In the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

during

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, the ''comes rerum privatarum'' (, ''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 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 escheated 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 , ''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 342/3 ...

'', 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'' () 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'' (); but from the mid fourth ce ...

'' and was automatically a member of the senate of Rome or the senate of Constantinople. The title ''

comes ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

'' (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 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'' ("Theodosian Code") is 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 an ...

'', 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 (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

had been transferred from the competence of the ''comes rerum privatarum'' to that of the '' praepositus sacri cubiculi''. In the

western Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, Emperor

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

(473–74) created a new official, the '' comes patrimonii'', 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 known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

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

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

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

sakellarios A ''sakellarios'' () 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 used in the Byzantine Empi ...

''. During the reign of

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(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