The ''a rationibus'' was the secretary of finance 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 ...
and in charge of the imperial treasury, the ''
fiscus
''Fiscus'', from which comes the English term "fiscal", was the name of the personal chest of the emperors of Rome.
The word is literally translated as "basket" or "purse" and was used to describe those forms of revenue collected from the provinc ...
''. His responsibilities involved monitoring the state's revenues and expenditures and maintaining the accounts of the ''fiscus'', giving the ''a rationibus'' considerable influence.
The role of the ''a rationibus'' was originally created by
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
, who needed accurate and comprehensive accounts of the state's finances in order to exercise budgetary control, and was thus given to members of his household, probably
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
. This role was then institutionalized in the position of the ''a rationibus'', who was paid a salary by the ''
aerarium
Aerarium, from ''aes'' (“bronze, money”) + -''ārium'' (“place for”), was the name given in Ancient Rome to the public treasury, and in a secondary sense to the public finances.
''Aerarium populi Romani''
The main ''aerarium'', that o ...
'' and given an office in the Palatine bureaus, under
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
. Roman patrician families such as the Junii Silani may also have designated their accountants as "a rationibus", although this custom fell out of practice when the imperial office of the ''a rationibus'' became institutionalized and had vanished at the latest under
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...
's reign.
[Brunt, P.A. (1966). "The 'Fiscus' and Its Development". ''Journal of Roman Studies'', 56, pp. 75-91.] Within his role as accountant, the care