Of
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...
containers, a congiarium, or congiary (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, from ''
congius
In Ancient Roman measurement, ''congius'' (pl. ''congii'', from Greek ''konkhion'', diminutive of ''konkhē'', ''konkhos'', "shellful") was a liquid measure that was about 3.48 litres (0.92 U.S. gallons). It was equal to the larger chous of the A ...
''), was a vessel containing one
congius
In Ancient Roman measurement, ''congius'' (pl. ''congii'', from Greek ''konkhion'', diminutive of ''konkhē'', ''konkhos'', "shellful") was a liquid measure that was about 3.48 litres (0.92 U.S. gallons). It was equal to the larger chous of the A ...
, a measure of volume equal to six
sextarii.
In the early times of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
, the congius was the usual measure of
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
or
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
which was, on certain occasions, distributed among the people; and thus congiarium became a name for liberal donations to the people, in general, whether consisting of oil, wine, grain, or money, or other things, while donations made to the soldiers were called ''
donativa
The ''donativum'' (plural ''donativa'') was a gift of money by the Roman emperors to the soldiers of the Roman legions or to the Praetorian Guard. The English translation is ''wikt:donative, donative''.
The purpose of the ''donativa'' varied. So ...
'', though they were sometimes also termed ''congiaria''.
Congiarium was, moreover, occasionally used simply to designate a present or a pension given by a person of high rank, or a prince, to his friends; and Fabius Maximus called the presents which
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 ...
made to his friends, on account of their smallness, ''heminaria'', instead of congiaria, because
hemina was only the twelfth part of a congius.
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 ...
gave a congiarium of 72½ denarii (300 sesterces) to each citizen.
Caligula gave the same amount of three hundred
sesterce
The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin.
The na ...
s on two occasions.
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 unti ...
, whose congiaria were the earliest known examples represented on medals, gave four hundred.
Despite
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
's financial success, his practice of giving extravagant congiaria to the people of Rome received severe condemnation. His first congiarium, in 99, was probably no larger than that of
Nerva (75
denarii
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...
per person), but his second and third distributions of money, after each
Dacian War, amounted to 650 denarii per person.
Hadrian treated the Roman people in the same way as Trajan, and of him
Fronto said:
{{"
, text=I consider it good policy that the prince did not neglect the theatre or the circus and arena, as he well knew that there are two things which the Roman applaud especially—the distribution of grain, and games. The neglect of the important thing
rainscauses great harm, of the frivolous thing
ntertainmentgreater hatred—the crowd hungering more for games than for bread, because by the gift to the people
ongiariumonly those who are authorized to receive the grain will be gratified, while by the games the whole population is pacified.
, sign=Fronto, ''Princ. Hist.'', p. 249, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr.
[Ferdinand Gregorovius. ]
The Emperor Hadrian
'. Macmillan. 1898. {{ISBN, 0-7905-5228-0. p 214.
See also
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Fiscus
''Fiscus'', from which comes the English term "fiscal", was the name of the personal chest of the List of Roman emperors, emperors of Rome.
The word is literally translated as "basket" or "purse" and was used to describe those forms of revenue col ...
*
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 ...
*
Rationibus The ''a rationibus'' was the secretary of finance in the Roman Empire and in charge of the imperial treasury, the ''fiscus''. His responsibilities involved monitoring the state's revenues and expenditures and maintaining the accounts of the ''fiscus ...
*
Roman finance
The practices of ancient Roman finance, while originally rooted in Greek models, evolved in the second century BC with the expansion of Roman monetization. Roman elites engaged in private lending for various purposes, and various banking models a ...
References
Roman Empire
Roman military payments
Economy of ancient Rome