In the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

during

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...

, the ''comes rerum privatarum'' ( gr, κόμης τῆς ἰδικῆς παρουσίας, ''kómēs tēs idikēs parousías''), literally "count of the private fortune", was the official charged with administering the estates of the emperor. He did not administer public lands, although the distinction between the emperor's private property and

state property State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an Industry (economics), industry, asset, or Business, enterprise by the State (polity), state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to a ...

was not always clear or consistently applied. The ''comes'' collected rents, handled sales of movable and immovable property, protected the estates from usurpation and accepted lands that came to the emperor by way of grant, bequest, confiscation or forfeiture. Vacant lands (''bona vacantia'') and heirless property (''bona caduca'') both

escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

ed to the emperor. The office was probably created around 318, at the same time as that of the ''

comes sacrarum largitionum The ''comes sacrarum largitionum'' ("Count of the Sacred Largesses"; in el, , ''kómes tōn theíon thesaurōn'') was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire. Although it is first attested in 3 ...

'', although it is not explicitly mentioned until the period 342–45. The ''comes'' was one of the '' comites consistoriales''. He held by virtue of his office the rank of ''

vir illustris The title ''vir illustris'' ('illustrious man') is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Rome and Constantinople. All senators had the title ''vir clarissimus'' ('very famous ...

'' and was automatically a member of the

senate of Rome The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

or the

senate of Constantinople The Byzantine senate or eastern Roman senate ( el, Σύγκλητος, ''Synklētos'', or , ''Gerousia'') was a continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries, but the senate's powers ...

. The title ''

comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

'' (literally "companion") indicates that he was a member of the emperor's entourage (''comitatus''). The two offices (''rerum privatarum'' and ''sacrarum largitionum'') were the highest in the imperial bureaucracy in the fourth through sixth centuries. The department of the ''rerum privatarum'' was slightly smaller. It had five sub-departments (''scrinia'') at court and also officers at the

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

and provincial levels. In the capital, the ''scrinia'' were staffed by the ''palatini rerum privatarum''—the term ''palatini'' being common for officials serving at court (''palatium''). These were sent out annually to oversee the work of the diocesan and provincial officials. According to the ''

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' (Eng. Theodosian Code) was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 ...

'', in 399 there were three hundred such officials under the ''comes rerum privatarum''. The ''comes'' sometimes grouped estates together to form a ''domus divinae'' (literally "divine household") and placed an official separate from the diocesan or provincial one in charge of it. By 414, the ''domus divinae'' of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

had been transferred from the competence of the ''comes rerum privatarum'' to that of the ''

praepositus sacri cubiculi The ''praepositus sacri cubiculi'' (Latin: "provost of the sacred bedchamber", in gr, πραιπόσιτος τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου κοιτῶνος, praipositos tou eusebestatou koitōnos) was one of the senior palace offices in the L ...

''. In the western Empire, Emperor

Glycerius Glycerius () was Roman emperor of the West from 473 to 474. He served as ''comes domesticorum'' (commander of the palace guard) during the reign of Olybrius, until Olybrius died in November 472. After a four-month interregnum, Glycerius was p ...

(473–74) created a new official, the ''

comes patrimonii ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title " count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either ...

'', to administer the directly-held imperial estates, leaving the ''comes rerum privatarum'' only the rented-out properties and the judicial functions connected with forfeitures and grants. Before 509, probably in the 490s, Anastasius I copied Glycerius' reform in the

eastern Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. Gradually, the office lost its fiscal remit and acquired even broader judicial competence, finally dealing even with cases involving of

grave robbery Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

and

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

. Before the seventh century was over, the office had disappeared altogether, partially replaced by the ''

sakellarios A ''sakellarios'' ( el, σακελλάριος) or ''sacellarius'' is the title of an official entrusted with administrative and financial duties (cf. ''sakellē'' or ''sakellion'', "purse, treasury") in a government or institution. The title was ...

''. During the reign of

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

(527–65), most of the ''domus divinae'' had been placed in the hands of curators independent of the ''comes rerum privatarum''.

Notes

Sources

* * {{italic title Ancient Roman titles Byzantine fiscal offices

See also

Notes

Sources