and the imperial
secretaries.

*Administration of the finances: (I). The Fiscus.* The most important
branch of the civil administration was that of the public finances, which
merits special consideration. Augustus did not centralize the
administration of the provincial revenues which were at his disposal, but
created a separate treasury or _fiscus_ for each imperial province.
However, he did establish the _aerarium militare_ at Rome for the control
of the revenues destined for the pensioning of veteran troops.
Furthermore, Augustus drew a sharp distinction between the public revenues
which were administered by the princeps in his magisterial capacity, and
the income from his own private property or patrimony. For the expenditure
of the former he acknowledged a strict accountability to the Senate. The
policy of Augustus was followed by Tiberius and Caligula, but under
Claudius a central _fiscus_ was organized at Rome for the administration
of all the public revenues of the princeps. The provincial _fisci_
disappeared, and the military treasury became a department of the
_fiscus_. This new imperial _fiscus_ was under the direction of the _a
rationibus_. From this time the princeps ceased to hold himself
accountable for the expenditure of the public imperial revenues, and the
_fiscus_ assumes an independent position alongside of the old _aerarium_
of the Roman people, which, as we have shown, it ultimately deprived of
all share in the control of the public finances. However, the distinction
between the public and private revenues of the princeps was still
observed, and the _patrimonium_ was independently administered by a
special procurator.

*(II). The Patrimonium.* But with the extinction of the Julio-Claudian
house and the accession of Vespasian the patrimony of the Caesars passed
as an appendage of the principate to the new ruler. It then became state
property, and as it had grown to enormous size owing to the inheritances
of Augustus and the confiscations of Caligula and Nero, the _patrimonium_
was organized as an independent branch of the imperial financial
administration. The personal estate of the princeps was henceforth
distinguished as the _patrimonium privatum_. This situation continued
until the accession of Septimius Severus, whose enormous confiscations of
the property of the adherents of Niger and Albinus were incorporated in
his personal estate. This, the _patrimonium privatum_, was now placed
under a ne