Notitia dignitatum - insignia comitis 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 Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

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 Mediterr ...

and the early

Byzantine 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 ...

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

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

(r. 306–337). The ''

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 ...

'' was the successor of the

Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period 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 so-called Dominate. ...

-era ''

rationalis A ''rationalis'' was a high-ranking fiscal officer in the Roman Empire. Until replaced by the ''comes sacrarum largitionum'' by Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, the ''rationalis summarum'' – comparable to a modern-day finance minist ...

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

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) 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 be ...

s: the taxation of senators, the ''

chrysargyron The ''collatio lustralis'' was a tax on "traders in the widest sense"''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 2nd ed. 1970. p. 263 in the Roman Empire. It was instituted by Constantine, although there are some indications that such a tax existed during t ...

'' 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 In the Roman Empire during late antiquity, the ''comes rerum privatarum'' ( gr, κόμης τῆς ἰδικῆς παρουσίας, ''kómēs tēs idikēs parousías''), literally "count of the private fortune", was the official charged with admin ...

'' 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 Phocas ( la, Focas; grc-gre, Φωκάς, Phōkás; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially, a middle-ranking officer in the Eastern Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers ...

(r. 602–610). He was succeeded 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 ...

'' and the ''

logothetes tou genikou The ( gr, λογοθέτης τοῦ γενικοῦ, often called or simply (, 'the general ogothete), and usually rendered in English as the General Logothete, was in charge of the 'general financial ministry', the of the middle Byzantine Em ...

'', who remained the chief fiscal ministers in the middle Byzantine period (7th–11th centuries).

Sources

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

See also

Sources