Matheson Collection > Cornelli Taciti annalium

BOOK XIII. CH. 28, § 2 — CH. 30, §§ 1-2
in the charge of quaestors; Julius Caesar transferro'd it to two
aediles ; Augustus, in 28 B. c, gave it to two officers of praetorian
rank, who were styled ' praefecti ' but were elected by the senate.
suspecto, 'owing to apprehensions of corrupt practices in the
voting.'
sorte : the change is dated by Dio 23 B.C.
praetorum : two were thus chosen annua'ly, termed 'praetores
aerarii ' or 'ad aerarium.' Tiberius did not alter the regulation
of the treasury, but appointed another board of three senators
(' curatores tabularum publicarum ') to manage the record office
(Dio).
praeessent : subj. indicating purpose.
§ 2. quaestores : Claudius made this change in 44 A. D., when
he abohshed the four ' quaestoriae provinciae ' in Italy ; these were
the districts entrusted to the " quaestores classici ' when the Roman
conquest of Italy was complete, 267 B. c. (cf. Aftn. iv 27 and
xi 22).
rursum implies that the change was a reversion to ancient
custom ; however, the period of office of these two ' quaestores
aerarii ' was three years, and they were selected by the emperor,
not popularly elected.
honores : the higher magistracies ; if approved in their office,
the ' quaestores aerarii ' passed on at once to the praetorship without
the intervening step of tribunate or aedileship.
ne metu, &c., 'lest through fear of incurring unpopularity they
might be remiss in their administration.'
§ 3. experientia probatos, 'men of proved experience,' lit.
' approved of on the score of experience.' Cf. ' experientia cognitos,'
ch. 6, and Intr. II 20.
delegit: Nero made the selection himself; Augustus had left it
to the senate.
Ch. 30, § I. isdem eonsulibus: i.e. Volusius and Scipio, ch, 25.
These gave their name to the whole year, though their office would
not extend throughout it, owing to the institution of consules
suffecti. See Intr. Ill 9, note.
Sardiniam. This island, with Corsica, was at this time governed
by an imperial procurator, but in 67 A. D., during his tour in Greece,
Nero proclaimed the freedom of the senatorial province of Achaia,
and gave both islands to the senate in compensation.
avare habitam, ' administered extortionately.'
Cretensibus : for Med. ' credentibus.' Another proposed
emendation is 'cedentibus' (relinquishing the prosecution).
§2. Clodiua Quirinalis : Ravenna on the Adriatic and Misenum
on the Mediterranean were the headquarters of the imperial fleet
' classis praetoria ') ; each division was under a ' praefectus ' directly
responsible to the emperor. The praefectus was usually of eques-
trian rank. Clodius Quirinalis was a knight and had been 'primi-
pilus ' of the twentieth legion.
veneno, See. : Romans often anticipated condemnation by suicide,
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