Notitia dignitatum - insignia comitis 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 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 ...

and the early

Byzantine 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Although it is first attested in 342/345, its creation must date to ca. 318, under Emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

(r. 306–337). The ''

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 ...

'' was the successor of the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

-era '' rationalis'', and supervised those financial sectors that were left outside the purview of the

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

s: the taxation of senators, the '' chrysargyron'' tax, customs duties, mines, mints and state-run mills and textile factories. Initially, the ''comes'' also controlled the emperor's private domains, but these passed under the control of the '' comes rerum privatarum'' by the end of the 4th century. He also exercised some judicial functions related to taxation in his administrative courts in particular in matters of fiscal debt. The office of the ''comes'' gradually declined in importance after the late 5th century, especially after Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518) abolished the hated ''chrysargyron''. He remained however one of the main fiscal ministers, controlling an array of bureaux (''scrinia'') and with an extensive staff detached to the provinces. The last ''comes'' known is mentioned under the Emperor Phocas (r. 602–610). He was succeeded by the '' sakellarios'' and the '' logothetes tou genikou'', who remained the chief fiscal ministers in the middle Byzantine period (7th–11th centuries).

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* * {{Byzantine Empire topics, state=collapsed Ancient Roman titles Byzantine fiscal offices

See also

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