu- cere prohibentur, ne ex alia caufa eorum debita onerentur, nifi forte tales fidejuflbres obtulerint, qui debitis eorum fa- tisfacere parati fmt. Ibid. z Non folutis veftigalium penflonibus pellere condufto- res, necdum eciam tempore condulionis compieto, vel ab his ufuras ex morl exigere permittitur. Hcrmogt*. L. \.jf- a L 9- $ 4 -ff- 4i "- G 2 they 84 Of the REVENUES they mould all be declared at the Cuftom- houfe or the Receivers offices : and in defect thereof they were confifcated, and might be feized even in the hands of the heirs of thofc that had run them, who were obliged to make good the damage, and liable to the penalties of their predeceflbrs fraud b . But if any body out of miftake had not paid the duty, the farmers in fuch cafe were to take up with dou- ble the fum due c . Several things were exempted from thefc duties. 1 . All the merchandife and goods that were defigned for the Emperor's houfhold d j tho* merchants and tradesmen that bought them either from the officers of the revenue or from the farmers, were fubject to them c . 2. Every thing that was bought for a man's own ufe, or for ploughing the ground f ; in- fomuch that nothing was paid for the flaves which people bought for their own fervice $. 3. All provifions for fupplying the army in war, and the (tuffs defigned for their cloath- b Fraudati veftigalis crimen ad hneredem ejus qui frau- dem contraxit, commiffi ratione tranfmittitur. Papin. L.sff. ' L. 26. $. ltd. d Fifcus ab omnium veftigalium prafiationibus immunh etto. D. L. 9. f 8. c D. L. i. f Univcrfi Provinciates pro his rebus quaa ad ufum pro- prium, vel exercendi ruris caufa, invehunt, nullum vefti- gal a ftationariis cxigatur. L. 5. Cod. De vcdligalibus. Co*~ ftantinui Imperator. * L. 203.^ De verb, fignificat. ing. of the ROMANS. 85 ing h . Excepting thefe three cafes, every thing paid ; . If a farmer had neglected to levy the duties upon any merchandife, commodities, or pro- vifions, his fucceflbr in the farm might exact them , but this was not allowed him, in cafe the things did not ordinarily pay duty k . The Governors of Provinces were not au- thorized or allowed, without an exprefs order from the Emperor, to lay any new impofls, or to new modify or alter old ones, either by augmenting or lefTening them '. Contraband goods paid nothing, becaufe the carrying and tranfporting them to foreign coun- tries was forbidden on pain of death. Such were whetftones, iron, corn, and fait m . It was alfo forbidden to carry gold thither out of the Empire. The Emperors Gratian and Valentinian recommend and even enjoin their fubjects to carry off dexteroufly the gold they met with in foreign countries : . To the com- h Res exercitui paratas vefligalium oneri fubjici non pla- cuit. Jul. Paulas. Dig. L. 9. . 7. De Publicanis. ' Ea vero quae extra praediclas caufas, vel negotiation is caufa portantur, folitas penfitationi fubjugamus. L. 5. C. De vetHgalibus. k Earum rerum veftigal quarura nunquampra:flitum eft, praeftari non poteft, quod (i prasftari confuetum indiligentia publican! omiferat, alius exercere non prohibetur. Dig, L 9. $. 5. 1 Veftigalia fine Imperatoris pnecepto, neque Praefidi, neque Curator! conftituere, neque prascedentia reformare, & his vel adjicere vel diminuere licet. L. io.^I De Pub- licanis. m Cotem fcrro fubigendo necefTariam hoftibus quoque vcnundari, ut ferrum, frumentum, & fales, non fine pe- riculo capitis licet. L. \i-ff- n L. 2. C. De commerciis. L. 2. C. Quae res venire con poflunt. G 3 modities 86- Of the R E v E N u E s modities here mentioned may be added the filks, which it was forbidden to buy of the Barbarous nations, wines, oil, and feafim, the export of which into foreign countries was ex- prefsly prohibited . The Emperor Martian declares fuch as mould carry them arms to be guilty of high treafon, and punifhable accor- dingly. The Emperor Leo pronounces the fentence of death againft all that mould buy Eunuchs among the Barbarians ; and forbids the farmers of the Cuftoms on goods exported and imported to receive the duties for them, under pain of the fame punimment p . There were parties of men placed and dif- pofed upon the high-roads and the fea-coafts, to hinder the entry and tranfportation of con- traband goods q . It was likewife forbidden to fell (hips to foreigners, and even to inftrudl: them how to build them, on pain of fufiering the penalties of high treafon. The duties which we have been fpeaking of, were called by different names. Thofe which were laid upon goods exported or imported were (tiled Portoria, becaufe they were ufually collected at the fea-ports. The duties of en- try, which were paid at the great pafiages, were called Port aria, becaufe they were re- ceived at the gates of towns, as Juftus Lipfius hath obferved in his Treatife of the Grandeur of the Roman Empire -, and the general name of all thefe duties was Veftigal^ Vcffigalia. Ad Barbaricum transfercndi vini, olei & liquaminis Dullam quifquam habeat facultatem, nee guflus quidem cau- sa, aut ufus commerciorum. . i. Cod. Quae res exporta- ri non poflunt f L 2 C. De Eunuchis. * L unic. De littorum & itincrum cuftodia. The of the ROMANS. The perfons that farmed them were called Publicans r , Gratian, Valentinian, and Theo- dofius call them OSiffvarii^ becanfe they re- ceived the eighth penny of the value of certain commodities and forts of merchandife f . They panned alfo under the denomination of Manci- pes t ConduftcreS) Redemftores Veftigalium* Thefe farmers were generally of the order of the Roman Knights, and the flower of the Commonwealth : . Titus Aufidius and Pub- lius Rutilius raifed themfelves from the farms, the latter to the dignity of Conful, and the other to the Government of a Province. Their Clerks and under officers however rendered themfelves exceeding odious, by ex- acting the duties with abundance of rigour, by taking frequently more than was due, and by confifcating fometimes things that were not liable to feizure or forfeiture. It was with the view of reprefling their extortion and gree- dinefs, that the Praetor made an Ordinance condemning them to make reftitution of dou- ble the value of what they had received irre- gularly and unjuftly, if the party injured com- plained and demanded back his money with- in the year, and to the reftitution of the bare duty or fum received, if the complaint was not lodged till after the year was expired . The complaints made of their infolence were fo very great and general, that Nero in that happy time of clemency with which he began r Publicani dicuntur qui publica veftigalia habent con- duh. L. 12. . ult.ff. De Publicanis. f L.S.Jf. De Veftigalibus. * Cicero, Or at. pro Pompeio & pro Plancio. 8 Dig. De Publicanis. G 4 his 88 Of the R E v E N u E s his reign, and which feemed to prefage fo fine and glorious a futurity, propofed to the Senate to (upprefs all the Cuftom-houfes and duties upon goods either exported or imported. But the Senators put a ftop to his zeal, by repre- fenting to him that the State could not fublift without a conftant revenue v . They thought it therefore fufficient at that time, to order that the leafes and dues of the farmers of the pub- lic revenue, which had always before been kept very fecret, mould be publifhed and pofted up in public places, fo that all the world might know what they were to pay , that af- ter the expiration of a year the farmers mould not be allowed to demand what they had neg- lected to take , that the Praetor at Rome, and the Governors in the Provinces fhould take cognizance of their mifdemeanors, punifli the guilty, and do juftice to the fu Meters ; and that the privileges and exemptions granted to the troops mould be religioufly obferved. They fuppreffed alfo the fortieth and the fif- tieth penny. If a fhip laden with merchandife was forced by a ftorm to put into fome port and unlade there, the goods were not fubjecl: to confifca- tion, though they had not been declared at the Cuftom-houfes v . If a merchant had made his declaration at the office, and by confent of the receiver or * Eodem anno crebris populi flagitationibus Publicano- rum immodeftiam arguentis, dubitavit Nero, an cun&0 C H A P. X. Of federal other Duties or Impojls. AUguftus Caefar exacted the twentieth part of all fuccefiions, legacies, trufts and donations on account of death ; unlefs the heirs, donees, and legatees were extremely poor, or very near relations of the deceafed. He pretended to have found a Memoir about this impoft among the papers of Julius Caefar his adoptive father : but it was fo very difa- greeable to the people, that fearing it might excite a fedition, he wrote to the Senate to look out for fome other expedient for raifing the fund that was wanted, fmce the twentieth gave them fo much difcontent a . In fine, fee- ing that the Senate came to no refolution upon the fubject, he laid an impoft upon all eftates and houfes ; which obliged the people to fub- mit to the impofition and payment of the twentieth b . This revenue muft certainly have been im- menfe, fince all the Romans made teftaments. The fame Emperor exacted likewife the twentieth of the price of all flaves that were fold c . Nero, under pretence of abrogating this impoft, did nothing but confirm it, only eafing the purchafer at the expence of the feller : for whereas it was the buyer that paid Dim Caffiut. b Xiphilinus in Augufto* c Suttoniui in Augvji*. the of the ROMANS. 9I the twentieth before, he ordered that for the future it fhould be the feller d . Now as the grcateft part of the eftates of the Romans, and their chief traffick confifted in flaves, this duty couH not fail of bringing in a prodigious fum. "'Tacitus relates, that Pedianus had above four hundred flaves e . Pli- ny mentions fome private men that kept a much greater number of them. A gramma- rian named Daphnis was fold, according to this author, for above feventy five thoufand Jivres : and Calvius Sabinus, as Seneca relates, coft his mafter five and twenty thoufand li- vres f . True it is indeed, that Dion Caflius doth not agree with Tacitus with regard to the quota or rate of this laft impoft ; for he fays, that it was only two per Cent, aid was defigned and appropriated for the pay of the Praetorian troops. Auguftus laid alfo another impoft of one per Cent, upon all eftates real and perfonal, all provifions, commodities and merchandife that were fold either wholefale or by retale. The people petitioned Tiberius to eafe them of this tax, but he refafed to do fo ? . This fund, ac- cording to Tacitus, was appointed for the pay- ment of the army. d Ve&igal quintae & vigefimae venalium mancipiorum remiffum fpecie magis quam re, quia cum creditor pendere cogeretur, in pretium emptoribus accrefcebat. Tacit. * Annul. 1. 14. ' Hi/l.Li. * Annul. 1. i. CHAP. Of the R E v E N u E s CHAP. XI. Of the Money which the Romans drew from . their Enemies and from War. WHEN the Romans had fubdued na- tions, they were not always fatisfied with carrying off their money and treafures, but fometimes fold the people themfelves. This cuftom is very often mentioned by Livy in his Hiftory a : the money that accrued from thence was called Captive Money, Captiva Pe- cunia. Such as had merited the fmaller kind of Triumph, called Ovation, paid for that ho- nour a duty which Livy calls Argentum Biga- tum, in allufion to the form of this triumph, in which the conqueror was carried in a cha- riot drawn only by two horfes abreaft b . But we may form fome judgment of the riches which their conquefts brought in to the Ro- mans, by the quantity of triumphal gold which appeared at Rome upon thofe occafions ; that is to fay, by the quantity of gold and filver which the conquerors made a parade of in the pomp of their triumphs ; for they never en- tered the city in triumph, but they made a fhew of the ipoils and money taken from the enemy c . Now from the time of Romulus to the death of Auguftus Casfar, I find that there 1 Tit. Liv. 1. 10 n. 46. b L. 5. Id. c ?*ljb. Tit. Liv. Diomf. Haliearn. jfppian. were cf the R O M A N S. 93 were about three hundred and twelve tri- umphs. Dionyfius of HalicarnafTus relates, that Tar- quin the Proud triumphed over the Sabines, and that he brought from the war to the value of fourteeen hundred thoufand livres of booty ; befides his having diftributed fixteen hundred ounces of filver to each foldier d . Papirius Curfor, who vanquifhed the Sam- nites, brought back from his victory and car- ried in his triumph at Rome, three hundred fixty-fix thoufand fix hundred livres, which were put into the Exchequer, nothing being given among the foldiers e . The triumph of Curius and Fabricius was fet off likewife with a very rich booty f . In that of Scipio Africanus, after the con- queft of Spain, there was, as Livy relates, a million four hundred thirty-four thoufand two hundred livres *. The fame Scipio, after the defeat of Anni- bal, had in his triumph thirteen millions three hundred thoufand livres : and Appian, who takes a delight in defcribing this triumph, af- fures us, that there was a prodigious quantity of gold and filver, part in bullion, and part coined : but he doth not fpecify the fum h . The fame Appian fays, that Scipio Nafica, after he had taken and deftroyed Carthage, brought from thence and difplayed in his tri- * I. 4 . c . 7 . e Tit. Liv. 1. 10. Id ib.c. 1 8. * Id. 1. 28. * Id- \. 30. dptian. Ljblc. c. 6. umph Of the R E v E N u E s umph a confiderable quantity of gold and fil- ver ; . Pliny the Hiftorian relates, that the fame Scipio, after the reducing of Numantia, gave twenty thoufand and eighty livres to every fol- dier*. The triumph of Paulus ./Emilius, defcribed by Paterculus, fupplied the Treafury with fix and thirty millions. Though Pliny and Livy do not agree as to this fum ', yet Pliny affures us, there was fo great a quantity of filver, that the People of Rome left off from that time to pay the Taille or fubfidy upon land 31 : and Suidas relates, that there were found thirty millions of livres in the treafures of King Per- feus. The fame Pliny writes likewife, that Sylla (after he had granted peace to MithridatesJ brought out of Aria two hundred and thirty thoufand marks of filver, and thirty thoufand marks of gold ". Paterculus, fpeaking of Pompey's triumph after his Afiatic conquefts, fays, that there was a greater quantity of gold and filver fhewed in it, than had been feen in any former tri- umph, except that of Paulus /Emilius : and Plutarch pretends that there was a great deal more than in this laft. Appian writes, that * Hid. c. ult. *Hijl.\. 33 . c. u. 1 L. i i.e. 3. * A quo temporc populus Romanus tributum pendere dkfiit n L. 33. dppia*. Mitbrld. C. 7. * Magnificentiffimum de tot Regibus per biduum egh triumphum, longeque majorem omni ante fe, illata pecu- ia, preterquam a Paulo ex manubiis intulit. Pompey 'of the ROMANS. 95 Pompey brought ten times feventy thoufand five hundred and ten talents of filver ; which amounts to an immenfe fum. The fame hi- ftorian relates, that Julius Casfar carried in his triumph fixty-five thoufand talents p . Befides this triumphal gold, the Romans took likewife all the gold and filver they could from their enemies. Appian affirms, that Pau- lus JEmilius made all the gold and filver be thrown into an heap, which he had taken of the fpoils of feventy towns and cities that he had reduced and ruined q . Sylla condemned and forced Mithridates to pay the charges of the war. Scipio Afiaticus obliged Antiochus to pay down five hundred talents in ready money ; two thoufand five hundred after the treaty was ratified by the Se- nate ; and nine thoufand five hundred in twelve years r . Scipio Africanus made the Carthaginians re- flore to the Romans all that they had taken from them, or the value in money for things that were no longer in being : and obliged them befides to pay two hundred Eubcean ta- lents a year for the fpace of fifty years f . There are an infinite number of other the like exam- ples, which it would be too long to enume- rate. f Mitbridatic. C. 1 6. De Bell. Civil. 1. 2. C. ic. * Illyric. c. I. r Ato. Mitbrid. C. 6. Id. Syriac. C. 4. f In Lybic. c. 6. CHAP. 96 Of the R E v E N u E s CHAP. XII. Of the Money which the Romans drew from their Allies. Of the Coronary Gold, or the Golden Crowm. WHEN the Romans had gained any fignal victory over their enemies, their Allies were ufed to fend them prefents of Crowns of mafly gold. Livy relates, that upon the Romans having vanquifhed the Sam- nites, the Carthaginians fent ambaffadors to congratulate them on the occafion, and prefent them with a golden crown that weighed five and twenty pounds a . After Cneius Manlius had routed and fub- dued the Galatians, feveral Kings and various People fent him crowns of gold, each in pro- portion to their riches ; and he received no fewer than two hundred . Quintus Flaminus, upon his victory over Philip of Macedon and reftoring liberty to the cities of Greece, was prefented with two hun- dred and fourteen c . Julius Csefar received likewife on different occafions eighteen hundred twenty two golden crowns, which weighed twenty thoufand four hundred and fourteen pounds d . Lib. 7. k Tit. Liv. 1. 38, 39. < Idim, 1. 34. - dppian. Btll. civil. I. z. c. 15. After of the ROMANS. 97 After the Emperor Claudius had reduced a confiderable part of Great Britain under his fubjection, the nations of Spain and Gaul pre- fented him with golden crowns of a very great value. Juftus Lipfius, who corrects this paf- fage, fhews in endeavouring to rectify the text and reftore the true reading of the hiftorian, that the crown which was given by the hither Spain weighed feven hundred pounds, and the other nine hundred. Thefe crowns of gold, according to the opinion of Feftus, fucceeded to thofe of lau- rel, which were ufed before e . Cicero urgeth it by way of reproach to Pi~ fo, that he had demanded and exacted fome of thefe crowns irregularly and unjuftly ; and that it was not allowed for Generals of the ar- my fo much as to accept of them till the ex- piration of their command, in order to ferve for a grace and ornament ,of their triumph. Dion Caflius relates that feveral Generals, who had no juft pretenfions in point of merit, did yet prevail with Mark Anthony and Auguftus to grant them the honour of a triumph, in order to get prefents of crowns cf gold under that pretext ; . Thefe crowns, or this coronary gold, which in the beginning was perfectly free and vo- luntary, came after it had gained the credit and authority of cuftom on its fide, to dege- nerate into an impoft and tribute. e Triumphales Coronse funt quas Imperatori viftori au- rex praeferuntur, quae prifcis temporibui propter paupcrta- tem laures fuerunt. f L. 49. H Auguftus 98 Of the REVENUES Auguftus Csefar, as Dion relates, gained the heart of the Italians by excufing them from the charge of the gold which they were ufed to furnim for thefe triumphal crowns : and Spartian obferves, that the Emperor Adrian was much commended for having difcharged Italy entirely from the fame contribution, and leflened the burden and expence attending it very much in the Provinces of the Empire. Julius Capitolinus relates, that the Emperor Antoninus Pius reftored to the towns and cities of Italy, all the coronary gold which they had prefented him by way of compliment on his adoption, and fent back alfo half of the fame gold to the Provinces. We read in Ammianus Marcellinus, that the town and country of Tripoli fent ftatues of gold to the Emperor Valentinian. Suidas ob- ferves, that the Rhodians had no fubfidy charged on their lands, and paid no Taille, becaufe they were an independent and fovereign people : but they had a cuftom of fending every year a crown of gold by way of pre- fent to the Romans, considering them as their allies. Procopius in his Hiftory gives us an ac- count, that Theodatus King of the Goths en- gaged himfelf to fend the Emperor Juftinian every year a crown of gold that weighed three hundred pounds g . Appian relates, that at Sylla's funeral, his friends carried above two thoufand golden crowns, which he had been prefented with by the towns and legions which had been under his government and command. * DC Bella Gotbito, 1. i. An of the ROMANS. 99 An ancient Infcription informs us, that Au- guftus Caefar had received above a thoufand of thefe crowns, and that they weighed five and thirty thoufand pounds ; which amounts at lead to the value of three millions five hun- dred thoufand pounds. The Magiftrates of cities and towns ufed to offer them to the Emperors by way of ma- king their court, generally embracing the oc- cafion of iome public rejoicing for that pur- pofe h . The Kings and Princes that were under the protection of the Roman Empire, adopted the fame practice, and had the like view in their prefents of crowns '. Aulus Gellius takes notice, that crowns of gold ufed to be fent to the Emperors in order to fet off and embellim their triumphs k . The Jews, according to the fame author, were not exempt from this kind of tribute. At lad the Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Thecdo- fius made an Ordinance that this coronary gold fhould not be exacted from any perfons or communities, but fuch as were accuftomed to pay it '. 1 L. ult. C. ad k I. i.r 6 & L. 17. c. 6. 1 Ad coilationsm AuriLororurii phcuit nemincm abfqi:* confuctudine elTe ccgendym. L. unia Q. De Auro Corqr H 2 CHAP, ioo Of the REVENUES CHAP. XIII. Of tie Prefents or Free Gifts which were voluntarily made to the Emperor. TH E Senators of Rome, and even the People, ufed to prefent the Emperor with gold by way of new-year's-gifts. This was done (as it is likewife at this time) on the firflr day of January ; and the Emperor on his fide did not fail to return the compliment, and exert his liberality in the like prefents. Dion Caflius relates, that when Auguftus Cae- far's palace was burnt, feveral private perfons offered him large fums towards the expence of rebuilding it ; but he refufed them, and contented himfelf with taking a crown of gold (worth about five drachms) from every corpo- ration or community, and a drachm an head from every private perfon a . The Princes and People that were in alli- ance with the Romans fent alfo money, troops, horfes, ammunition, and provifions, on occa- fions that offered. Examples of this kind oc- cur frequently in the Roman hiflory. Thefe voluntary contributions were made chiefly when the State was under any difficulty or diftrefs. When the Romans began to give pay to their troops, which happened at the fiege of Veii about three hundred fifty-two years after the foundation of Rome, there was a noble emulation between the People, the L. 14. Knights, of the ROMANS. IQ: Knights, and the Senators, who fliould con- tribute moft to the payment of the troops b . During the fame fiege of Veii, the Knights obliged themfelves to keep every one of them a horfe at their own expence : and the People made the like offers to vye with the Knights c . After the Gauls had laid Rome in afhes, all the Roman people contributed towards the re- building of the city : and the work was car- ried on with fo much ardor and diligence, that it was entirely re-edified within a year , and there appeared in the buildings a much greater regularity, beauty and magnificence, than had been feen before u . After the battle of Cannae, which had re- duced the State to the brink of ruin, all the citizens of Rome offered, and (trove with one another which mould firft carry all the money and plate they had to the Exchequer. The very Ladies facrificed to the public good all their jewels and ornaments ; fo that the ordi- nary receivers were not enough to enter in the regifters the names of fuch as came to offer and bring their money to the Treafury e . This admirable zeal for the public fervice, this cordial fympathy with the State, and har- mony among one another, that reigned in the whole body of the people, is the ground and reafon why Afmius Pollio faid in Tacitus, that the money of private perfons was a real re- fource for the State \ b Tit. Li and, except in the cafe of an utter inability notori- ous and vifible to all the world, they ever kept the public faith and credit untainted ; which, if well managed, is the fureft, the readied, and moft plentiful refource of fovereign Pow- ers. We have a very fignal inftance of this good faith mentioned in Livy. Several pri- vate citizens of Rome had advanced a great deal of money for maintaining the war againft Annibal : and as after the fatal battle of Can- nae, it was impofiible for the State to. pay off the debt and clear with the creditors within the time fettled and agreed on when the money was borrowed, they ftill ordered, notwith- ftanding the difficulties under which they la- boured, that the whole debt fhould be dif- charged at three payments a . * Decreverunt Patres, ut tribus penfitationibus ea pecu- nia folverctun Lab. 9. . 1 6. I 3 After Ii8 Of the R E VE N u E s After the Carthaginian war, when the Ro- mans could not fatisfy and pay off the State- creditors with ready money, the Senate or- dered that they mould be paid the value of* their debts in lands, to be reftored afterwards to the State at the option of the creditors, if they chofe rather to be paid in money, at a time when there was a fufficient fund in the Treafury \ . It muft be obferved in this place, that Cor- porations, when they were over-loaded with debts, had the liberty of felling their eftates, and might alienate or make over their lands and other pofiefBons to their creditors, in fuch a proportion as was fufficient to difcharge the debt. * * \In France it is now a difficult matter to procure a licenfe of this kind from the King ; as appears from the cafe of the Communities of Pro- vence, who have been often refufed fnch A per- miffion.'] b Cum privati aequum poftalarent, nee tamen folvendo acre alieno Refpublica eflet, quod medium inter asquum & utile erat, decreverunt ut quoniam magna pars eorum agros vulgo venales efle diceret, & fibimet emptis opus efle agri pubiici qui intra quinquagefimum lapidem efiet, iis copia fieret. Confules agrum aeftimaturos, & in jugera afles ve- fligales, teftandi causa, publicum agrum impofituros, ut fiquis cum folvere poflet populas pecuniam habere quam agrum mallet, reftitueret agrum populo. lit. Liv. 1. 31. n. 13. AP. of the ROMANS. CHAP. XVII. Of the great Exaftions of the Romans. PLutarch relates, that Paulus ^Emilius plun- dered all Macedonia and Illyria. Julius Csefar carried off all the the gold and filver that he could find in Spain, and did not fo much as leave any in the temples. In the time of his firft Confulmip, he took three thoufand pounds of gold out of the Capitol, and put in its ftead the fame quantity of brafs gilt over flightly enough a . He fold Corporations and Kingdoms, and took from Ptolomy fix thou- fand talents b . Xiphilinus writes, that the Emperor Tibe- rius having fent for Bato King of Dalmatia, afked him the reafon why that Province had broke out into an infurrection, and revolted from his Empire ; and that the other anfwered him in thefe words, Why do you fend wolves and voracious beafts to keep your flocks, inftead of dogs and J/jepberds ? Tacitus in the Life of his father-in-law A- gricola, who was Governor of Great Britain, afcribes the revolt of the Britons to the cxcef- five taxes and burdens laid upon them by the Romans. What they call governing (faid they) is plundering^ cutting the people's throats ; and when they have reduced a very populous country to the condition of a frightful defart^ they call it a Suetonius in Julio, c. 54. s. I 4 fad- ISO Of tie REVENUES pacifying a country c . They complained that inftead of one King which they had before, they had under the Romans two Tyrants, the Governor who fhed their blood, and the Pro- curator who drained their fubftance d . Strabo relates, that the Romans laid tributes upon uncultivated and defart iflands. The ifle of Gyara was a very fmall one, and inhabited only by a few poor fifhermen ; yet they im- pofed upon them a tax of a hundred and fifty pounds a year. The miferable fufferers, un- able to bear fo heavy a burden by reafon of their fmall number and their extreme indi- gence, fent a deputation to the Emperor Au- guftus to get excufed of a third part of the tribute. The accufation of Verres, and the defence of Fonteius, in Cicero's Orations, ferve for proofs and monuments of the rapacioufnefs of Roman Governors. Sometimes indeed they were profecuted for their rapines and extor- tions, but the Provinces which they had plun- dered and oppreffed were not thereby relieved, nor fared the better on that account. Juvenal gives HS a defcription of the infolent and op- preffive adminiftration of one Marius, who had the Government of Africa % and who is probably the fame that is mentioned by the younger Pliny f . This Marius, according to the account given of him by the laft of thefe e Trucidare, rapere falfis nominibus Imperium, atque tibi folitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. Tacit. 4 Pro fingulis Regibus nunc binos imponi, ex quibus J.egams in fanguinem, Procurator in bona faeviret. Ibid, '* Sat. i. f I.Z.E?. ii. authors, of the R O M A N 5. 121 authors, was convicted of monflrous extortions, condemned to pay a vaft fine to the Exche- quer, and then to be banifhed from Italy 5 but nothing of the plunder that he had made was ever reftored to the fufferers, or applied to the cafe and relief of the Province. Cilicia was a very poor Province, and be- fore it was fubdued by the Romans, was inha- bited only by robbers and pirates ; yet Capito and Junius Tutor found in it quarries for their avarice, and made it the fcene of thofe ads of violence, oppreflion, and extortion, for which they were condemned. Juvenal on that occafion gives a very fine lecture to the Go- vernors of Provinces g : but he complains im- mediately after, that all thefe examples had fo little effect, that they were not able to re- ftrain the greedinefs of thofe that fucceeded the very Governors that had been punifhed for their depredations h . This Satyrift finds fault with the Romans for their treatment of Kings and Princes that depended on the Republic, fleecing and de- vouring them to the very marrow of their bones '. He accufeth them of committing even cru- eller exactions in times of peace, than in the rage of war k : and advifes them, for their Expeftata diu tandem Provincia cum te Reftorem accipiet, pone irz fraena modumque, Pone & avaritiae, miferere inopum fociorum. Refpice quid moneant leges, quam fulmine jufto Et Capito 8c Tutor ruerint, cfamnante Senatu, Piratx Cilicum, &c. Sat. 8. ^ Sed quid damnatio confert, &V. Ibid. 1 Offa vidcs Regum vacuis exhaufta medullis. Ibid, t ' Referebant navibus altis Occulta fpolia, & plures de pace triumphos. Ibid, own 122 Of the REVENUES own intereft, to moderate their avarice, to put a flop to their rapine and opprefibns, and ufe more humanity in their treatment of miferablc but warlike nations '. We have already related in another place the ftory of Julius Casfar's freed-man ; who after he had pillaged the Provinces of Gaul, where he had been employed as the Prince's Treafurer, was artful enough to extricate him- felf dexteroufly out of a very ill affair, and make a fuccefsful apology for his extortions. He is accufed of having imbezzled the public ihoney, and robbed the people under his go- vernment to fill his own coffers : he takes this effectual method to fave himfelf ; he carries Auguftus to his houfe, fhews him all the gold and filver that he had fcraped together by vi- olence and plunder, and gives him up all the booty *, he is acquitted by this means ; and the Emperor, that mould have been his judge, becomes his accomplice. We may properly enough in this place take notice of the ravages committed in the fury of the Civil Wars. What numbers of Towns facked, and Corporations ruined ! What mul- titudes of people deprived of their poffefiions, and driven out of their country, to make room for the foldiers, upon whom their lands and eftates were beftowed! Tacitus, fpeaking of the alteration made in the conftitution of the Roman State, when the Commonwealth was 1 Ctarandura imprimis ne magna injuria fiat Fortibus & miferis : tollas licet omne quod ufquam eft Aim atque argenti, fcutum gladiumque relinques, Et jacula & galcam : fpoliatis arma fuperfunt. Sat. 8. turned of the R O M A N S. 123 turned into a Monarchy m , fays, that the Pro- vinces were not at all forry for this revolution, becaufe of the avarice of the Magiftrates and Governors which ufed to be put over them in the latter times of the Republic n . Salluft, in the beginning of his Hiftory of Catiline's Con- fpiracy, laying open the wounds made in the Commonwealth, and the miferable fituation of her affairs through the deluge of vice and cor- ruption that had overflowed it, gives a ftill more feeling reprefentation of the excefles and violences that are the fubject we are treating of at prefent. Plutarch, in the life of Marius, fays, that fuch as flood candidates and folli- cited for any poft in the Government, carried gold and filver by bufhels into the Campus Martius to purchafe publickly the votes of the electors : and Suetonius relates, that Csefar had fpent all his fortune in making intereft to get himfelf raifed to the honours and dignities of the Republic. Now, as all confiderable pofts and employments were difpofed of by the peo- ple, and depended on their fuffrages, the Ma- giftrates confequently, as well at Rome as in the Provinces, minded nothing but how to get money and grow rich, that they might be able to purchafe them on occafion. It is for this reafon that Horace fays, the age he lived in was truly the Golden Age . Juvenal fpeak- ing of the manners of people in his time at m Jnnal. 1. i. * Ob certamina Potentum & avaritiam Magiftratuum, invalido legum auxilio, quas ut ambitu poftremo pecunia turbabantur. Aurea nunc vere funt fecuk ; plurimus auro Yenit honos. Rome, 124 Of the REVENUES Rome, reprefents poverty itfelf as ambitious, and money as the fovereign dilpofer of all things P. To all thefe accounts of the greedinefs of the Romans, we may ftill add the horrible abufe of confifcations in the reigns of the Do- mitians, the Nero's, and other tyrannical Em- perors. Tacitus, in the Life of Agricola, gives in very few words a lively defcription of the mifery of people, and the uncomfortable- nefs of living in thofe deplorable times. Our anceftors, fays he, faw in former ages to what an height liberty might be carried, and we in this fee all the extremities of flavery, being fur- rounded with informers that debar us the ufe both of our ears and tongues q . After having given this account of the ex- actions of the Romans, it may not be amifs to fay fomething of their Publicans, whofe infolence, greedinefs, and extortions, under the colour of law and fhelter of an authority that commanded rcfpect, made ravages in the bofom of the Empire as in a conquered coun- try, and acted over again all the tyranny which it was the fate of people fubdued by force of arms to endure. Hiftorians have not omitted on fome occafions to tranfmit to us particular accounts of their violences and ra- pines. Titus Livius takes notice of the mif- demeanors which they were guilty of, and the P Commune eft vitium ; hie vivimus ambitiosa Paupertate omnes. Quid te moror ? omnia Romas Cum pretio Sat. 3. ' Sicut vetus aetas vidit quid ultimum in libertare eflet, ita nos quid in lervitute, adempto per inquilitiones audien- di loquendique commercio. hardfhips" of the R O M A N S. 125 hardships that the people fuffercd from them during the fecond Carthaginian war; which the State was obliged to wink at in a conjun- fture when their neceflities were great, and their all was in danger. I lhall confine my- felf to a fingle inftance. L. Pomponius and M. Pofthumius having undertaken to fupply the troops with provi- fions, which they were to carry by fea to the army, in order to procure reimburfements to which they had no right, took it into their head, not only to trump up and pretend to ihipwrecks that never happened, but alfo to caufe real ones for the better concealing of the other that were purely fictitious. For this pur- pofe they put what they thought proper on board fome old leaky fhips, which their fea- men took care fliould founder, having little lhallops in readinefs to fave the crew. The latter of thefe partners in the undertaking be- ing cited to Rome on account of this artifice, had recourfe to violence and force for his im- punity, and with the affiftance of his crea- tures and partifans, drove away the people of Rome that were afiembled before the Capitol in order to judge his caufe r . * Tit. Liv. I 5. Decad 3. CHAP. 126 have m anxiety, fays he to them i you are got out of the bands of tbe farmers and exdfemen, the marches of the troops excufe you from all taxes, lake instruments of iron into your hands , but yet fucb as are proper to plough and cultivate your lands ', arm yourfelves, but with goads to prick your oxen forward^ not with weapons to repel violence b . During the reign of Theodoric, poverty was a never-failing plea, and a kind of natu- ral privilege, which not only exempted them from thofe exorbitant duties which the inability of a poor man, baulking the greedinefs of the farmers and excifemen, fnatches as it were from their clutches : but which difcharged them likcwife entirely from every thing that the vi- Ibid. 1. 12. c. t. k Nolite cfle folliciti, evafiftia exigentium manus, tribu- & vobis prsefens adimit apparatus. Arripite ferrum, fed tinde agros excolatis ; iumite cufpidcs, bourn ftimulos, non furoris. Ibid, 1. 12. c. 5. olenteft cfthe ROMANS. 133 olenteft thirft of the vileft lucre finds dill means to fqueeze out of fuch wretches as are worth nothing. Take heed y fays this Prince to the farmers of his Revenue, in directing his difcourfe to his Great Treasurer, that you do not become a ivorfc plague to the people than the peftilence, if you attempt to {trip fuch as have been plundered already, and are quite naked and dejlitute c . It was not the cuftom in this Prince's reign to lay upon others the duties and taxes from which fome were out of his ufual humanity difcharged : he thought it deteftable that a grace mewed or a recompence given to a de- ferving perfon fhould turn to the prejudice of the innocent d . The tallies or fubfidics upon lands were ge- nerally remitted to towns that had endured fieges, or been hindered from cultivating their lands by the ravages of the enemy e . Some merchants and mariners that were bringing corn from Sicily, having met with a ftorm and fuffered fhipwreck, allowances were made them for all the corn that was loft f . Lampridius, Spartianus, Capitolinus, Vo- pifcus, Procopius, Zonaras, and the Tripar* c Cave nc gravior Has pcftibus, fi adhuc nudare. veliar exutos ; calamitates non pavcfcant qui arma timuerunt, ra- pinas non fcntiant poft praedones. Cajfiod Var. 1. \z. c. 7. d Non iafcrri a quoquam volumus quod alteri noftra hu- manitate remifimus, ne quod didlu nefas eft, bene meriti munus innocentis contingat cfle difpendium. Ibid. 1. 2. c. 17. Quid enim ab agri domino exigas quern eum non co* luifle cognofcas. Ibid. 1. 3. c. 32. f Crudelitatis genus eft ultra naufragium fzevire, & illos ad difpendia cogere, quibus inopem vitara immitia peri- oula probaatur conceffifle. K 3 tite 134 Qf the REVENUES tite Hiftory, are full of the like examples, which it would be too long to enumerate and recount particularly. It may be fufficient to obferve in the general, that all the impofts and excifes which had been laid in the dreary times and tyrannical reigns before mentioned, were at laft fupprefied by a law of the Theodofian Code, which is the ninth of the famous Tide, De infirmandis Us qutz fub tyrannis afta funt. * * [The fame motives of equity which ferve for the ground and foundation of this law, make the Emperor Jufiinian fay, that the impofts and excifes which the, misfortunes of war have intro- duced into a State, ought to be taken off and abolifhed in the calm and tranquillity of peace g .] After all, it is certain that fubfidies or pub- lic revenues are things of indifpenfable necefii- ty ; and we muft recur at laft to that juft way of reafoning exprefled by Tacitus in thefe words. 'There is no fecuring the quiet of nations without arms ; there are no arms to be had without money, nor can troops be maintained without pay ', and there can be no pay without fubfidies h . There is nothing to be faid to this political dilemma, * * * Quod belli calamltas introduxit, hoc pacts /exitas fipit. L unic. Cod. De Caduc. tollendis. h Nee quies gentium fine armis, nee arma fine ftipen- diis, ncc ftspendia line tributis haberi queunt. ' CHAP. of the R O M A N S. CHAP. XIX. Of the moft confiderable differences between the Re-venues of the Romans and thofe of France. AMONG the Romans they could not feize any man's perfon and put him in prifon on account of the Taille ; but could only come upon the land and fell his eftate. In France, the practice is directly contrary ; they imprifon people that do not pay, and ne- ver feize upon or fell the eftate, unlefs it be in Provinces where the Taille is real and charged upon lands. Such as did not pay their fubfidies at the terms that were prefcribed and fixed, were fometimes condemned to pay double : which is not the cuftom in France. The Tallies were levied by a third part of the annual afieffment at a time, or every four months : and it is for this reafon that the ac- quittances given for them were ftiled, Qua- drimeftres breves. In France they are levied quarterly, that is to fay, every three months. The afTeflment for the Tallies was made in the Roman Empire fmce the time of Conftan- tine the Great, but every fifteen years : but in France it is made every year. The public or Imperial Demefne among the Romans might be alienated irrevocably, and in a term of years was fecured by perfcription againft all claims of the Exchequer; but in K 4 France 136 Of the REVENUES France- it is inalienable, except with the refer- vation of a right of redemption for ever, or of reverfion, .upon the defect of heirs male : but under the firft and fecond race of the Kings, it was alienated irredeemably. Among the Romans, the Patricians and Nobles were fubject to the Taille ; but in France the Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy are exempt from that tax. In that Republic the commiflions for levy- ing the Tailles were fent in the beginning of September : but among the French, they are iffued out in the beginning of the year. Among the Romans fome perfons were obliged to pay in gold, others in filver, and others again in brafs money ; and the pay- ments were pretty often made in bullion, or in thefe different metals uncoined : which is not practifed in France, In that Kingdom, when a fhipwreck hap- pens, all goods that are faved or thrown on ihore after fuch an unhappy accident, belong to the King's Demefne, if not claimed by the owner within a year and a day : but the Ex- chequer ha4 no pretenfions of this nature among the Romans. At Rome the State or Prince was always in the condition of a plaintiff: fo that if any bo- dy had. a fuit againft the Exchequer, he was cither put into pofieflion or continued in pof- fefilon of the thing in queftion, till a defini- tive fentence was given in the caufe. The ve- ry reverfe of this is the cuftom in France : the King never fues or pleads but with his hand full, that is, as being in pofieffion, and never a$ a petitioner or demandant. The of tbe R O M A N S. 137 The Droit d'Aubaine takes place in France, even with regard to the inhabitants of coun- tries that are in alliance with that Crown, the Dutch only excepted t but among the Ro- mans, all their allies that died within their do- minions might difpofe of their effects by will, and their right heirs fucceeded to their eftates. * * [Tbe Romans made great provifions, and laid up large magazine* of corn for the fufte- nance of tbe people : and the Emperors iffued out doles from time to time, and diftributed gratis fucb quantities thereof as were fufficient to Jub- fift above two hundred thoufand people. The Romans, in order to provide for the fub- fiflence of the poor citizens, and for better fecu- ring the countries they had conquered % fent colo- nies thither, and drew thence very confiderable advantages, as well by means of the troops which they raifed there on occafions, as on account of the large fupplies of money which tbofe colonies furni/hed them with in any exigence or necejjity of their affairs. The ufe of colonies is not known in France, nor ever praclifed, but with regard to America. Tbe Romans likewife diftributed lands among the poor citizens. In fettling the Jhare to be al- lotted to particular perfons, they had a regard to each man y s ability : and they a/ked nothing at all from the common people, but to take care to fur- nijh the Commonwealth with fubjetJs. This is not praclifed in France ; nor do I remember to have met with the leaft trace of fucb a cuftom in any other country. The Romans drew their greateft revenue from their viclories and conquefts. But now- a days 9 * * * Sigonius de Jure Italiae & Provincianijn. fc 138 Of the REVENUES by the manner in which places are fortified, and by the articles of capitulation, which are always for thefecurity and advantage of the inhabit ant 'j, towns and plates that furrender, necejjarily en- hance the expence of the war, without contribu- ting any great matter to eafe or make amends for its charges, unlefs perhaps in the cafe of frontier towns i thegarrifons whereof may pojjibly be main- tained by means of contributions.'} Among the Romans, the Treafury never paid any impofts, tolls, duties of entry, or cuftoms of import for whatever was defigned for the ufe of the Prince's houfhold b . In France, the wine defigned for the King's ta- ble, the fait, and every thing elfe for the fer- vice and ufe of his houfhold pay the duties. The provifions and munitions defigned for the armies and foldiery were free of all duties c . In France they are fubjeft to them, and have no more exemption than others. Among the Romans, monopolies, that is to fay, the fole and exclufive right of felling certain kinds of merchandife and commodi- ties, were granted at firft upon the payment of a certain fine, but were afterwards abo- lifhed d . The very name of a monopoly be- came at laft fo very odious to the Romans, that the Emperor Tiberius being minded to ufe the word, durft not do it, till after he had afked leave of the Senate. The Ordinances of the Kings of France are very exprefs in forbidding all monopolies. * * [But tbefe are derogated from in the cafe of b L. 8. //. $. 19. ff. De Publicanis. D. L. 8. * L. xnic. C. De Monopoliis* Booh of the R O M A N S. 139 Books and Bookfelkrs, (to whom Authors lave fold the property they have in their works} to whom the Prince ft ill grants exc lufive privileges ; and in favour of fome Companies with regard to fome foreign commodities.] The lands of the Imperial Demefne, and thofe that belonged to the Churches were all fubjedl to the charges of the State among the Romans : but in France thofe of the Demefne are liable to none. Among the Romans, when the Exchequer fold the lands of a private perfon, the abfolute property thereof was transferred e : but this is not the practice in France. The nafty, unfeemly, and tyrannical excifes which the avarice of the Romans invented, never were heard of, and are utterly unknown in France. The Kings of France generally give away all the confifcations that accrue to them; but it was not fo much as allowable to petition for them among the Romans f . The treafure of the Exchequer receives no accefiion in France from teftamentary fuccef- fions, which contributed fo much to fill it a- mong the Romans. It was not allowed among them to borrow any money from the officers of the revenue * ; whereas nothing is more common in France. Sometimes they forced the public farmers of the revenue to continue their farms, after their leafes were expired, upon the foot of their e L. 2. y 3. Cod. De Quadrien. przfcriptione. f C. De petitione bonorum fublata. g L. i. & 12. 2. C. De his qui ex publicis rationibus pecuniam acceperunt. former Of the R E v E N u E s Former articles h . I have never found any in- fiance of fuch a practice in France. Judgments given and fentences pronounced by Courts of judicature againft the Exchequer among the Romans might be reviewed, re- tracted and reverfed by them any time within three years *. In France the farmers of the King's revenue are obliged to proceed in the ufual forms, by exceptions, and petitions. The bonds arfd recognizances of fuch as were condemned to pay any fum to the Ro- man Exchequer, were only obligatory upon them for their particular mare, except in cafe of the infolvency of the other parties k . In France thefe bonds oblige each perfon for the whole fum. Among the Romans the binding of each partner in a farm of the revenue for the whole ium due on account of the failles and other impofts, was not in ufe. It takes place how- ever in France, in cafe of not making up the tax-rolls, of infolvency on the part of the collectors, and of omiflions in the levies. The farmers general among the Romans were frequently perfons of illuftrious and no- ble families. We read in Tacitus, that Ger- manicus, eldeft fon to the Emperor, went to levy the taxes in the Provinces of Gaul, when the legions mutinied l . The Publicans in France are not very fond of pretending to be of fo good families ; and the goods of fortune ufu- k l.tad.f. De Publicanis. 1 L. unic. C. De fententiis adverfus fifcum retraftandis. * L. Aufeitur. . ult.jf. De jure fifci. 1 T*t. Annal, 1. i. " ally rftbe ROMANS. 141 ally ferve to make them amends for their de- fects in birth and quality. Among the Romans, in cafe there was the leaft doubt in any affair wherein the Exche- quer was concerned, the law directed that fen- tence mould be given againft it m : and Pliny in his Panegyric fays, that Trajan caufed this law to be ftrictly obferved n . In France they are much more jealous of the Prince's rights, and have good reafon to be fo ; for it is the firft and moft important point of juftice to maintain ; the rights of the Crown, and not give them or let them be invaded and taken away either out of vanity, or in a view of gaining the favour of the people, as the .Ro- man Emperors did, who as they were raifed to the throne only by election, had confequent- \j no better way to maintain themfelves in the pofieffion of it, but by flattering the pafllons and gratifying the interefts of particular per- fons. It looks as if the Romans had always * * [more care than is generally taken in France to have] money ready on all emergencies and neccfiities of their affairs to anfwer the occa- fions of the State. Such was the Aurum vi- cefimanum mentioned by Pliny ; fuch was the fhree thoufand pounds of gold which Julius Csefar feized on, as Suetonius relates ; and fuch in fine was the money that Appian fpeaks of, which had been defigned for the wars of the Gauls. The Emperors that moft diftinguifhed themfelves by their wifdom and abilities, werq ,. iQ.ff. DejurefifcK ? Sub bono Principe fifci fsepiCme caufa cadit. very 42 Of the REVENUES very faving of the public money : they laid it down for a maxim that they could not ma- nage their revenue with too much ceconomy and frugality ; fmce if they fquandered it away out of any ambitious or other views, they fhould be obliged to have recourfe to vi- olent and opprefiive meafures to bring frefh fupplies into their treafury. The Emperors generally kept immenfe fums in referve. Julius Caefar by his will left eve- ry Roman citizen a legacy of three hundred fefterces. Auguftus left a thoufand crowns to every foldier of the Pnetorian bands, which were not lefs in number than ten thoufand men 5 and three hundred crowns to every one of thofe that ferved in the legions p . He be- queathed likewife feveral other legacies, fome of which amounted to twenty thoufand fef- terces. This Prince had drawn up with hia own hand, a particular account of all the re- venues of the Empire q . When Tiberius Casfar died, there was found in the Treafury near an hundred millions of money , which Caligula his fucceffor took care to fquander away in lefs than three years time 5 an extravagance for which his nephew Nero thought him worthy of his admiration r . There muft certainly have been a vaft deal of money in the Exchequer at the time of Flavius Vefpafian's death, if we confider the length of his reign, his exceffive avarice, and the great number of excifes and impofts that fiuif. Annal. 1. 2. P Suetonius in Julio 83. Idem in Augufto 102. * Dion Cajfius, Tacit. Annal. * Xipbilivus. Suttonius in Nerone, c. 30. he of tbe R O M A N S. 143 he had levied upon the people of the Empire. Titus that fucceeded him muft confequently have had fufficient means to gratify and in- dulge the generofity of his nature, and the ftrong inclination which he had to be bounti- ful, and which made him look upon every day as loft, that had not been diftinguilhed by fome remarkable aft of his beneficence f . The avarice of his father had put him in a condition and fupplied him wherewithal to be liberal : and if he owed his virtues to nobody but himfelf, he owed however to Flavius Vef- pafian's faving talents the exceeding pleafure he felt in making every day of his reign fome perfon or other happy ; a pleafure, the value of which he feemed well to underftand, when he fa id, That no perfon whatever ought to go away difcontented from the Prince's frefence or converfation '. There was alfo among the Romans an ce- conomy that may be confidered as a kind of fund, which without any real addition to thofe of the Republic, was however a great refource for it on occafion, and enabled private perlbns to aflift it with very confiderable and feafona- ble fupplies. I fpeak of the regulation made by the Agrarian Law, concerning the parti- tion and diftribution of lands. According to the terms of that law, nobody could enjoy and hold above five hundred acres of land, nor more than an hundred head of large cattle, or above five hundred of fmall. The number too of flaves or freed- men, which every one f Amid diem perdidi. Sueton. in Tito, c. 8, 1 Non oportet quemquam a fermonc Principis triflem difcedere. Suetonius in Tito, c. 8. might 144 Of the REVENUES might have, was regulated, for fear the mul- titude of flaves mould increafe beyond mea- fure, and exceed the proportion that it ought to bear to the number of the freemen. This law, though very wife in its inftitution, was the fource of almoft all the feditions that in- fefted Rome, and proved at laft a main caufe of the ruin of that flourifhing Republic v . CHAP. XX* Of the Superintendants of the Revenue among the Romans. T Hough the officers of the revenue feem to be very different in France, from thofe who had the management of it among the Romans, yet thefe laft bore a good deal of refemblance to the French, in refpect of their functions. The Romans had among them Superinten- dants of the revenue, whofe names frequently varied : but authors do not well agree with one another as to the time when this office was erected. Ulpian following the authority of Grac- chus Junius, fays, that in the reigns of Ro- mulus and Numa, there were two Superinten- dants of the revenue, and that they were cho- fen by the votes of the people. He adds how- ever, that the more common opinion was, that they owed their inftitution to Tullus Ho- r 7. Liviui, dfpian. 1, i. ?< $ell. Civil, c. z. ftilius - of the R O M A N S. 145 ftilius : but Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus doth not fay a word upon the fubject a . Pomponius relates, that they were not efta- blifhed till the revenue came to be increafed confiderably b : and he places them later in time than the Kings, the Confuls, the Cenfors, the Dictators, the Tribunes of the people, and the -flidiles. Livy fays nothing at all of their creation. Tacitus feems to agree with Ulpian, and fays, that they were inftituted under the Kings c . At firft the Confuls had the power of naming them : but the people afterwards affumed the choice of thefe officers to them- felves ; which happened about fixty three years after the Monarchical Government was abo- liflied. Livy obferves, that the Patricians were at firft the only perfons capable of being ad- vanced to this office ; and fays, that Valerius Pofthumius and ^Emilius Mamercus were the firft of the Plebeian Order that were ever in- vefted with it : which happened, according to Tacitus's account, a little before the fiege of Veii d . Thefe officers went along with the troops into the field, and were not unlike the Inten- dants of the army in France j only they had * L. \.ff. DeofEcio Quseftons. b L. z.jf. De origine Juris, . 22. c Quasftores fub Regibus etiam inftituti funt, quod lex Curiata oftendit ab Lucio Brnto reperta ; manfuque Confu- libus poteftas deligendi eos, donee cum quoque honorera populus mandaret. Annul. 1. 9. * L.^n. 31. L the 146 Of the REVENUES the abfolute difpofal of all the money, and re- gulated all the expences of the war e . The bufmefs of their pod increafmg, two more were afterwards created ; whofe particu- lar province was to take care of affairs at Rome, and they never ftirred from the city f . In procefs of time, they created likewife four others p. In fhort, fome years after, Sylla created twenty, in order to fill up twenty places, that were vacant in the Senate h . This poft was given at firft gratis ; till Dolabella got an ordinance to be made, that fuch as Ihould be advanced to it, fhould pay every year out of their own purfe, the charges of the combats of gladiators : but fome time af- ter they were eaied of this expence. Plutarch in the Life of Valerius Publicola fays, that he allowed the people to create two Superinten- jdants of the revenue, the firft of which were Publius Verrimius and Marcus Minutius, with the power of compelling all the citizens to contribute towards the charges of the war, in proportion to their refpedtive abilities ; and that they levied at that time an hundred and twenty thoufund fefterces of brafs, which were depoftted in the temple of Saturn. This mews that there is a good deal of uncertainty as t0 the original of thefe Superintendants. Crcati funt Quasftores Pofthumius & Mamercus, ut rem militarem comitarentur. Annul. 1. 9. f Deinde glifcentibus negotiis, duo additi qui Rom* curarent. Tacit. Annul. 1. 9. * Mox duplicator numerus ftipendiaria jam Italics, & accidentibus Provinciarum veftigalibus. Ibid. h Poft lege Syllae, viginti creati fupplendo Senatui, cui judicia tradiderat Sylla. Ibid. However of the ROMANS. 147 However it was, two of them only refided conftantJy at Rome, and thefe took care to enter in the public Regifter an account of all receipts and difburfements of money. The others were either in the Armies or in the Pro- vinces, employed in the management of the public revenues, the impofts, and the money that was made of the booty taken from the enemy j . They carried along with them a Secretary or Regifter, who entered all the ac- counts, and ferved for a kind of Comptroller. Thefe officers were called Quadftors till the time of Auguftus Casfar, who allowed the Se- nate to create and chufe at Rome, Superinten- dants of the revenue. The Senate, as Sueto- nius relates, transferred all the power and au- thority of that office upon the Prsetors, and the Prsetorians k . Tacitus fays however, that Auguftus gave leave for the chufing of the Prefects to be Super! ntendants ; but that bri- bery being ufed to gain fuffrages in this ele- ction, and the corruption fpreading, they were afterwards drawn by lot , and ?.t Jaft, as the Jot fell frequently upon perfons not well qua- lified for the poft, the Emperor Claudius re- vived the office of Quasftors . They did not long enjoy their power upon this re-eftablifh- ment , for the charge foon pafled again into the hands of the Praefects and Prsetors ; and continued a good while in the hands of the latter, whatever Pancirollus fays to the contra- ry : for it is certain that before the reign of Vefpafian and his return to Rome, the Super- * Plln. Jun. 1. 2. Ep. 4. k Button, in Augujlo, c. 3. Annul. 1. 13. L 2 intendancy Of tbe REVENUES intendancy of the revenue was entrusted again to the care of the Praetors m . The Quaeftors were afterwards re-inftated in their office , for Aulus Gellius relates, that in his time the chief direction of the revenue was in the hands of the Praefect of the Treafury, and that it had been transferred from the Quae- ftors to this Magiftrate . Now, as Aulus Gellius lived in the reigns of Adrian and the Antonini, it is very probable that the Super- intendants were confirmed under thofe Empe- rors. Thefe Superintendants were called Prczfefti sErarii) and had a contentious jurifdiction ; for they judged and decided all caufes relating to the Exchequer . Vopifcus fays, that they were ftill fubfifting in the time of the Emperor Aurelian : which however muft be underftood of thofe Praefects or Superintendants that refided at Rome, and never quitted the city p. Dion Cafiius relates, that Auguftus revoked their commiffion, and fent Procurators fifcal in their (lead, who were ftiled Procurators Ctzfaris. Thefe >laft took care of levying the tailles or fubfidies upon land, the taxes and impofts of all kinds, and in general, all the rights and dues of the Im- perial Demefne 4 . They were judges of all m Praetores aerarii (nam tune a Przetoribus tra&abatur ^rarium) publicam pauperutem quefti modum publicis cxpenfis poilulaverunt. Tacit. Hiji. 1. 4. n Per Quaeflorem intelligi nunc oportet Praefeftum ^Era- rio ; nam cura .rarii a Quasftoribus ad Praefedlum tranflau eft. A. GelLL 13. c 23. L. Cum quidam . ff. De his quibus indignis, &c. f L. 13. & 43. * L. 12. 5. L. Ubi caufs fifcales. I. 3. C. tod. difputes of the R O M A N S. difputes and differences, wherein the Exche- quer was any way interefted or concerned ; and fometimes alfo they had fmall Govern- ments. Thus we find that Pontius Pilate was at the fame time Governor of Judaea, and the Emperor's Procurator fifcal in the Province. Such were the various names and employ- ments which the Superintendants of the reve- nue bore till the reign of Conftantine the Great, who fupprefled all thofe names or titles of office, and created two other charges of Superintendant , one of which was ftiled Comes facrarum largitionum, and the other went under the denomination of Comes rerum privatarum. The firft had the adminiftration of all the pub- lic money ; the fecond had the direction of the Imperial Demefne. The former paid the boun- ties and largefles of the Emperor, which be- fore Aurelian's time were distributed by cer- tain officers called Qua/lores Candidate ; to whom fucceeded the Quczftores jErarii, who were inftituted (as we are informed by Lam- pridius) by the Emperor Alexander Severus, and continued tifl the time of Conftantine. This great officer was ftiled Comes, a new title of honour created by the laft mentioned Em- peror, and annexed by him to the principal and moft diftinguilhed offices of the Imperial Houfhold, fuch as that of Comes domejlicorum equitum & peditum. He was called Comes lar- gitionum, becaufe the greateft expence in which the Emperors were involved after the change of the Commonwealth into a Monarchy, was the largefles which they were obliged to make from time to time, to gain and preferve the good-will of the people r . * Zojimus, 1. 2. L 3 Thifc j jo Of the REVENUES This officer was honoured with the ftile of IlluftriouSi a diftinguifhed title, which was only given to the twelve principal officers of the Crown, as may be fcen in the Notitia Im- perii. The arms of his office were a red book upon a table, on the back whereof was repre- fented a golden head of the Emperor between the edges which were of gold ; the cover of the book was of filver, with borders of gold in the angles and extremities : underneath was engraved the word Largitiones^ with feveral pieces of gold and filver coin , and fame vef- lels or little coffers that feemed full 'of the like pieces. CHAP. XXI. Of the Officers employed under the Super- intcndant of the Revenue. THERE ...were in the Provinces feveral officers to receive and execute the Su- perintend am 's orders, who were diftinguifhed by the name of Palatml '. There were alfo fix officers called Comites lirgitionutn, whofe diftrifts were allotted in the Eafr, in Egypt, Thrace and Macedonia : they paid the troops, and had only the title of Perfeftiffimi b . Their jurifdiction was much of the fame nature as that which the Court of Aides and the Chamber of the Treafury en- * L. i. C. De offic. facrarum largitionum. * L. 3 C. De diverfis officiis. * L. 3. C. Dq miliuri vcQ*. joy of the ROMANS. joy at prefent in France c . They went like, wife by the name of Rationales, and were en- trufted with the care of levying the imports and excifes. It may not be improper juft to take notice on this occafion, that there were among the Romans five titles, which regulated the ranks of the perfons to whom they were given, or to whofe office they were annexed. The firft was that of Illuflris ; the fecond that of Spefta- bilis ; the third that of Clarijfiwus ; the fourth that of Perfettiflimus ; and the fifth that of Egregius* The officers, honoured and diftinguifhed by the title of Comites largitionum^ fucceeded to the Procurators C&faris, which had been inftituted by Auguftus d . The Superintendant had likewife under him feveral Intendants or Commiffioners of trade and commerce, called Comites commerciorum. They were the perfons that provided and bought the furniture, goods, fluffs, and jewels for the Emperor's houfhold : and are called in the Code by the name of Negotiatores e . There were four Directors or Intendants of commerce ; one in the Eaft, who ferved alfo for Egypt ; one in Myfia ; another for Scy- thia and Pontus ; and the fourth in Illyria. Thefe are likewife ftiled Merchants in the Code f . c L. Ubi caufae fifcales agi debeant. L. 13. C. Finium regundorum. d Dion Caflius, 1. 53. e L. Negotiatores. C. De excufat. munerum. f L. 5. C. De Epifcopali, & L. i. C, DC mercatoribus. L 4 The 152 Of the REVENUES The Director of commerce in the Eaft purchafed filk, precious ftones and wool ; a pound of filk was at that time worth a pound of gold. He bought alfo drugs and perfumes in Egypt ?. Thefe Intendants of commerce had falaries from the State. There was only one of them in the Weft, who was fixed and refided in IU lyria h . The Treafurers or Receivers general of the revenue depended alfo on the Superintendant *. The offices of thefe general Receivers were called Metropoles or Stationes. A purchafer had all manner of fecurity in what he bought, not only with regard to the officers of the ge- neral Receipt for the diftrict in which the thing fold was fituated, but likewife with re- gard to all others. If the Exchequer fuc- ceeded ro a creditor who had dwellings in dif-r ferent general Receipts, the fureties were clear- ed and recognizances cancelled, Thefe Re- ceivers or Treafurers were called Thefaurarii k . The Great Mafter or Director general of the mines was likewife fubordinate to the Super- intendant of the revenue. This officer took eare of the payment of all that was due to the Emperor on account of metals that were got out of the mines ' *, and he received for the gold that was found on the fides of rivers or dug in the mines, at the rate of feven or eight * L. 2. Qua: yendi non poflunt. Vofifeus in AurtL Plin. ! 3- 1 L. unic. C. De An non is. i Joftpb. Antiq. Judaic. L. i. C. De Compenf. k L. i. C. Ne fifcus. L. Diu. C. De Sufceptoribus & Arcariis, &f L. i c . C. Tbead. De diverfis officiis, \ -C. z. D, L. Per annos. C. De Metallis. fcruples of the ROMANS. fcruples (*'. e. feven or eight four and twentieths of an ounce) in the pound. The payment of this duty was made in gold dud, and not in gold refined m . The firft was called Aurum in Balucca ; the fecond fort was filled Aurum obri- zum ; and the fcrapings or parings of gold were termed Aurigia. The Great Mafter or Intendant of the mines was created and refided generally in Illyria, where there were abundance of mines that af- forded great quantities of gold n . Cafliodorus writes, that they were difcovered and firft be- gan to be worked in the 59 2d year after the foundation of Rome : and Pliny fays, that in Nero's time they got out of them above fifty pounds of gold a day . This officer had fe- veral clerks or agents under him, who were employed in Myfia, Macedonia, and Dacia. In the Weft, this Director of the mines was called Comes auri p : and the Emperor Valen- tinian writing to him, gives him the title of Laudabilitas tua. The Intendant of the Treafury in Egypt, who is ftiled Comes rational^ Mgypti* depend- ed in like manner upon the Superintendant of the revenue. He had the management and or- dering of the Efcheats, the duties on commo- dities exported and imported, and of all kinds of merchandife that came from Arabia ; which coft an infinite deal of money, according to L. i. C. De Metallis. L. Pollux. n Tit. Liv. Decad. 6. 1. 5. L. 33. c. 4. L. Procurators. C. De metallariis* L. 7. C. Theod. De Metallis. F , ( . C. DC metal. Largit. Pliny 5 154 Of the REVENUES Pliny n ; and the duties whereof, in proportion amounted to very confiderable fums r . There were in the Weft eleven of thefe In- tendants called Rationales^ or Procurators* C and contained ninety-fix drachms, or ninety-four Denarii. It was divided like that of gold in- to twelve ounces, the ounce into two Stateres or half ounces, the Stater into two Sicilici, and the Sicilicus into two drachms a . A Solidus, or crown of gold called Solidus or Aureus, was equal in value to two ounces of filver : but the Emperor Valentinian funk the filver, and ordered that five Solidi of gold fhould pafs in payments for the value of twelve ounces or a pound of filver b . The ounce of filver was worth ten pounds of brafs ; and twenty pounds of brafs money was equal in value to a Solidus of gold c . The heads of the Emperors were engraved upon their coin. The coiners and their chjl - dren were tied down to the mint in which they worked. Thefe mintmen, in the Emperor Aurelian's time, coined falfe money, murdered their Intendant, and raifed an infurreclion. The people of the Provinces were obliged to furnifli coal for the forges of the mint. It is hot certainly known how many mints there were in the Eaft, but there were fix in the Weft d . z In Alexandro, /. 3. De militari vcfle. L. Jubemus. C. De erogat. militaris annonae. * Plin. 1. 33. c 9. b L. Quoties. C. De fufceptor. L. i. De argenti prctio. c L. i De collat. zeris. * 1. 2. Cod. < Theod. De ponderib. fcff. L. alt. De veteris jiummi poteft. L. i. C. Edicimus, =f L. ttlt. De Murileg. fcfr. Stiidai, Aurehus Viftor, Pfpijcuf, Eutropiiis, L. z. De excuftt. murfcrum. The of the R O M A N S. 157 The Intendants of the Imperial carriages were fubject to the orders of the Superinten- dant of the revenue : they were called Prcepo* fiti Baftagarum c . The Directors of the flax, called Procura- pjres Umificwrum or Lympharii^ were alfo fub- ordinate to the Superintendant. Their fun- ction or bufinefs was to gather the flax, to keep it, and to buy it, before it was worked in any manner ' : they were looked upon as little better than flaves. It is uncertain how many there were of thefe Directors in the Eaft ; but there were two in the Weft, the one at Vienna, the other at Ravenna. CHAP. XXII. Of the Offices that depended on the intendant of the Reve?iue. THERE were under the Superinten- dant eleven Offices, which the Romans termed Scrimaria. The firft was the office for the receipt of gold, called Scriniujn Canonum. Canon here imports the fame thing as tribute ; and is the quantity of gold which was taken out of the taxes raifed upon the people, and carried to the General Receiver's office or to the Exche- quer, and what is called in, France the mare of e Baftaga eft onuj transferendi res publicas vel Principis. L. 3. Cod. De Cohortalibus. f L. i. C. De (juibus muneribus. L. Siquh. C. De Mu- rileg. the Of the REVENUES the Royal Treafury. The Przfeftus Pralorii kept part of the taxes in his hands to pay the local charges a . The firft Commiflioner of the office of the Receipt of gold, had the title given him of Perfeftijjlmus. The fecond was called Ducena- rius, that is to fay, commander of two hun- dred men, clerks or foldiers. The third was ftiled Centenarius, as having one hundred men under him. Next to thefe were the Secreta- ries, called Epiftolares, who upon the Super- intendant*s orders wrote all the letters about levying the taxes and duties that were fent to the Governors of the Provinces. They had all falaries from the State, and were ten in number, but there were two of them above the reft. The fixth Commiffioner of this of- fice was fent every year into Phoenicia, to hin- der the clandeftine commerce for purple b . The fecond office confifted of Regifters, Comptrollers, or Keepers of the Rolls, ftiled Tabularii c . The function and bufmefs of thefe officers confifted in drawing up the bonds, leafes, re- cognizances, and other inftruments for every thing that any way related to the revenue, the acquittances for fuch as were accountable to the Exchequer and paid their afieffments for the tailles. There were a vaft number of people employed in this office. The chief of them was called Primicerius, and bore the title of Perfeftiffimus. The fecond was called Cents - Juftln. -EJift. 4. . i. L Placet. L. i C. De Prse- diis. L. ult. De Canone. AW//. 162. $. i. b L. Vet C. De veftibus holofericis. c L. 3. C. De Tabulariis, & L. g.ff. De Legatis. narius, of the ROMANS. 159 tiarius, becaufe he had an hundred perfons un- der him ; and was diftinguilhed with the fame title of honour as the firft. There were nine other officers or Clerks, who were employed in the difpatches of the office, and had different falaries or ftipends ac- cording to the degrees of their pofts d . The third office was compofed of Commif- fioners appointed to take care of the accounts, and called Numerarii. They drew up the ftate of the revenue, with the accounts of re- ceipt and expence ; called all that were charged with any receipt to account ; and exercifed al- moft all the functions of the officers of the Cbambre des Comptes at Paris. There were fe- veral degrees of officers in this office ; they were advanced to them gradually, and when they came at laft to be chief or firft Commif- fioners, they had the privilege of being ex- empted from furnifhing horfes, and fending to the war any of that young militia which were called Tirones e . The fourth office was that of the Com mi f- fioners appointed to take care of the gold bul- lion : and all the gold that was in ingots, or uncoined, was entered in the Books or Regi- fters of this office f . We fee by 3 law of the Emperor Gratian's, that there were four ranks or claffes of Commiffioners or Clerks in this office. The firft kept an account of the gold in bullion ; the chief of thefe was called Pri- micerius Maffis, and was honoured with the ti- tle of Perfeftiffimus of the third rank. He d L. 7. C. De Palat. facr. largitionum. e L. Palat. C De Palar. facr. largitionum. f L. Qaintus. $ ult.Jf. De auro & argento legato. that 160 Of the RE v E N u E s that was at the head of the fecond clafs, had likewife the title of Perfettiffimus. The firft of the third clafs was called fertiocerMS, and he of the fourth Quartocerius. Befides thefe, and inferior to them in place and dignity, there were fix other officers, and four Secretaries, whofe employment was to write letters to the Governors of Provinces. The fecond clafs of this office was compofed of fuch as were concerned in manufacturing gold Huffs for the fervice of the Emperor. In the third clafs an account was kept of all the fpecies of gold that were coined every day : And in fine, the fourth clafs was compofed of goldfmiths employed in making rings, brace- lets, and other ornaments, veflels, and all kinds of plate in gold g . The fifth office confifted of fuch as diftri- buted and kept accounts of the gold affigned for the charge and expence of die Exprefles which the Emperors and the Generals had oc- cafion to fend into the Provinces and to the armies. It was (tiled the Scrinium auri ad Re- fponfum^ becaufe the orders of the Emperor and the Minifters were termed Refpenfa ; and it is for this reafon that fervire ad Refponfum fignifies to exercife the function of a Courier of the Cabinet h . There were in this office a great many Commiffioners, Clerks, or Offi- cers, fome of which had the title of PerfeBif- fimi. The fixth office was that of the Wardrobe. There were in it three claffes of writers and officers. L. Scrinii. C. De Palat. facr. largit. h Procipius De bello Vandalico. i. Such of the ROMANS. i6l> l . Such as took care of the cloathing of the troops, and kept an account of the cloaths which the people were obliged to furnifh for the foldiers, and of thofe which were ifiued out of the office, and delivered to the Colo- nels and Generals of the army. 2 . Such as had the charge of the Wardrobes pf the Emperor and the Emprefs. 3. The Writers who entered in books what- ever the other Clerks or Commiflioners dic- tated. The feventh office was that of the Empe- ror's filver plate, and was ftiled Scrinium ab urgent o. In the eighth office were the workmen em- ployed in making gold rings, and a fort of filver money, called MUliarenfis, of the value of a tenth part of a crown or Solidus of gold , and worth about two pence of our money. As it ferved for the payment of the troops, there was a vaft quantity of it coined. The ninth office was compoled, i . Of fuch as kept accounts of the quantity and number Of the pieces of gold and filver that were coined at the mint. 2. Of thofe that went by the name of Vafcular'ri^ and made the Prince's plate. 3. Of the money-changers, called Ar* gentarii. \. Of fuch as engraved, carved, and wrought the plate, who were ftiled Barbarica* rii. There were abundance of places and em- ployments in this office k . The tenth office was compofed of the Re- gifters that wrote down and entered all the * Suidas, Cedrenus in Leone Iconomach. k L. penult. Jf. De auro & argento legato. L. Scriniis. C. De Palat. facr. largitionum. M Acls t62 Of the REVENUES Acts of the Superintendant of the revenue, and the Judgments which he gave in cafes that came before him. There was likewife a great number of officers employed in this bufmefs. In fine, the eleventh office was that of the officers (Hied Mittendarii, who were difpatched on occafion into the Provinces to prefs the Governors to levy the fubfidies and taxes. Thefe officers were very numerous ; and a- mongft the reft there was one that had the di- rection of the carriages and vehicles -, that fet- tled and prefcribed the roads to be taken ; and that fent his orders to the feamen, and the guides or furnifhers of horfes and beafts of burden '. CHAP. XXIII. v?*' \ J'J'J^Jt' jfV;'ip*i"'- > i* ''* .a/ii.'" iil if >A Of the Superintendant of tbe Demefne. THE Superintendant of the Imperial Demefne was called Comes rerum priva* tarum. Spartianus fays, that this office was erected by the Emperor Severus a . He had the adminiftration and direction of all the De- mefne, the efcheats, confifcations, and other rights and dues belonging to the Exchequer * particularly of all grants, inftruments and let- 1 D. L. 7. C. De Palat. facr. largit. L. ult. C. De exadl. tribut. L. 7. $. i . Qaod cujus univerf. nomine. Interfeftis innumeris Albini partium viris, omnium bona publicata funt, aerariam auxerunt, tumque primum torivatarum rerum procuratio conftituta eft. L. 4. C. DC fundis Reipub. L 1 1. C. I. ten of the R O M A N S. ters that concerned the Demefne in Afia, Cap- padocia, Pontus, Mefopotamia, &c. b This Superintendant was dignified with the title of Illuftrious. His jurifdidion took in every thing that any way related to his charge, or affefted the Demefne. Before he was graced with the honourable tide of Comes, he was fiiled the Procurator Cafaris. He was alfo called Magifter rei private. He took cogni- zance of the violation of tombs and fepul- chres, of incefts, of the corruption of judges, of the exactions, extortions and violences of apparitors and ferjeants, and of every thing that concerned the navigation of rivers. He payed the workmen employed in the Empe- ror's fervice, and made all the difburfements For the expence as well of his houlhold, as of that of the Emprefs r . He had a great many fubaltern officers un- der his direction in the Provinces, called Pro- cur at ores Rationales d . Though the denominations Mrarium and Fifcus are very often confounded and ufed in- diftinclly by authors, yet the office of the Su- perintendant of the revenue for the receipt of money was properly called the Mrariv.m^ or Treafury, and that of the Superintendant of the Demefne Fifcus, or the Exchequer. This laft had in the Provinces officers that kept re_ b L. Hi quibus. L, Omnes C. De fundis patrimonial. Novell. 20 & 30. L. ult. De collat. fundorum patrimon. * CaJpoJar. 1. 6. c. 8. L. l. ff. Procurator. Ofaris. L. Ad rifcum. C. L. Qui contra C. De inceilis nupriis. 'Novell. I 24. . 2. iff antepenult. Caffiod. 1. 4 c 9. d L. Procurator. C. De edendo. L. Sup. crear,dis. C De jure fifci. M 2- Of the REVENUES gifters of all his acts, proceedings, and deci- (ions ; and in the Court of his jurifdidtion, there was a certain number of Advocates, who were diftinguifhed with the title of ClariJJlmi e . The arms of the Superintendant of the De- mefne were a book laid upon a table covered with a carpet. On the left of it was repre- fented the Treafury-cheft, and all the field was filled with pieces of gold coin, and veflels that appeared full of various kinds of money. , >2twj CHAP. XXIV. Of the Officers that depended on the Super- intendant of the Demefne. TH E Superintendant of the Demefne had a great many officers under him in the Provinces, called Comitcs Rationales, or fim- ply Rationales, or Procurators. The function of thefe officers confifted in bringing in, annexing, and incorporating to the Demefne the goods, eftates, and dues be- longing to the Exchequer ; particularly fuch as had devolved to it by confiscation. If the detainers thereof did not appear with- in thirty days after a Sub-pawa or aflignation ferved upon them, thefe officers feized the goods and entered on the eftates a : the poflefibr how- ever, if he appeared afterwards and applied to Plin. Jan. in Panegyrico. L. 2. . Hoc Sntcrdiftum. . Ubi caufe fifcales. L. 4. C. DC numerariis. f L. ult. Cod. De Delat. the of the ROMANS. 165 the Court, was heard, upon paying four crowns of gold for his neglect or contumacy in not appearing on the aifignation. When they made a difcovery of any goods that belonged to the Exchequer, they drew up exact declarations thereof fpecifying all the particulars, and incorporated them into the Imperial Demefne, by putting upon them the Emperor*s arms . It was then ftrictly for- bidden all perfons to petition, apply or folli- cit for grants thereof. Thefe officers were judges of all caufes, wherein the Demefne and every thing relating to it was interefled or concerned ; but the Ad- vocate of the Exchequer was necefiarily to be prefent. With regard to criminal affairs where- in the farmers of the revenue were concerned, it was the Governor of the Province that took cognizance and decided in fuch cafes c . Thcfe fubaltern officers had ferjeants and apparitors under them ; and were paid their ftipends and falaries by the Treafury. They had the care and direction of the goods, lands and revenues formerly appropriated to the worfhip and fervice of falfe Deities, and after- wards applied or given to Chriftian Churches ; with an entire and abfoiute jurifdiction over fuch eftates d . They had an authority over the waggoners and carriers of the Imperial houfhold, and k L. Si quando. C. De bonis vacantibus toto. Tit. C. De pethione bonorum fublata. e L. Ad fifcum. C. Ubi caufae fifcales. L. ult. C. Si adverfus fifcum. L. Cum aliquid. C. Ubi caufae fifcales. * L. In fifcalibus & deexacl. tribut. L. Officiates. C. De Epifcopis & Clericis. L. penult. C. Ubi caufs fifcales. L' 4. C. De fundis rei privatae. M over i66 Of the REVENUES over the Prince's flocks and herds of cattle, and ftuds of horfes e . The Infpectors or Matters of the Forefts were alfo fubordinate to the Superintendant of the Demefne. He had likewifc the infpection over the accounts of the Sacred Demefne in- ftituted by the Emperor Anaftafius, as we are told in the Bafilica : and even the Great Con- ftable, or the Emperor's Matter of the Horfe, was fubject to his orders f . CHAP. XXV. Of the Officers called Palatini, depending on the Superintendant of tie Demejne. TH E Serjeants or Apparitors ftiled Pala- tint had the care of the Emperor's pa- trimony, and of the effects or eftates that were confifcated or belonged to the Exchequer a . They were diftributed into four offices. The firft was for the ordering and ma- nagement of eftates given and granted to the Churches ; and was ftiled the Scrinium Benefi- ciorum. This was the office likewife for enter- ing and regiftering privileges . The fecond office was compofed of fuch as were charged with getting in the fines that e L. unic. C De grcge Domi. f L. ult. Cod Tbeod De privilegiis Corporatorum. Z. i. C. De pafcuis publicis, &V. * L. I . &T ult C. DC Palat. facrarum largit. k L. ult. 5. Quam. C. De Quadri. prob. L. 4 ff. De condit. Princip. were cftbe ROMANS. 167 were payable for long leafes, and the annual rents of eftates c . The third was the office of difcharges, where they delivered out all acquittances. This was termed Scrinium Securitatum d . The fourth was that of the private bounties and largefies, Scrinium largitionum privatarum % In this office was kept an account of all that the Emperor gave away, and alfo of the wages and falaries that he paid to his own officers and to thofe of the Emprefs. In this office Jikewife were paid the new-year's-gifts to the Advocates on the firft day of January ; and nobody could be admitted into this office, without an order in writing under the Empe- ror's own hand f . CHAP. XXVI. Of divers fubaltern Officers employed like- wife in the Revenue. TH E Decuriones or Magiftrates of towns had a great hand in the management of the revenue : they were like our Aldermen and Common- Council of Corporations ; and neither they nor their children could alter their condition and way of life, nor change their dwelling by removing to any other country or c L. 9. 10. C. De fund, patrim. * L. i, 2, 3, 4. C. De Apochis. CaJJiodor. 1. ir. c. 2. L. Palatines. C. De Palat. facrar. largitionum. f Z,. Scriniis. C. De diverfis Officiis. M 4 place i68 Of the REVENUES place of habitation a . If they died without leaving any . children behind them to enjoy their effects and inherit their eftates, a fourth part of what they left belonged to the Corpo- ration 13 . They farmed out the lands of the Demefne, and fet the public works to the cheapeft un- dertaker. The firft ten of them levied the tailles and fubfidies, and were bound to have the pay- ments compleat, or in cafe of failure to fup- ply the deficiency c . They had the care and management of all etfates and effects left by will to the Repub- lic. They were charged with laying in provi- fions of corn, and with the regulation and or- dering of the fubfidies. They fettled the af- feffments and fixed the quotas of the contri- butors *, and thofe among them, to whofe par ticular province thefe affefiments belonged, were diftinguifhed by the names of Cenfttores Peraquatores d . Thefe Cenfttores had the adminiftration of all the public revenues : they paid the falaries of the Phyficians, Grammarians, Orators and Philofophers ; and they were alfo the perfons that chofe them, in the prefence of the Go- vernor of the Province c . Befides thefe, there were alfo Collectors of the tailles or fubfidies upon land, called Ex-> Novell. 38. De Decurionibus. k L. i & 2. C. Quando & Quibus, quarto, pars. * L. final. L. 1 5* 3.^". De muneribus & honoribus. ^ Ibid. L. 2 fc? $.ff. De adminiftrat. C. DC Cenfitor. & Pei> efforts of the ROMANS. ,69 aftores or Subfcrtytorcs. They were picked by the T)ecuriones or Magiftrates of Corpora- tions either out of the body of Cenjl tores or of the People. Thefe Collectors, in the prefencc of the Magiftrates of a town, took an ac- count of the lands which each particular per- fon pofieffed, and of what every one was to pay ' : but the Magiftrates, in cafe the Colle- ctors proved infolvent, were anfwerable to make good the deficiency. They fettled alfo and levied the perfonal tallies and rates. The manner of laying and levying the fub~ fidies and other taxes upon land, at leaft as far as the Code enables us to form a notion of the matter, was as follows. In the month of Auguft, the Emperor gave the Prafefti Pratorii a computation con- taining the fum of money and quantity of pro- vifions that he mould want for the enfuing year. Purfuant to this calculation the PrafeRi Prtztorii, who were ufually four, drew up each of them commifiions for what his respective diftric~t was t furnifh 5 and then having made repartitions thereof into the feveral Govern- ments depending upon them, they directed them to the Governors. This cuftom has a good deal of refemblance with what is practi- fed in France with regard to the King's efta- blimments, which are delivered to the Recei- vers general in order to raife the money. Thefe Commifiions or Briefs of the tallies or fubfidies were ftiled Delegationes or Delega- toria. The Governors in their turn made an- other fubdivifion of the grofs fum i and fent f I, Exa&ores. C. De Sufceptoribus. them 170 Of the REVENUES them to the Decuriones or Magiftrates of towns in their Government. Thefe made choice of affefibrs to fix the rates of particulars; and then the rolls were delivered to the Collectors to get in the money ; which was conftantly paid at three terms, the firft of September, the firft of January, and the firft of May *. When the money was received, it was fent from the particular towns (which were called Metrocenua, and anfwered to what is termed Elections in France) to the capital city of the Province, the place of the Governor's ordina- ry refidence, diftinguifhed on that account by the term of Metropolis. It was in this Capi- tal, that the general office of Receipt was al- ways kept. One part of this money was ap- pointed for difcharging the local eftablifhment and charges of the Province ; another part was carried to the cheft of the Prafeftus Pnz- toriii and applied to the bufmefs and occafions of his poft ; and the reft was paid into the Treafury called Sacrum &rarium. With regard to provifions, as corn, wine, barley, bacon, hay, ftraw, &c. when they were levied, they were put into magazines, built exprefsly for that purpofe, and under the direction of the Prafettus Pratorii. We are informed by Julius Capitol inus, in his Life of the younger Gordianus, that Mifi- theus, one of the Prafefti Pratorii, had laid in fuch large magazines of corn, bacon, vinegar and ftraw in the capital towns of the Provinces under his Prefecture, that they were fufficient to fupply and maintain an army for a year. * L. I fcf 2. C, De indiftionibus. If. 7. 15. C. DC crogatione militaris Annonae. And of the R O M A N S. 171 And Spartian relates, that the Emperor Seve- rus left at his death the ftorehoufes and gra- naries fo plentifully provided, that there were provifions enough for feven years, at the rate of a consumption of feventy-five thoufand bufhels of 'corn a day, and fuch a quantity of oil, that it was enough to fupply all Italy for five years. As for what accrued to the Demefne from confifcations, forfeitures, feizures, efcheats, fuc- ceflions that had no certain heir, cafualties and the like, it was all carried to the receipt of the Exchequer, which was under the direction of the Superintendant of the Demefne. There were a great many other officers em- ployed in the collection and getting in of the revenue : as the Treafurers, 'Thefaurarn, who were the Receivers general ; the Cafhiers, called Arcarii) who had the chefts of ready money in their keeping ; fuch as were con- cerned in getting it in, who were ftiled Oftni- ones or Opiniatores ; fuch as were fent to prefs the remittance of the money, named Canoni- cani ; fuch as ferved to guard and convoy them, called for that reafon Perfecutores ; fuch as ordered and iflued out warrants for feizure or diftreining, who were termed Compulfores 5 the weighers of the money, called Zigoftata ; the Clerks that kept the books and regifters of the fubfidies or tax-rolls, Cenfuales ; and the Receivers, of which there were two in eve- ry Province, that went by the denomination of Sujctptorgs. The E N D of the Treatife of tbe Re- venue of tbe Romans. '73 TREATISE O F T H E FALSE MONEY O F T H E ROMANS, * ; According to the Principles of the CIVIL LAW. Sovereign Princes have ever confidered the power of coining money as one of the faireft rights of their Crown : and have accordingly in all ages decreed very fe- vere penalties againft fuch as have invaded it in any refpect. The Roman Emperors were not lefs rigid than others in this point : and as the wifdom of their laws is now the admira- tion of the moft civilized and beft regulated nations, we mall here give an account of the ordinances they have made upon this fubjecl:. To do it methodically, we mail divide this Treatife into two parts. In the firft we mail explain the different manners in which the crime of falfifying or counterfeiting the coin may Be incurred ; and what there is particular in this crime. In the fecond we mall fpeak of the penalties denounced and enacted againft falfe coiners and their accomplices. PART J74- Of the FALSE MONEY PART I. OF all the feveral kinds of forgery, that which is practifed with regard to the coin, is undoubtedly of the nnoft criminal and pernicious nature. For as it belongs only to Crowned Heads to coin money, the coining of any by a man's private authority, or the al- tering of that which hath been ftruck by the Prince's orders and commiflion, is a fort of afpiring to the throne, and violating the Ma- jefty of the Sovereign in the moft fenfible part, and is univerfally deemed to merit the appel- lation and pains of the crime of High Trea- fon. According to the Roman Laws, the crime of falfifying the coin was committed in feven different manners, i. By the coining of fpe- cies of money in other places than thofe which were appointed by the Prince for this purpofe, tho* the pieces coined were of a good alloy and a juft weight a ; unlefs the coiners thereof had procured a fpecial permiffion from the Emperor for their warrant. In truth, there was a time when the Prince granted fome pri-' vate perfons a commiflion to coin money wherever they thought fit : but as thefe grants were found to be prejudicial to the State, and to interrupt the courfe of commerce, Theodo- fius the Great revoked them all, and forbad fuch as had obtained them to make ufe of their privilege any longer, on pain of being treated L. 3. Co& Weed. Tit. De falfa Monetsu as of the ROMANS. as falfe coiners b . We do not want examples of the like grants in the hiftory of France 5 efpecially in the times when our Kings, being not yet firmly feated in their throne, thought it beft to yield up part of their rights, to pre- ferve the reft : but they were all at laft revoked for the fame reafons. Choppin relates, that Robert, Count of Beauvais, furrendered his right to the King, in confederation of the fum of fix thoufand livres. But it would be ex- ceeding the limits we have fet ourfelves in this treatife, to enlarge further upon this fubjeft. 2. People incurred the guilt of the crime of falfe coining, if they ftruck even in the Royal Mints any ingots of gold that were brought them by private men without the Prince's orders c . On occafion of this law it may not be improper to remark, that the Ro- man Emperors were jealous of gold to fuch a degree, as frequently to forbid the ufe of it to their fubjecls. Procopius and Zonaras relate, that there was an univerfal prohibition in all the Provinces of the Roman Empire of coin- ing gold. Theodofius the Great made a law, that no Magiftrate whatever, except the or- dinary Confuls, mould make any diftribution or prefent in gold, whenever they gave plays to the people, or took poffefiion of their dig- nities and employments d . At laft Juftinian forbad the Confuls themfelves to throw any gold to the people in the public ceremonies e , and the Emperors referved this right to them- * Ibid L. 10. Tit. De falfa Moneta. L 7 & 8. Cod. Theod. Tit. eod L, i. Cod.Theod. Tit. De expenfis ludoruin. l. 105. felves f 76 Of tie FALSE MONEY felves alone, as a diftinguifhing mark of the Imperial Majefty. As for ingots of filver, private men were allowed to carry them to the Mints, and there have them coined. This appears clearly from the two laws, the feventh and the eighth juft before quoted. 3. The crime of falfe coining was commit- ted by the coining of fpecies, that were falfc either in their matter or weight f . 4. It was incurred likewife by falfifying the Emperor's image or the infcription put with it upon his coin g . 5. By melting down the fpecies that were coined, fince by that means the circulation of money was interrupted, and commerce fuf- fered a prejudice h . 6. By refining or altering the money called Majorina Pecunia. This money was a compo- fition of filver and copper, and the refiners who melted it made ufe of Aqua regia to fepa- rate the filver from the copper . 7. When fuch as coined money by the Prince's exprefs permiffion, made it either weaker, lighter, and leis weighty than it ought to have been ; or when they clipped, filed, or any way wafted that which had been already made and legally damped, in order to leflen the juft weight which it ought to have k . ' L. 2. Cod Tbeod Tit. De falfa Moncta. * L. uxica Cod. Tbeod. Tit. Siquis folidi circulum cir- cumciderit. k L. i. Cod. Tbeod. Tit. Siquis pecunias conflaverit. 1 Leg. 6. Cod. Theod. Tit. De falfa Moneta. k Leg. unica Cod. Tbtod. Tit. Siquis folidi circulum cir- cumciderit. I mail of tie ROMANS. 177 I fhall but juft take notice of fome particu- lar circumftances attending the crime of falfe coining. 1. As this crime is of a public nature, all the world was allowed to accufe and impeach fuch as were guilty of it, and to prcfecute not only the falfe coiners themfelves, but all fuch as harboured and concealed them, or knowing their guilt did not denounce them to the Ma- giftrates. 2. The accufers or denouncers of fuch as were guilty of this crime, had recompences according to the diverfity of their condition ; free perfons were exempted from all real tri- butes, or taxes upon lands ; flaves obtained their liberty and the right of denizenfhip ; their matter being firft indemnified for the lofs of his fervant. 3. A man condemned for the crime of falfe coining was debarred the liberty of appealing to the Emperor. 4. Whoever was entrufted with the cuftody of a falfe cciner, was condemned to death if he let him efcape ! . 5. Amneflics, or general edicts for the par- don or abolition of crimes, did not extend to falfe coiners in . 1 Leg. 2. Cod. eoJ. Tit. De falfa Moneta. " Leg. 6. CW. Hyeod. Tit. DC mdulgentia criminunx. -uL-V.^3 ^ - OW> TITlij 3i { -- N PART 178 Of the FALSE MONEY PART II. Of the Punifotnents denounced and inflitfed uponfalje Coiners and their Accomplices. TH E punifhments decreed againft falfc coiners were different, according to the times and different conditions of perfons. In the time of the Commonwealth, falfe coiners were condemned to the beads, if they were Free ; and punifhed with death, if they were flaves n . It looks as if Cornelius Sylla the Dictator was the author of this law, which was called Lex Cornelia nummaria. When Ulpian fays, that faife comers were, condemned to the beads, it is only to be un- derdood of men that were of the very dregs of the people -, for with regard to fuch as were didinguifhed by their birth or employ- ments, they were fentenced to perpetual ba- nifhment, and their edates were confifcated. This we are affured of by the lawyer Paulus. From that time to the reign of Condantine the Great, there are no Conditutions upon this fubject to be found in the Roman Law . In Condantine's time, falfe coiners appeared in much greater numbers than ever before ; and accordingly almod all the laws made a* gaind them are the acts of that Emperor. He applied himfelf particularly to exterminate thefe public peds, who only fought their own Ulpian. Leg. 3. Digeft. ad Leg. Corotl* PC falfis. - ? Scntent, Lib. 5. Tit. 25. private of the ROMANS. 179 private intereft, in the ruin of their fellow citizens. By the law which he published in the year 319, he orders, that if any Magi- ftrate of a corporation fhall be convicled of this crime of falfe coining, he fhall be banifhed to one of the remoteft towns of the Empire ; and referves to himfelf the power of difpofing of his eftate : in cafe the guilty perfon was a man of the dregs of the people, he orders him to be banifhed for ever, and his effects con- fifcated ; and if he were a flave, directs him to be punifhed with death. Nothing was en- aclred in this law againft perfons of condition. But as the punimments impofed by this Jaw were not adequate to the evil, nor able to put a flop to the crime, the Emperor had recourfe to a more violent remedy, and in A. D. 321, made a law to punim all falfe coiners of any condition whatfoever with death. In the year 326, he renewed this very law, and to the penalty of death added that of confifcation of eftate, which had not been mentioned in the former law ?. By thefe laws falfe coiners are indeed con- demned to a capital punifhment, but the kind of it is not determined : nor are they to be underftood generally of all perfons guilty of that crime, but only of fuch as worked upon filver. As for fuch as coined gold upon falfe dyes, Conftantine condemned them to be burnt, by the law which he published 'in. A.D. 317.'. . i Leg. comcide Leg. i, 2, & 3. Cod. Theed. Tit. De falfa Moneta. , . unic. Cod. Theott. Tit. SiquiS iblidi clrculum cir- erit. N 2 It Of the FALSE MONEY It happened at this time that Conftantine or- dering new money to be coined, gave dire- ctions for the pieces of the new coin to be ftruck of the fame weight as the old ones, but fomething lefs in fize, fixing upon them the fame value. This money was not favour- ably received by the people, and fell into fuch difcredit, that they refufed publickly to take it in payment upon the fame foot as the an- cient. This manner of proceeding was re- fented by the Prince as an high affront and in- dignity, and therefore Conftantine thought fit by the law a little before quoted, to decree burning or any other capital punifhment a- gainft fuch as mould refufe to take the faid money at the value he had fixed upon it, on pretence that it was of a fmaller form than the old coin : the reafon which he afligns for it is, that money ought to be valued by the weight and not by the form, and confequently pieces of the fame weight ought to pafs at the fame value. Things changed afterwards very much ; and as in the courfe of time the re- fpect which they bore to the Prince was car- ried almoft to the point of a fervile adoration, the people made a much greater account of the money newly coined, than they did of the old pieces ; which obliged the Emperor Va- lentinian I. to make a law to reftore the cre- dit and eftablifh the currency of the old coin r . Conftantine impofeth the fame punifliment of burning or any other kind of death, upon fuch a$ Ihould clip the rim or border of the piece, in or- * C*/ Juftin. 'Tit. D$ rctcris aunyfoutis poteftate. of the ROMANS. 181 der to di minim the quantity thereof r , Cuja- cius relates upon this occafion, that there was at Byzantium or Conftantinople a man named Alexander^ ib dexterous in this practice, that he was furnamed Alexander the Clipper. In the year 343, Conftantius confirms the law of Conftantine, and promifes a recompence to fuch as mould denounce and impeach the guil- ty, but without fpecifying any particular re- ward. The fame Emperor decrees the punim- ment of death againft the founders, whom he ftiles Flaturarii^ that melted, refined, or altered the filver called, as we have faid, Majorina Pecunia : . We have put in the number of falfe coiners fuch as coined ingots of gold which private men had carried to the mints without the Prince's order. The Emperor Valentinian was pleafed to enact farther, that all the gold fo. coined mould be forfeited, and paid into the Imperial Exchequer. Four years after he mo- derated the rigor of this law, and contented himfelf with confifcating two ounces in every pound of gold u . In the year 356, Conftan- tius (for that was the time when this law was afcribed to Conftantine) declares all fuch to be guilty of facrilege as mould be convicted of having melted down any pieces of the coin, or of having carried them out of the Empire -, and in confequence thereof orders them to be punilhed with death v . By the fame law he f Leg. unic. Cod Tbtod. Tit. Si quis folidi circulurn cir- cumciderit. 1 Leg. 5 fcf 6. Cod. Theod. Tit. De falfa Moncta. * Ibid. L. 6 y 3. Cod. Theod. Tit. De falfa Moneta. * Leg. i. Cod. Tbeod, Tit. Siquis pecunias conflaverit. N 3 utterly Of the FA LSE MONEY utterly forbids the buying or felling of the current fpecies, becaufe money is not a mer- cantile commodity, but the price of commo- dities. In fine, he prohibits the making ufe of fuch as are not current in commerce j and in cafe any of them be found in a merchant's houfe, he orders them to be confifcated, with all the eftate and effects of the infringer of this ordinance. All the punifhments here mentioned, how fevere foever they were, did not however de- ter or intimidate the falfe coiners. The Emperors imagined, that the refpect which people naturally have for the Royal au- thority, might ferve more effectually to con- tain them within their duty : and therefore in A. D. 389, Valentinian, Theodofius and Ar- cadius declared falfe coiners to be guilty of the crime of high treafon v . Let us now fee in what manner the accomplices of falfe coiners were punifhed. There are two ways in which a man may be an accomplice with them ; either by hav- ing a fhare in the coining of the falfe money, or in putting off and vending it. Agairtft the accomplices of the firft kind, Conftantine de- nounces the fentence of death or perpetual ba- nifhment, according to the quality and condi- tion of the perfons x . The law runs in the following terms. Our pleafure is, that all fuch as foall be affifting in the coining of falfe money, whether Jlaves, plowmen, or others, employed in tilling the ground or dwelling in the houfe where w Leg 9. Cod Tbeod. Tit. De falfa Moneta. * Ibid. L, z. Cod. Tbeod. Tit. De iali'a Moneta. of the ROMANS. 183 it hath been coined, Jhall lye -purified with death, as well as tbofe that Jhall coin it, and the ground or the houfe Jhall be confifcated. With regard to the -proprietor of the ground, if he had any knowledge thereof, our fleafure is that he be ba- nifhedfor ever, and all bis eftate. and effects con- fifcated. If the crime be committed without his, knowledge, he Jhall efcape for his perfon, but with the forfeiture of his ground or houfe -, but in cafe be knew of it, and immediately gave notice there- cf to the Magiftrate, he foall be exempt from all penalties whatever. This law was made A. D. 321. Eight years after, the fame Em- peror foftened the feverity of this law, at leaft fo far as related to the proprietor of the ground or houfe, where the falfe money was coined : he ordered that the proprietor being guilty of negligence, (as if he was dwelling upon the ipot, and yet had not taken care to inform himfelf of what parTed in his own ground) fliould incur the penalties denounced by the foregoing law ; but excufeth him from all manner of punifhment, in cafe he lived at fo remote a diftance, that he could not eafily know what was doing on his grounds. He likewife declares that widows mall not be lia- ble to the penalties decreed by the faid law, though they live near their grounds or houfes where the money was coined, provided ftill that they are not accomplices therein. With regard to Minors and Pupils, he exempts them from all penalties, even though they were not ignorant of what was doing, becaufe they do not really underftand the nature of what they fee ; but he throws the punifbment upon their tutors or guardians, becaufe they ought to be N 4 acquainted 184 Of the FAL s MON E Y acquainted with every thing that paffes on the cftate of their pupils , ib that they were, ebliged to indemnify the pupil from all the lofies that he might fuffer on this account ?. Abating thefe alterations, he enjoins that his firft law mould be obferved according to its form and tenor. There is no doubt but the utterers and put- ters off of falfe money partake in the crimes of falfe coiners, when they do it knowingly z ; Gonftantine accordingly treats them in the fame manner, /. other countries, any Virtuofos that began to make collections of Medals, there darted up immediately a parcel of cheats that endea- voured to fpoil and corrupt this noble curiofity in its infancy. Soon after this the famous falfifyers of Me- dals known by the names of the Paduan and the Parmefan made their appearance in Italy. Holland too afforded one named Carteron, and fome others equally fkilful, who difperfed among the Virtuofos an infinite number of falfe Medals ; moft of them indeed exquifitely wrought, but ftill far behind the Antique in force and delicacy. The greateft part of thefe Medals are now known by the name of the Paduan : and they are the firft I mail fpeak of in this Treatife, which I have divided into ten Articles. In the firft, I treat of the Medals above, mentioned, which are the modern Coins known by the name of thy Paduan, In The Manner of diftlnguijhing In the fecond, of Medals caft upon fuch ai are modern Coins. In the third, of Medals caft upon Antiques. In the fourth, of Antique Medals touched over again, and altered in the heads and fi- gures. In the fifth, of Medals that are flruck with the hammer, and fuch as are encafted or joined together. In the fixth, of Medals that have cracks and countermarks. In the feventh, of Medals that are plated over, and of fuch as are mifcoined. In the eighth, of caft Medals that are An- tique, and of Medallions compofed of diffe- rent kinds of copper. In the ninth, of Medals that have been in- vented by falfe coiners, and of thofe whereof there are few counterfeits to be found. The tenth Article contains what I had fur- ther to fay in relation to the fubjecl of this work. I give an account fas will appear in each Article) of the various manners which have been taken to counterfeit Medals ; and I have endeavoured to lay down rules for diftingu idl- ing the true from the falfe, whatever artifice hath been ufed to impofe upon the world in this point. I am going undoubtedly to lay open one of the greateft myfteries of iniquity that ever en- tered into the heart of man to conceive, in or- der to impofe upon others : and I own fincere- ly, that when I began to take notice of all the rocks with which one is encompaffed in the Science of Medals, I have been tempted a thoufand Antique MEDALS, fc. 191 a thoufand times to refolve upon giving over the ftudy -, and nothing but the force of a violent inclination, which I could not eafily command, could have engaged me to perfift in it to fuch a degree, and carry on my ob- fervations to fuch a point, as I have done. ARTICLE I. Of Medals of modern Cain, moft of which are known by the name of the Paduan. rbL; The Medals which are called in general the Paduan, are Medals (truck in modern Dies, which the moft expert workmen either of Ita- ly or of other countries engraved with a greac deal of art and tafte, in endeavouring to the utmoft of their power, to imitate the Antique which they copied from true Medals. We have a prodigious quantity of thefe modem pieces, not to be furpaffed in their beauty and noblenefs by any thing but the Antique itfelf. Fine collections enough may be formed of them, as well in Medallions or in Greek Me- dals of gold, filver, and brafs, as in Roman Medals, equally in all the three metals.; but efpecially in Medallions of copper and the great brafs. Mod of the copper medallions of the Roman Empire which are fpurious, have been copied after the Antique ; there are alfo engraved upon them feveral new reverfes, which were never feen upon Antique -Medals, but which the forgers took care to found upon fome hiftorical fads. The twelve firft Emperors have been coun- terfeited ; an . infinite number of times in great brafs ; the Manner of dijlinguijliing brafs ; the counterfeiters chiefly applied them- felves to imitate the heads which were the ra- reft in their kind, fuch as thofe of 'Tiberius, Otbo, (of which there is not an Antique Latin one to be found but what is of the colony of Antioch, or of Egyptian make in the three fizes of brafs) Vitellius^ Pertinax, and the two Gordlam of Africa^ the Agrippina of Claudius, the Domitia (which is hardly ever to be met with) the three tffves of Trajan* s family^ the Anna Fauftina^ and Tranqmllina. It would be no difficult matter for a Virtuofo, who hath had the looking over a few Cabinets well chofen, to avoid being bit by this kind of Medals : but as the generality of them refide in the provinces at a diftance from Paris, and hardly ever come to a place which is in a manner the fountain-head of the Science of Medals, as well as of all the polite Arts, they are confcquently out of the way, and have no opportunity of making their advantage of thofe lights which our learned Antiquaries communicate with equal readinefs and polite- nefs, . ; I have feen feveral of them, who after ha- ying pa(Ted a good part of their lives in a province, and applied themfelves all the time to get together Cabinets of Medals, were not yet, after feveral years application to this fub- jeft, able to diftinguifh a modern Coin from an Antique. What I here advance is fo true, that the Virtuofos of Paris agree unanimoufly, that among all the fcarce Medals of the Ca- binets in the Provinces or in foreign countries, which have been fent thither to be fold, after the death of thofe that formed them, even in thoft Antique MEDALS, &c. 19$ thofc feries which have been mod celebrated, it hath been conftantly foitnd, that moft of the great Pieces were counterfeit. It is not however difficult to di (cover thofe which I am fpeaking of in this article, if a Virtuofo (who hath not yet formed to himfelf 1 that diftinguifliing eye which makes one very rarely miftake) will be careful to obferve the following rules. 1. All the Medals of great brafs, which are called the Paduans^ and which are the on- ly ones treated of in this Article, are gene- rally of a flank much kfs thick than the An- tiques. 2. They are neither fo worn nor fo pared and eaten away as the others. 3. The letters on them feem modern, that is, of the fame character as thofe of the Me- dals of our time. 4. They never have any varnifh, unlefs it be counterfeit, and then it is very eafy to dif- cover it ; for it is ufually black, greafy, and Ihining, and is found foft upon pricking it l whereas the antique varni(h is extremely bright, and as hard as the Medal itfelf. 5. The borders of them have been always filed ; which is difcovered in a manner more or lefs fenfible, if one confiders them with any kind of attention. Laftly, thefe Medals are always very round, whereas the others are never fo regularly round, efpecially fmce the reign of Trajan. Thus much for what relates in general to the Medals in great brafs of modern coin. The Medallions of the fame metal are like- wife eafy to diftinguifli , and this by ths very. Q fame ^he Manner of diftmguijbing fame rules. One (hall run no great hazard at firft in looking upon all that one lhall meet with from Julius Csefar to Adrian's time, as infinitely to be fufpected. There are fcarce any true ones to be found that were ftruck du- ring thofe firft fourteen reigns of the Roman Empire ; fo that all of that time may be con- fidered as counterfeit pieces, except a very fmall number, which are not to be found truly Antique, except in the choiceft Cabinets. Thofe of the following reigns are not a jot harder to be diftinguiflied : they bear the ve^ ry fame marks of impofture as the counterfeit ones of great brafs ; they have the fame make, the fame varnifh, the fame borders, in a word, the fame appearance to the eye. The Imperial Medals of filver or gold, and the Greek Medals of modern coin, are eafy Co be difcovered, of whatever metal they arc compofed. If the borders of them are fome- times more likely to impofe on people, the letters eafily bewray the counterfeit, as they diftinguifh the true Medal : and the firft point of knowledge that a man ought to acquire, is that of the character or form of the letters ; which is no difficult matter, if a Virtuofo, who hath an inclination for the Science of Me- dals, will but uie a little application for that purpofe. For in what manner foever a Me- dial is counterfeited, whether it be of modern coining, caft upon an antique or a modern, touched over again or ftruck with the ham- mer, the letters on them are always falfc. This (I muft here acknowledge) is the principal, or rather the only art to diftinguifh a fufpedted Medal, when one hath not yet acquired that fure Antique MEDALS, &c. fure tafte of the work and coinage of the An- cients, which enables one to diftinguifh im- mediately what is genuine from what is coun- terfeit. .' -> - *> i--ifp./ij y r.*>. ARTICLE H. a& Of Medals caft upon fucb as are of modern coining, The Medals caft upon fuch as are of mo* dern coining are fo very numerous, that all Cabinets, which have not been formed by a mafterly hand, are full of them* It is indeed much eafier to counterfeit them in this man- ner, than if they were cart upon an Antique* Moft of the fcarce Antique Medals, which are the only ones that cheats find an interefl in coun- terfeiting, are worn, and have left part of their charms on the road (except thole of goldj which are almoft always fair and well prc- ferved) whereas the Medals of the Paduan ~re ftill in all their beauty, and take much better in a mould than thofe which time hath injured and difabled. Hence comes the facility which falfe coiners (that have not fkill enough to engrave) have found in caft ing thefe kinds of Medals. They are fometimes mere hard to be difcovered than the original counterfeits upoa which they are formed, b?caufe in caft- ing them one may give them whatever thick-* nefs one pleafes. In the fecond place, they fill up the cavities which the fand hath left in them with maftic ; they touch the letters on them over again* repairing them entirely with the burin-, and then lay over all thefe cheats Da a varniih 10,6 The Manner of diftinguijhing a varnifh which compleats their difguife. It ought not therefore to appear any thing ex- traordinary, if moft Virtuofos, fuch efpecial- ly as are only beginning to dabble in the Sci- ence, mould be trepanned into this fort of Medals. ; They are not however more difficult to be unmafked, than thofe of modern coining, pro- vided we do but obferve the fame rules for difcovering them ; and keep ftill in our mind, that thefe kinds of Medals are lighter than, thofe which have been ftruck, becaufe the fire rarifies the metal that is melted, whereas that which is beaten muft be condenfed, and be- come confequently more weighty ; and that the letters on them will not be genuine ; and moreover the maftic and falfe varnilh will dif- cover themfelves vifibly enough to the eye. Such as are caft upon modern coins in gold and filver, are ftill more eafy to be difcovered than thofe in brafs ; becaufe there is no dif- .guifing them either with maftic or with a falfe varnifh. They mew then, as it may be faid, their turpitude plainly ; and a Virtuofo muft certainly be a mere novice in the Science, if he is capable of being miftaken in them. Moft of the reverfes of all kinds of falfe Medals ferve often enough to impofe on peo- ple , and accordingly we fee that it is ufually rhe firft rule by which Virtuofos examine a Medal. The generality of them lay it down (or a maxim, that the borders juftify the field of the Medal, and that the field fervcs in its turn to juftify the borders : but after all, no- thing is more uncertain and fallacious than this rule in fome refpecT:. We have in truth a great Antique MEDALS, Gfr . great number of filver Medals, the reverfes whereof were filed and rounded in the times of the Romans, in order to be afterwards in- chafed or fet either about certain vefiels or fome other monuments of the like nature, which are ftill found fometimes. Thefe have been often looked upon as fufpected pieces, and the generality of Virtuofos ftill miftruft them, though they are certainly antique. Befides, there is an infinite number of falfe Medals, that have their borders pricked and eaten, as if they had fufFered the injuries of many ages ; which is done in the following manner. They cover the borders of a falfe Medal with wax, and then prick the wax in feveral places : they fill the holes, which the inftrument they ufed in pricking it hath made, with aqua fortis, which eats into and waftes the borders of the Medal, as much and fometimes more than if they had been of the firft anti- quity. It is therefore impoffible for them in this cafe to juftify the field of the Medal ; fo that in the general nothing is lefs decifive than the border ; fince for the reafons that I have here alledged, a Medal that hath them filed may very well be an Antique, and one that hath them eaten and worn, as an antique Me- dal mould naturally have them, may poflibly prove to be fpurious. 03 A R T 1^ It 98 *fhe Manner of diftinguifting ARTICLE III. Medals caft upon Antiques. The Medals, of which I am to treat in this Article, that are caft upon Antiques, are lefs eafy to be difcovered, than either thofe of the Paduan, or fuch as are caft upon modern pieces v becaufe when cheats fet about cafting thefe Medals, they take care to chufe for the print of the mould an Antique Medal, the birft preferved that they can find, and fuch an one produces pieces well enough imitated to impofe frequently upon the moft knowing Medalifts. They may caft them in this man- ner of all fizes and metals ; and when a Ikil- ful falfe coiner hath touched over and repaired thefe kinds of Medals with his burin, they appear frequently as natural as the Antiques : and the rather, in that, as they only counter- feit fuch heads and reverfes as are rare, the workmen, in order to impofe the better on people, take care to ufe for their matter fome anrique common Medals that were coined at the lame time with thofe whick they counter- feit, that fo the filver may be of the fame ftandard. For example : a workman who hath a mind to counterfeit the Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus, which is a reverfe very rare in filver, will take care to melt down a common filver Medal of the fame Emperor, to ferve for the matter of which he makes his falfe piece, and thus by the equality of the ftandard of the filver, render it more likely to be miftaken, It 'Antique MEDALS, &c. It muft be owned that thele kinds of Me- dals are generally lefs eafy to be difcovered than the former ; becaufc having been (as I have obferved a little before) caft upon the beft preferved and mod perfect Antique Me- dals, they retain the tafte of their model, and have really an air and appearance that may very well impofe on Virtuofos. And accor- dingly we fee moft of them deceived in fome cafes of this nature, but more efpecially with regard to Imperial Medals in filver, which is the eafieft fort of any to imitate by reafon of the fmallnefs of the volume. There are very few Cabinets in which there are not fome of thefe Medals ; fuch was the Pacatian of the late Father Stephen Chamillard ; fuch alfo at prefent is the famous Medal in fine filver of Magma Urbica^ in the Cabinet of the late Ab- be Leroy at Paris, which impofed upon abun- dance of Virtuofo's, which Father Banduri has cited in his Catalogue as a fingular and the on- ly piece of its kind, and which hath been late- ly difcovered to be a Medal caft and repaired with a great deal of art and (kill, and confe- quently a counterfeit. Antiquaries ought to be extremely on their guard with regard to this fort of Medals, on account of the great refemblance which they bear to the Antiques. They muft more par- ticularly rniftruft all the large heads in filver. The wives belonging to Trajan, the Pertinax y Didits JulianuS) Pefcennius Niger, the two Gor- dians of Africa ^ the Tranquillitia, and the Cor- nelia Sttpera have been imitated a thoufand and a thoufand times 5 and I have found by ex- perience, that out of twenty Medals of thefe O 4 rare, *The M anner of dljlingutjhing rare kinds, which one fees in the Cabinets of the Provinces of France, one can hardly meet with fo much as one or two that are genuine. In order to difcover thefe Medals, it is ne- ceflary to examine two things : i . the letters : 2. the field of the Medal. When a Medal hath not been ftruck in a Die, as all money is now-a-days, and as the Antique Medals were, excepting only a few of brafs, which I fhall fpeak of in their proper place, the let- ters on them are more irregular, they do not come forward from the field of the Medal with the fame elegance and plainnefs as thofe on Antiques , they are more faded \ and if the burin hath been at work upon them, we difcover its touches, and find that they have been altered. We muft follow a legend clofely from one end to the other, and examine whe- ther all the letters are of the fame tafte and entirely uniform, whether none of them limp, and whether they all come forward with the fame equality ; for if there be a defect as to any of thefe conditions, the Medal ought juft- ly to be fufpected. The field mould likewife ferve to determine and afcertain the fate of a Medal when it hath been caft : it is never fo even, as when a Me- dal hath been ftruck : one may always fee in it a certain hollownefs, and fome cavities caufed by the fand. Thefe defects cannot be concealed and covered, as in medals of brafs, by maftic and falfe varnim j they muft of neceflity appear plainly and vifibly upon Me- dals of gold and filver ; and then the difcern- ing eye goes a great way towards diftinguifh- jng them immediately at the firft glance 5 ? efpc- Antique MEDALS, Sfo. 201 efpecially when one hath acquired it to a con- fiderable degree, and in a perfection which makes it fcarce poflible to be miftaken. ARTICLE IV. Antique Medals refitted^ the Heads and Figure) ivbereof are changed. Thefe are a kind of Medals, which are doubtleis the more likely to impofe on peo- ple, becaufe there feems lefs reafon to miftruft them : and I readily agree, that a man muft be very well verfed in the mechanifm of Me- dals to be able to keep himfelf from being de- ceived by thofe of this kind. They are Antique Medals, to which they fubftitute new legends, and counterfeit the heads and reverfes on them with an art that is really wonderful. A Vir- tuofo fancies himfelf perfectly fecure when he purchafes Medals of this kind, of which peo- ple are the lefs diffident, becaufe they are re- ally Antique : but they are not lefs fpurious on that account, becaufe they are different Medals in the main from what they reprefent. It is eafy enough to imagine, that it is only the rareft heads, and the great reverfes, which are thus diflinguilhed. The greateft part of theie Medals come to us from Italy, where they began to counterfeit them in this manner, when they perceived that the other kinds of falfe Medals were too well known to be mif- taken. Thereupon they formed the defign of taking a common Antique Medal, and turning it in- to a rare Medal ; of difguifing, for inftance, a Clau- *02 ^he Manner of diftinguifoing a Claudius in brafs of the Colony of Antioch into an Otbo ; a Fauftina the mother, a Medal- lion of p9tm or yellow copper, into a Titiana ; a Julia of Severus in filver, into a Didia Cla- ra ; a Macrinus of Cologne, into a Pefcennius Niger -, an Orbiana of great brafs, into an ^4- i0 Fauftina ', a Mammaa, into a Tranquillina , a P;7*/> the Father, or Vafaian of great brafs, into an Mmilian ; and fo with regard to o- thers. When the Heads are not fo nearly refem- bling one another, as thofe are which I have here mentioned, though the difficulty of coun- terfeiting may feem greater in fuch a cafe, yet it doth not put a ftop to the impofture. Able cheats know very well how to retouch them with the burin, fo as to make them alike. They generally make ufe of a Mar cut Aurdius of brafs to turn it into a Pertinax : bat as rhofe two Emperors are not very like one another, they take care to chufe a Marcus Aurelkis on the reverfe of his confecration, which is a reverfe that we meet with too in Pertinate ; they thicken the beard of Marcus Aurelius ; they make the nofe bigger, and when the name is changed with addrefs and (kill, fuch a piece, which hath a genuine re- verfe, and other marks of antiquity befides, is very capable of cheating and deceiving a Virtuofo, who would be delighted to purchafe an head of this confequence. All thefe Antique Medals thus difguifed are very common in Cabinets, efpecially in the fenes of great and middle brafs, which the varnifh always beft difguifes. It is therefore the intereft of perfons who are forming coJ- ~\; led ions Antique MEDALS, Gfr. 203 lections of Medals, to apply themfelves early to unveil and difcover this trick and impofture, which confifts almoft always in the letters ; for it is not an eafy matter to atchieve. There are in Italy fome workmen that have pafied all their lives at this kind of play, and are perfect mafters of the art of taking out of a Medal the letters which are prejudicial to their defign, and of engraving others in their ftead, which appear fo natural, that moft Virtuofos are impoied on by them. I have feen very ikilful Medalifls, that knew very well how to diftinguifli the true from the falle, divided in their fentiments about a Titiana of pot in, of Egyptian coining, which after all was only a Favftina difguifed. The C&fonia in gold, of the late M. L/ebret's Cabinet, was of this kind j as foon as it arrived at Paris, it was difco- vered to be an Agri-ppina the Mother, on the reverfe of Caligula ; and her name had been taken out to fubftitute in its (lead that of Cce- fonia ; and to make of it by help of this al- teration, a Medal which had impofed on all the Antiquaries of Provence. I law a little while ago in the hands of the Bimop of Die, a Claudius of this kind of make, counterfeited into an Otho of the Co- lony of Antioch, which this Prelate (who ought to be confidered as one of our beft An- tiquaries) had firft difcovered not to be genu- ine, but of this kind of make, and which was wrought with a furprizing art. Thefe kinds of Medals are chiefly to be difcovered by the letters ; which muft be examined with all the rigour that I have prefcribed at the latter end of the foregoing Article. Betides 04 The Manner of diftmguljhing Befides the heads, they likewife touch over again and refit the reverfes. A Medal may be fine on the fide of the head, and yet be eaten, worn, and fpoiled on the fide of the reverfe : now if it be a reverfe that is rare, and the Medal is of brafs, they work it over again with the burin, and revive all the fi- gures of it by hollowing a little into the field of the Medal. We muft then take notice, that thefe kinds of reverfes refitted in this manner have no relief, and do not come for- ward out of the field ; and it is chiefly by this mark that they are to be difco^ered. There are alfo a great many Medals (I am ftill fpeaking of thofe of brafs) that have fome rare reverfes which are fair and feem well pre- ferved, but which however are entirely po- ftic. There are likewife Antique Medals, the heads of which they do not ufually touch ; but only hollow the reverfe, which they fill with a maftic of fuch a colour as time hath given to the Medal, and faften it fo firmly to the metaJ that there is no feparating them without force and violence. They then en- grave upon thefe reverfes whatever figures or other ornaments they have a mind to put upon them, in order to make of them the rareft and the beft preferved Medals : they varnifh them on both fides, and in this condition they are the more capable of impofing on people, in that a purchafer, feeing that the head is ge- nuine, doth not always think of examining the reverfe with the exactnefs that is requifite. Part however of the fined reverfes of Med?.ls in the great brafs have been more or lefs re- touched and refitted in this manner : though ih is, they Antique MEDALS, &c . 205 they are not all refitted entirely, and there are abundance of them that have only fome parts retouched -, it is ftill in this cafe, according to my way of thinking, a very great defect in a Medal, and leflens its merit and value ex- ceedingly. There are few feries in great brafs, but we may find in them great plenty of thefe Me- dals. In order to know and diftinguifh them, one muft have a long acquaintance and be well verfed in Medals, and have formed fure tafte with regard to the coinage of the Romans , and then thefe kinds of pieces can- not efcape one. In the mean time, a Virtu- ofo ought ever to miftruft a Medal when he fees it covered with a falfe varnifh, and mould prick the moft fufpicious parts of it with the burin, to fee whether they make refiftance, or whether they are of maftic ; he muft be more efpecially careful to examine whether all the parts of a reverfe form an uniform whole ; fuch as we may imagine a Medal ought to be, when it hath been coined in a Die, engraved with art and exactnefs : and if he perceives any inequalities therein, he ought to fufpeft the Medal. When we are making a pur- chafe in this way, we ought to have recourfe to an able Connoijfeur, who will not let us be impofed on , or at leaft be fure of the probity and judgment of the feller : and little or no rifque is run in either of thefe two cafes. A R T I- 2o6 tTZtf Manner o ARTICLE V. Of Mtd&ls ftruck with the Hammer^ and fuck as are encafled or joined together. The Medals that we term hammered, are very much of the fame kind with thole that I have been fpeaking of juft before. They are likewife common Antique Medals, which flaould be well preferved. They file the re- veries of them all over, and then ilrike new ones in their Head with a modern Die, which imitates the Antique well enough : which 13 done by kying the fide of the head (which they do not touch over at all) upon feveral Folds of thick paper, that it may not be flat- tened ; and then they put the modern Die upon the reverie of the Medal, and make it take the impreffion or ftamp by ftrokes of the hammer. As thefe reverfcs, hammered in this manner, come forward from a coin* they are very neat and uniform, and imitate the An- tique more or lefs according to the Ikill and abilities of the Engraver. Thefe kinds of reveries generally ftrike people with their ra- rity ; the greateft part ot them not being to be found upon true and legitimate Medals. Such are Aquas Claudiam ex fotttibus^ &c. on the reverie of Claudius , Pontem delium on the reverie of Adrian ; Expeditio Judaica, which I have feen on the reverfe of the fame Emperor, and other the like memorials. In this cafe then it is the Medals themfelves that difcover their falfity ; becaufe it is generally known that moft of thefe reverfes are mere fictions, Antique MEDALS, &c. 207 and never really exifted upon An- tique Medals ; which ought to engage a Vir- tuofo to know exactly the Medals which are found to be Antiques, efpecially in the kind to which he takes. It is moreover eafy enough, if one is never fo little ufed to Medals, to dif- tinguilh fuch as are hammered, by the ever fenfible difference of the coinage of the head from that of the reverfe, which makes a con- trail eafy enough to be obferved. After having treated of hammered Medals, it is natural that fuch as we term incafted mould be confidered in their order. They are two halves of common Medals joined toge- ther, and making one that is rare and curious. It is ordinarily upon Medals of brafe and fil- ver that this new fraud is practifed. For in- fiance, they make ufe of an Antoninus, and hollow its reverfe all over: they then prepare an head of Fauftina, and fit it to this reverfe ; which being joined together make one rare Medal. If it be a Medal of brafs, they take care to chufe two brais Medals of the fame colour and the fame varnifh. There are fome of thefe Medals that are joined together in this manner io very dextroufly and with fo much exactnefs, that nothing almoft, but the abfolute afiurance one hath that they are in- cafted, can enable one to difcover them ; and the rather, becaufe the borders of the Medal which is hollowed ftill remain. I have feen a good number of Medals in. filver of the family of Septimius Severus, which had two heads, and which were only Medals incafted neatly. It requires likewife a. great attention to diltinguim and know thefe pieces : Manner of dijlinguijhlng pieces: but when Virtuofos examine them carefully, and having a notion beforehand of the trick> are, as I fuppofe, on their guard againft it, they will always be able to difco- ratetis. ver fome marks of fraud about the ingraikd rims of the coin, which are apt to bewray the impofture. Thefe Medals are moft of them compofed of two heads : but there are alfo fome of them that have reverfes clapped to them in the fame manner ; fuch as the Amphitheatre of Titus Vefpafian, which is found fometimes in great brafs on the reverfe of a Domitian. Though thefe pieces are formed of a head and a reverfe that are both antique, they are not the more valuable on that account : they are ftill fpurious and counterfeit Medals ; and we ought to reject them with as much con- tempt as we would all the other forts of falfe Medals that I have already mentioned. No- thing is really fine and beautiful but truth ; no- thing but truth is amiable. There are alfo fome Medals, as well of brafs as filver, that are two half Medals foldered to- gether by workmen who had not Ikill and dexterity enough to incaft them : but they are eafily known by the bare inflection of the border or edge, which is always filed, and ihews itfelf plainly enough at the firft exami- nation of the two pieces. We muft not however confound thefe in- cafted Medals with an infinite quantity of An- tique Medals that we have in the three metals and of all fizes, which have reverfes that do not belong to the heads they reprefent. Such miftakes happened at the very time of the Medals Antique MEDALS, &V. Medals being coined, through the fault of the workmen employed in ftriking them, who taking one Die for another, tacked often to an Emperor or an Emprefs, a reverfe of a former reign, or one that belonged to fome other different head. There are few Cabinets but have fome of thefe Medals in them : I have feveral of them in my feries of great brafs, which I have quoted on another occafion, and it is needlefs for me to repeat here what I then obferved. I have begun to draw up a Cata- logue of this kind of Medals, which I may pofilbly publilh fome time or other, though for this only reafon, that nothing ought to be unknown in the Science of Medals, and thefe pieces are ftill very curious, even on account of the very defect of their coinage* Thefe reverfes thus tranfpofed from one Medal to another are very frequent in the fmall brafs at the beginning of the lower Medallic Empire ; I mean under the reign of Gallie- nus. The thirty Tyrants that rofe up one af- ter another in this Prince's time, made moft of them only their appearance on the ftage* and were immediately crumed and deftroyed by rivals that got into their place, and made in their turn their exit in as fhort a time as the others. The officers and workmen of the Mints in the Provinces ufurped by thefe fhort- lived Tyrants, had fometimes hardly time enough to engrave the heads of their new mafters ; and fo joined to them reverfes of the precedent reigns. Hence is it that we fee the Pacator Orbis on the reverfe of a Medal of Marius, who reigned only three days ; and an infinite number of other the like infcriptions, P which 2io *The Manner of dijllnguijhlng which it is neceffary to be acquainted with be- forehand, that we may not be puzzled or ftoppecl every moment in the explanation of fuch Medals. ARTICLE VI. Of Medals that have Cracks and Counter- marks. <\ il The cracks that are to be feen on a great number of Antique Medals, moft commonly upon thofe of great brafs, which by the ex- tent and broadnefs of their flank were moft fubjecl: to this accident, have given occafion. to falfe coiners to imitate this defect, that by the help of a well counterfeited crack, they might make their falfe Medal pafs the eafier. The greateft part of fpurious Medals have this equivocal mark of Antiquity, efpecially, as I have juft before obferved, thofe of great brafs ; becaufe the broader a Medal is, the more is it fubjeft to fplit and fly in pieces. Now it is plain that nothing but the force of the Coin can make a Medal crack. We fee very few, or indeed next to none of our mo- dern coin with this mark, becaufe a fingle ftroke or prefiure of the Prefs gives them the flamp and impreflion that they bear : whereas the Ancients, who coined their money with repeated ftrokes of hammers (as is proved ir- refragably by an infinite number of Medals, in which we may obferve the heads, reverfes and legends to have been marked or ftamped at leveral times) were very liable to have their Medal or Coin cracked. This put it into the head Antique MEDALS, &c. 2 1 1 head of modern falfe coiners to imitate thefe cracks upon abundance of counterfeit Medals, as well fuch as were coined (as thofs of the Paduan were) as fuch as were only caft. In order therefore to know whether the crack hath been added fince the coinage, we muft examine it on both fides, and fee whether it be equal and uniform in its fhape, whether it be natural, whether it winds and goes on gra- dually leffening till it ends in certain imper- ceivable filaments ; and then if we find in it all thefe conditions, we may very well con- clude that the Medal is Antique, or rather that the flank is fo ; for the Medal may otherwifc have fome of the defects which I have given an account of in this Treatife. If on the contrary, the crack is broad at its beginning and ftrait, and does not terminate in the manner I have related above, we ought from thence to judge that it hath been added and made by the file, and in fuch cafe we need not look out for any other marks of the falfity of the Medal. The Medals which are counrermarked, are pieces that have an antique Impreffion, which was ftamped upon them when the Directors and Officers of the Mint of the Empire changed the denomination of their current value 5 juft as we fee fome fols counter-marked with a flower-de-luce at the time when thefe pieces were altered in their value under the feign of Louis the Great. We fee upon abun- dance of Medals of great and middle brafs thefe countermarks in various fafliions. In the High Empire we ufaally find thefe letters, N, P, R/O, B 5 or thefe, N, C, A, P, R. P' 2 Thefe a 12 The Manner of diftinguijhtng Thefe laft have been explained by thefe words, Nobis conceffa a populo Romano. I have a Claudius of great brafs, on the reverfe of which is the Triumphal Arch of his father Draftis, with this countermark, M P. There are fome that have on them the name of Au- guftus A U G, and others with the Senatus- Confulto S. C. &c. There is no manner of doubt but that all the Medals of brafs thus countermarked are Antiques ; and I have never yet found that any falfe countermarks were ever coined. It is therefore a fure fign that a Medal is genu- ine, when it hath fuch a countermark upon it : all that remains further to be done, is to exa- mine whether it be otherwife genuine in all its parts, and whether it be not a common Me- dal retouched or refitted with the burin, and converted into a rare Medal ; juft as I have fometimes feen the Agrippina of Germanicus countermarked, and with the reverfe of Sena- tuf-confuUo converted into the Agrippina of Claudius. ARTICLE VII. Of Medals that are plated, and of fuch as are mifcoined. The Medals of gold and filver which they term plated, feem to be exempt from all fuf- picion : they are pieces of falfe money which were counterfeited among the Ancients, and put off for good and current coin. Nobody will find any great difficulty in believing that there have always been falfe coiners, from the time Antique MEDALS, &c. time that nations were formed into focieties under a civil government, and the ufe of gold and filver money was introduced and fettled. This cheat hath been perpetually practifed down to our time, and in all probability will not end but with the world. But it muft be owned, that among the Romans the falfe coiners were very clever and ingenious cheats, and were particularly excellent engravers. As all the gold and filver coins of the Empire were made in all the perfection of workman- Ihip, it was abfolutely neceffary to imitate and come up to them in the counterfeit pieces, in order to pafs them off in the world. We ac- cordingly fee them imitated to fuch a degree, that we are often obliged to prick the pieces, when they are not cut or pared, to difcover whether they are plated, that is, whether they are copper within. The coining of counterfeit Medals was in thofe days extremely difficult to be pradifed. It was not then to be done, as it is now, with little more than mixing a little gold with cop- per, or with barely whitening over a piece of bafe metal. The falfe coiners among the Ro- mans covered their pieces with a leaf of pure gold or filver, thick enough not to wear off or difcover itfelf till after they had been long ufed in commerce, and fo comprefied with the copper of the infide at the time of their being coined, that it was impoflible to diftin- guifh them in any way but by cutting or piercing them with a burin or fome other in- ftrument. This circumftance is fufficient to fhew us that money was fcarce in the Roman Empire, P 3 fince Manner of diftinguijhing fince a workman ran the hazard of being pu- nifhed with all the feverity of the laws for the fake of counterfeiting a filver Medal, which is hardly now-a-days worth ten-pence, and was at that time of a much lower value. We may confequently be aflured that a Me- dal 13 undoubtedly Antique, when we find it plated, and was coined at the very time it was fo plated. As thefe pieces were coined in a hurry, and always in fubterraneous places, they are very fubjec~b to have faults in the legends, which render them for the moft part fingular, either by the tranfpofition of the letters, or by fome other defects. We mould examine them with attention, and we mail find after all that there are few of them, efpecially in filver, but what are fit enough to enter into a feries. The thicknefs and relief of gold and filver Medals having given occafion for falfe coiners to plate them the more eafily, there was found at laft fo great a quantity of thefe plated pieces, that when in the reign of the fons of Conftantine the Great, the current coin of the Empire (which had fcarce been any thing but of bafe metal from the time of the Emperor Garacalla) was reformed, and money of pure filver was coined, it was thought neceflary for the public fecurity to diminim it to half its former weight or thereabouts, and to make it fo thin, that it would be impoffible any longer to falfify it ; which was conceived to be the moft effectual way that could be taken to prevent the like cheat for the future. Not- withftanding this precaution, I have feen a plated Valentinian of gold in the Cabinet of M, Mahudel, who is the only Ajitiquary that I know Antique MEDALS, &c. 1 know in France, who hath taken the pains and care to collecl: aJJ the fingularities imagi- nable that are to be found in the point of An- tique Medals, as well with regard to their fa- brick, as in relation to Hiftory ; and he hath indeed a collection of them that is the only one in its kind. The Medals then of filver which are plated may be admitted undoubtedly for Antiques : it is not practicable to refit the letters on them, as may be done upon Medals that are of a good alloy ; becaufe the Medal being covered only with a leaf of filver, it will not bear be- ing worked over again. Some other method was then to be taken by ingenious artifts, if they were minded to go on with their fraud in counterfeiting this kind of Medals ; and fome of them, to pufh it to the utmoft point it was capable of reaching, bethought them- felves of piercing fome falfe but well counter- feited Medals of filver with a red-hot needle, the fire of which taints and reddens the Me- dals on the infide, and makes fuch as do not examine the matter clofely, fancy it to be plated. When we meet with this kind of Medals thus pierced and imagined to be pla- ted, we muft, if we are not fkilful enough to difcover the fpurioufnefs of the Medal, take care to prick it either in the field or in the borders, and by that experiment fatisfy our- felves, whether it be really plated and confe- quently Antique. Medals that were by accident mifcoined, I am perfuaded never were counterfeited, and they may all be looked upon as pieces certainly Antique, Thofe which we call fo are Medals P 4 that i6 Tfo Manner of diftinguijhing that have the fame head on both fides, in re- lief on one fide, and hollow on the other. This defeft is owing to the hurry and preci- pitation of the coiner, who before he had ta- ken off the Medal which had been ftruck im-- mediately before, clapped on it a new flank, which having the Die above it, and the Me- dal, which had not been taken away, under- neath it, received on both fides the imprefllon of the fame head in relief and in hollow, but always ftruck more imperfectly on the fide of the hollow, the effort being much weaker on the fide of the Medal than on that of the Die. Thefe Medals, which are rare, ferve in Cabi- nets only for matter of curiofity : there are fe- veral of them in gold and filver, and fome of brafs, efpecially of the middle : I do not re- member that I ever faw one in great brafs. We meet fometimes with rare heads of this kind: fuch is a Pertinax of filver, which I have feen formerly in the Cabinet of the late Monfieur de Pont-Care, Firft Prefident of the Parliament of Normandy, who would have left his heirs the fined feries of Imperial Me- dals of filver in Europe, if M. Abbe de Rothelin had not formed one of them that fur- paffeth it infinitely. ARTICLE VIII. Of cajt Medals that are Antique^ and of Me* dalliom compofed of different Coppers. Though I have advanced that all Antique Medals were ftruck with the hammer, and that fuch as are caft ought to looked upon as fpurious Antique MEDALS, &c. 217 fpurious pieces, formed either upon the An- tique or upon the Modern j it is neverthelefs very certain, that there are fome Medals of brafs which have been caft, and yet are really Antiques. I do not propofe to fpeak here of thofe pieces of an enormous fize, which re- prefent the Head of Rome, and which ferved for weights among the Romans ; nor yet of thofe which are almoft like them in weight, on which we fee the heads of the Ptolomies Kings of Egypt, which were defigned for the fame ufe, and which could not have been made without the help of a mould , but only of the Medals which are to be met with in all Cabi- nets, and which have been caft. Such are moft of the Medals and Medallions of yellow copper of the fame fafhion, which were made in the reigns of the Emperors ; and fome o- thers which are Greek, either the make of An- tioch or of fome other Grecian Colonies, which are alfo caft, but in a mould and of a make fo vifibly antique, that it is utterly impoflible to miftake them. It is true indeed, that a raw unexperienced Virtuofo will be apt to reject thefe Medals -, but when a man hath once formed a fure and difcerning tafte with regard to the workmanmip of the Ancients, he will treat them no more as fufpicbus. I do not know any of the Latin Medals but thofe of the Pofthumi in great and middle brafs, among which we can find any that are caft. Indeed moft of the Medals of thofe two Tyrants are vifibly fo ; but with fuch an air and tafte of the Antique, as immediately fa- tisfies and convinces a Virtuofo that is a Con- noiffeur, There was not ho vever at that time any, a 1 8 'fhe Manner of diftinguiflnng any want of able and ingenious engravers inGaul ; as appears evidently from a good part of the brafs Medals of the reigns of the Pofthumi, and particularly thofe of Pofthumus the father, which are of a tafte, a neatnefs, and a delica- cy worthy of the fined reigns of the Empire. A Virtuofo muft not reject without diftindtion all the caft Medals, particularly thofe which I have here mentioned ; for with regard to the reft, they ought certainly to be looked upon as very fufpicious. The rareft pieces that we have in point of Antique Medals, are thofe which we call Me- dallions ; which were not the current money of the Empire, as all other kinds of Medals were. Thefe Medallions were ftruck to ferve as public memorials of tranfadions and events, and were either distributed and thrown among the people at Plays, Triumphs, and the like ceremonies, or given to foreign Embafiadors and Princes. The Romans ftiled thefe pieces Mi/ilia, and the Italians call them Medaglioni^ a name which we have borrowed from them to exprefs and fignify Medals of the largeft fize. There are, as I have oblerved already, an infinite number of Medallions that are ipuri- ous, whether they be of modern coining, or only caft. Befides the rules which I have laid down above for the furer difcovery of them, we may be careful to mind whether they are not compofed of different coppers, and in this cafe they are Antiques. The make of thefe pieces lies in their being compofed of different coppers, which are not incorporated together, but one- of them only inchafes the other, and which are ftmck with the fame Die. We \fuL may Antique ME D AL s, &c. 219 may obferve in them, that the characters or letters of the legend eat fometimes into both the metals, and at other times they are only upon the inner, to which the firft circle of me- tal ferves only for a border. Thefe pieces are certainly Antique, and not to be fufpected in the leaft ; fo that I mail not attempt to fay more upon their fubject : the only misfortune is, that we meet with very few of them. ARTICLE IX. Of Medals that are merely invented, and of fuck as have been very Seldom counterfeited. I mall here only in fome meafure point out the Medals which have been invented as the fancies of workmen fuggefted to them, in or- der to impofe on unexperienced Virtuofos, who are delighted to purchafe Medals of a fingular kind, though fuch as never appeared in Anti- quity. Such are the Greek Medals of Pria- mus, Paris and Helena, of JEneas, Hercules, and feveral other Kings, Generals or Philofo- phers, that in their times filled the Univerfe with their renown, but whofe memory there was never any care taken to tranfmit by the help of Medals to pofterity. There are like- wife fome Lalin ones of Annibal, Scipio, Ci- cero, and other the like heroes of the Repub- lics of Carthage and Rome, which are of the fame clafs. All thefe pieces, which it is very well known never exifted among the Ancients, car- ry likewife with them fuch vifible marks of fpurjoufnefs, having been moft of them caft, that 22O tfbe Manner of diftinguifking that it would be an unpardonable blunder not to know them ; and it is entirely needlefs for me to enlarge further on their account, becaufe a Virtuofo that enters the lifts of the Medallic Science, is immediately made acquainted with the fpurioufnefs of all thefe Heads. The Confulary Medals, feries of which are generally only formed in filver, becaufe there are few of them to be met with in brafs, and ftill fewer in gold, never were counterfeited fo frequently as thofe of the Grecian Kings and the Roman Emperors. As there appeared much lefs eagernefs in the queft of thefe kind of Medals, whereof there are but few fine fe- ries, the falfe coiners did not take fo much pains to counterfeit them, as they did with re- gard to the others. To this reafon may be added another, that there are very few of them found fo perfectly well prcferved as to be fit to form a fine mould, except fuch as were re- newed by order of the Emperor Trajan, and a very few others. All thefe Medals are hard- ly worth more than their weight, which did not give encouragement enough to falfe coiners to counterfeit and imitate them. I do not think that there are any of them of modern coining ; but I (hall not offer to maintain that one may not meet with fome that are caft ; however, a Virtuofo that gives into the tafte of the Confulary Medals runs much lefs ha- zard of being deceived, than he does in the other collections. The Medals which were coined in the Ro- man Colonies are undeniably the moft curious monuments that are left us of the ruins of the Roman Antique MEDALS, fr. 221 Roman Empire. They have likewife been lefs fubject to be counterfeited than the Confu- lary Medals, by reafon of the clumfinefs and coarfenefs of their work, which it would be in a manner impofilble to imitate. We find very few of them that are fine, and a man has great luck, when in thofe which he pur- chafes of this kind, he finds the figures on them tolerably preferved, and the legends in a condition to be read. This is the mofl learn- ed kind of Medals that we have ; but the moft uncouth and difagreeable with regard to the workmanfhip or beauty of the pieces, which confequently are the leaft eafy of any to be counterfeited, becaufe an ingenious work- man will never be capable of imitating any thing but what is very fine. We may then confider all the Medals of Colonies as genuine and really Antiques ; and I do not remember that I ever faw any of them that are fpurious. If we do in fact meet with fome Greek ones, fuch as thofe of the Colony of Antioch, of Samofata, or others of that kind, which feeni to have been caft, they are not lefs Antiques on that account, as I have obferved in the foregoing Article. The Medals or Coins called Quinarit, which is the fmalleft kind that we have, have : been counterfeited as much as the reft of the Impe- rial Medals. There are found abundance of. them that are caft, as well in gold as in filver :; it is neceflfary even to examine them with more', rigor and exa&nefs than the ordinary Medals, becaufe they are ftill rarer. There are but' few of thefe Medals to be feen in the various Cabi- The Manner of diftingmfting Cabinets which have been formed : M. Vail- lane had collected a feries of them for the Duke of Maine, which is now mixed with others in the Cabinet of Abbe de Rothelin, who hath formed a collection of them that is the only one in its kind. Among the filver Medals of the Confulary Families, there are found fome pieces that have their borders or edges notched and in- dented. We meet likewife with fome of this fort among the heads of the firft Roman Em- perors, as of Julius Casfar, Mark Anthony, and Auguftus. Thefe Medals were, at the time of their being ftruck, adjufted in this manner by the Directors and workmen of the Roman Mints, to mew that they were true and lawful money, and not liable to be plated. Thefe Medals are certainly Antiques, and ne- ver were counterfeited. The Medals that are filled Conturniati, from the Italian word which exprefleth the manner in which they were ftruck, are of two forts. There are fome of them Greek ones, which are generally and with reafon believed to have been coined in Greece, in honour of the great men they reprefent ; and there are others that were ftruck for fome Roman Emperors ; and it is thefe laft that are moft eafily met with, and ulbally ranged in the feries of great brafs. Antiquaries are much divided in their opinions as to the time when thefe Medals were coined. Some maintain that they were revived by the Emperor Gallienus, when he revived all the Confecrations of his predecefibrs : others, and I believe with better reafons on their fide, put off Antique MEDALS, fifc. 223 off the time of their being ftruck till the reign of Valentinian. However it be in that point, thefe Medals, which are of the moft fingular fabrick, and the leaft capable of being imi- tated, have not, as far as I have been able to obferve, ever been imitated : only I have feen fome of them, the figures whereof had been effaced by time, and which had been retouched or wrought over again with the burin ; as is eafy enough to be difcovered by the very marks of the burin, which are ftill frefh and plainly to be obferved. All thefe Medals arc of little worth, and they are ranked among the great brafs, purely becaufe one finds a pleafure in getting together every thing that belongs in any refpecl: to a collection of Me- dals. The laft kind of Antique Medals, fome of which have been preferved to our times, are Medals of lead. Falfe coiners have in thefe latter ages of the world, made counterfeit ones of this kind : but they are hardly worth the pains of being looked, and ought rather to be thrown away with contempt. The Antiques that we have left of them are very few in number ; but I have feen fome of thofe of Antoninus and another Emperor. They are eafy to be known by the lead, which is whi- tifh and of a dirty colour ; as well as by their make, which it is much more difficult to imi- tate in lead than in any other metal. ARTI- 224 The Manner of diftinguijhlng ARTICLE X. Among the Medals that compofe all the Cabinets of Virtuofos, there are feveral pieces which are found ro be Antiques in one fort of metal, or in one fize, and yet none of the like are to be found in other feries of diffe- rent metals and fizes. It muft not however be from hence imagined, that becaufe we have not as yet difcovered them, we fliall never find any Antiques of thofe forts ; reafon and experience joining to prove the contrary. There is no manner of doubt to be made, but that when they ftruck Medals for an Em- peror, or for fome perfon of his family, they ftruck fome in all the three metals, of gold, filver, and brafs, and likewife of different fizes ; though even to this time there are fome feries, in which feveral Heads are wanting. We have no Otho ftruck at Rome by the con- tent and authority of the Senate, becaufe the Senate did not declare in favour of this Prince. That illuftrious Body, before they acknow- ledged him for their Sovereign, and in con- fequence thereof caufed brafs money to be coined in his name, thought it proper to wait and fee the conclufion of the Civil War which was raifed between him and Vitellius his Com- petitor for the Empire. But this reafon, which holds as to brafs Medals with regard to Otho and Pefcennius Niger, cannot take place in refpeft of other reigns, fince (as I have ob- ferved before) they did not coin only for one fort Antique MEDALS, &ct Ibrt of Medals ; and when we have difco- vered any of one fort, we may reafonably ex- pect to find in time thofe of another which have been wanting hitherto. The earth hath not yet given up all the treafures it holds of Medals, which the ruins of fo many ages have depofited within her bowels. Twenty years ago the Annia Fanftind of filver, which was luckily found by M. Lai- 4 and hath fince pafied into Abbe Rothelin's Cabinet, was not fo much as known ; and though two centuries had palled fince the cu- rious world had begun to form Cabinets of Medals* it had all that while efcaped the fearches of Antiquaries. The Orliana of gold! is hardly known as yet, and M. Vaillant hath afierted that there was no fuch thing : yet fome time ago a fair one well preferVed was difcovered, and is now in the King of France's Cabinet. Lucky difcoveries of this kind are made pretty frequently : and there are few/ Virtuofos zealous and diligent in their fearches, but meet in time with pieces that are fingular, and even fuch as are the only ones in their kind. I had myfelf two years ago in Nor- mandy, the good fortune to find a noble Me- dallion in brafs of the Emperor Adrian, upon the reverfe of which is COS. III. with the (he- wolf and the two children. This piece had been ever before unknown. I found likewife a little while ago a Medal Hill more fingular : it is an Alexander Severus of great brafs, with a reverfe, the legend where- of is POTESTAS PERPETUA, with the fi- gure of Security in a fitting pofture. The Medal is not at all to be queftioned : and though we . have 226 *be Manner of dlftinguifoing have not yet feen this very title infcribed to any Roman Emperor, we ought not however to be furprized to fee it given to this Prince, fince we find on the reverfe of his Medals in filver, PERPETUITATI AUG. an in- fcription never found on any Medals but thofe of this Prince. Abbe de Rothelin hath found likewife two filver Medals of the fame Em- peror, with the Legend PIETAS MILI- TUM : It is the figure of a woman holding generally one or two military enfigns. Thefe Medals, as alfo a good number of others, which I might quote, as well with re- gard to the Heads as the Reverfes, will not in all probability long remain the only ones of their kind ; and it was not the cuftom to coin fo inconfiderable a number thereof, as to make us defpair of ever feeing them multi- plied. Their degree of rarity indeed will fubfift till new difcoveries are made of others : and thus, though we have not feen a Pefcen- nius, the Gordians of Africa, a Maximus, or a Paulina, &c. in gold, it is not impoffible but we may difcover fome hereafter ; fince when they were ftriking Medals in filver and brafs, it is natural enough to think, that they might at the fame time coin fome in gold ; and fo likewife as to others. After the account I have here given of the prodigious number of falfe Medals of all kinds that are fcattered up and down in al- moft all the Cabinets of Europe, it will fcarce be believed that any of them fhould be ex- empt from fo general a contagion. There are however fome large Cabintts which have been formed 'by able Connoiffeurs, that are compofcd Antique MEDALS, &c. 227 compofed only of genuine Medals, which Hiftorians and other learried men may fafely make the fubject of their difquifitions. Such is the King of France's Cabinet , fuch too is that of Abbe de Rothelin ; it is at this No- bleman's we meet with one of the fined fan- claries of Medals, at the fan^e time with the man in the world the moft capable of explain- ing them, and of laying open all the myfle- ries of the Medallic Science. The END. BOOKS printed for J. and P. KN A p in Ludgate- Street. MR. Rollins Ancient Hiftory of the Egyptians* Carthaginians, djfyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Per/tans, Macedonians and Grecians. Tranflated from the French. In Ten Volumes in i zmo. With Fion- tifpieces beautifully engraven, a Chronological Table, and copious Index. Mr. Ratlin's Hiftory of the Arts and Science f th'-. Ancients : Illuftrated with 50 Copper-Plates. In 4 j. Saw. The Roman Hiilory from the Foundation of Rome to the End of the Commonwealth. By Mr. RolRn. The Manners and Cuftoms of the Romans. I. Of their Manners in Private Life, their Habits, Ornaments, Build- ings, Chariots, Feafls, &c. II. Of their different Kinds of Government and Magiftrates. III. Of the Revenues and Forces of the State : and of War. IV. Of then Religion, Shews and Cuftoms obferved in them. Tranf- lated from the French, S