By Far The Most Extensive And Important Trade Which The Romans Carried On
At All Periods Of Their History, Was The Conveyance Of Corn And Other
Provisions To The Capital.
The contiguous territory at no time was
sufficient to supply Rome with corn; and, long before the republic was
destroyed, even Italy was inadequate to this purpose.
As the population
encreased, and the former corn fields were converted into pleasure-grounds
or pasture, the demand for corn was proportionally encreased, and the
supply from the neighbourhood proportionally diminished. But there was
another circumstance which rendered a regular and full supply of corn an
object of prime importance: the influence of the patron depended on his
largesses of corn to his clients; and the popularity, and even the reign of
an emperor, was not secure, unless he could insure to the inhabitants this
indispensable necessary of life. There were several laws respecting the
distribution of corn: by one passed in the year of Rome 680, five bushels
were to be given monthly to each of the poorer citizens, and money was to
be advanced annually from the treasury, sufficient to purchase 800,000
bushels of wheat, of three different qualities and prices. By the
Sempronian law, this corn was to be sold to the poor inhabitants at a very
low price; but by the Clodian law it was to be distributed _gratis_:
the granaries in which this corn was kept were called Horrea Sempronia. The
number of citizens who received corn by public distribution, in the time of
Augustus, amounted to 200,000. Julius Caesar had reduced the number from
320,000 to 150,000. It is doubtful whether five bushels were the allowance
of each individual or of each family; but if Dr. Arbuthnot be correct in
estimating the _modius_ at fourteen pounds, the allowance must have
been for each family, amounting to one quarter seven bushels, and one peck
per annum.
We have dwelt on these particulars for the purpose of pointing out the
extreme importance of a regular and full supply of corn to Rome; and this
importance is still further proved by the special appointment of
magistrates to superintend this article. The prefect, or governor of the
market, was an ancient establishment in the Roman republic; his duty was to
procure corn: on extraordinary occasions, this magistrate was created for
this express purpose, and the powers granted him seem to have been
increased in the latter periods of the republic, and still more, after the
republic was destroyed. Pompey, who held this office, possessed greater
power and privileges than his immediate predecessor, and in a time of great
scarcity. Augustus, himself, undertook the charge of providing the corn: it
was at the same time determined, that for the future, two men of the rank
of praetors should be annually elected for this purpose; four were
afterwards appointed. It would seem, however, that even their appointment
became an ordinary and regular thing: the emperors themselves superintended
the procuring of corn, for one of their titles was that of
commissary-general of corn.
Besides this magistrate, whose business was confined to the buying and
importing of corn, there were two aediles, first appointed by Julius
Caesar, whose duty it was to inspect the public stores of corn and other
provisions.
Till the time of Julius Caesar, the foreign corn for the supply of Rome was
imported into Puteoli, a town of Campania, between Baiae and Naples, about
seventy miles from the capital. As this was very inconvenient, Caesar
formed the plan of making an artificial harbour at the mouth of the Tiber,
at Ostia. This plan, however, was not at this time carried into execution:
Claudius, however, in consequence of a dreadful famine which raged at Rome,
A.D. 42, resolved to accomplish it. He accordingly dug a spacious basin in
the main land; the entrance to which was formed and protected by artificial
moles, which advanced far into the sea; there was likewise a little island
before the mouth of the harbour, on which a light-house was built, after
the model of the Pharos of Alexandria. By the formation of this harbour,
the largest vessel could securely ride at anchor, within three deep and
capacious basins, which received the northern branch of the Tiber, about
two miles from the ancient colony of Ostia.
Into this port corn arrived for the supply of Rome from various countries;
immense quantities of wheat were furnished by the island of Sicily. Egypt
was another of the granaries of the capital of the world; according to
Josephus, it supplied Rome with corn sufficient for one-third of its whole
consumption: and Augustus established regular corn voyages from Alexandria
to the capital. Great quantities were also imported from Thrace, and from
Africa Proper. The ships employed in the corn trade, especially between
Egypt and Rome, were the largest of any in the Mediterranean: this probably
arose from the encouragement given to this trade by Tiberius, and
afterwards increased by Claudius. The former emperor gave a bounty of about
fourpence on every peck of corn imported: and Claudius, during the time of
the famine, made the bounty so great as, at all events, and in every
instance, to secure the importers a certain rate of profit. He also used
all his efforts to persuade the merchants to import it even in winter,
taking upon himself all the losses, &c. which might arise from risking
their ships and cargoes, at a time of the year when it was the invariable
practice of the ancients to lay the former up. Whenever an emperor had
distinguished himself by a large importation of corn, especially, if by
this means a famine was avoided or removed, medals seem to have been struck
commemorative of the circumstance; thus, on several medals there is a
figure of a ship, and the words _Annona Aug_. or _Ceres Aug_. Many of these
were struck under Nero, and Antoninus Pius. During the time of the
republic, also, similar medals were struck, with the figure of a prow of a
ship, and an inscription shewing the object for which the fleets had been
sent.
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