Aerarii
Encyclopedia
Aerarii was a class of Roman
citizens not included in the thirty tribes of Servius Tullius
, and subject to a poll-tax arbitrarily fixed by the censor. They were:
Those who were thus excluded from the tribes and centuries had no vote, were incapable of filling Roman magistracies and could not serve in the army. According to Mommsen
, the aerarii were originally the non-assidui (non-holders of land), excluded from the tribes, the comitia and the army. By a reform of the censor Appius Claudius
in 312 B.C. these non-assidui were admitted into the tribes, and the aerarii as such disappeared. But in 304, Fabius Rullianus limited them to the four city tribes, and from that time the term meant a man degraded from a higher (country) to a lower (city) tribe, but not deprived of the right of voting or of serving in the army. The expressions "tribu movere" and "aerarium facere," regarded by Mommsen as identical in meaning (" to degrade from a higher tribe to a lower "), are explained by A. H. J. Greenidge the first as relegation from a higher to a lower tribe or total exclusion from the tribes, the second as exclusion from the centuries. Other views of the original aerarii are that they were: artisans and freedmen (Niebuhr); inhabitants of towns united with Rome
by a hos-pitium publicum, who had become domiciled on Roman territory (Lange); only a class of degraded citizens, including neither the cives sine suragio nor the artisans (Madvig); identical with the capite censi of the Servian constitution (Belot, Greenidge).
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
citizens not included in the thirty tribes of Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of ancient Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 578-535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's first Etruscan king, who was assassinated in 579 BC...
, and subject to a poll-tax arbitrarily fixed by the censor. They were:
- The inhabitants of conquered towns which had been deprived of local self-government, who possessed the jus conubii and jus commercii, but no political rights. CaereCaereCaere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...
is said to have been the first example of this (353 B.C.). Hence the expression "in tabulas Caeritum referre" came to mean " to degrade to the status of an aerarius" - Full citizens subjected to civil degradation (infamia) as the result of following certain professions (e.g. actingActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
), of dishonourable acts in private life (e.g. bigamyBigamyIn cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
) or of conviction for certain crimes - Persons branded by the censor.
Those who were thus excluded from the tribes and centuries had no vote, were incapable of filling Roman magistracies and could not serve in the army. According to Mommsen
Mommsen
Mommsen is a surname, and may refer to one of a family of German historians, see Mommsen family:* Theodor Mommsen , great classical scholar, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature* Tycho Mommsen...
, the aerarii were originally the non-assidui (non-holders of land), excluded from the tribes, the comitia and the army. By a reform of the censor Appius Claudius
Appius Claudius
There were a number of Romans named Appius Claudius:* Appius Claudius Sabinus Inregillensis, consul in 495 BC* Appius Claudius Crassus, a decemvir in 451 BC* Appius Claudius Caecus , censor in 312 BC...
in 312 B.C. these non-assidui were admitted into the tribes, and the aerarii as such disappeared. But in 304, Fabius Rullianus limited them to the four city tribes, and from that time the term meant a man degraded from a higher (country) to a lower (city) tribe, but not deprived of the right of voting or of serving in the army. The expressions "tribu movere" and "aerarium facere," regarded by Mommsen as identical in meaning (" to degrade from a higher tribe to a lower "), are explained by A. H. J. Greenidge the first as relegation from a higher to a lower tribe or total exclusion from the tribes, the second as exclusion from the centuries. Other views of the original aerarii are that they were: artisans and freedmen (Niebuhr); inhabitants of towns united with Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
by a hos-pitium publicum, who had become domiciled on Roman territory (Lange); only a class of degraded citizens, including neither the cives sine suragio nor the artisans (Madvig); identical with the capite censi of the Servian constitution (Belot, Greenidge).