15Īugustus, sensitive to the issue of taxation and concerned about laying the burden on citizens and provincial taxpayers, delayed making a decision until the next year, AD 6, when a new treasury, the aerarium militare, was created. Soldiers should receive maintenance and rewards abundantly from fixed revenues, without injury to any other party. 14 Nevertheless, Dio believed that the amount of money required in AD 5 was enough to threaten the fiscus: A soldier’s severance package would consist of either cash or a plot of land, though land was more often provided as the government sought to minimize large money payments. A very large number had evidently survived their years of service and expected immediate payment. 13 That gives us 154,000 legionaries and 4,500 praetorians. 12 In AD 5 there were 28 legions, each containing on paper 5,500 men, and 9 cohorts of praetorians, each with 500 men. Members of the praetorian guard were to therefore recieve 5,000 drachmas upon completion of sixteen years’ service, while other soldiers were voted 3,000 drachmas upon completion of twenty years’ service. As with most other governments, the senate decided not to test the patience and loyalty of a discouraged military. The seriousness of the above situation was exploited by the armies, who demanded better conditions at the end of AD 5. Piracy in Sardinia and rebellion in North Africa would not have helped. 10 Winter generally slowed import rates, which may explain why low supply persisted despite the recedingįlood. A food shortage in the following year (AD 6) might suggest one long period of decreased supply from the end of AD 5 into AD 6. 9 There is no conclusive evidence for either date. 8 But another eclipse occurred on 22 September. 7 Swan uses the solar eclipse to date these events to the beginning of the year, since an eclipse is recorded for 28 March AD 5. Famine and disease are obvious partners, but the effect was no doubt devastating when combined with large-scale flooding. In an unspecified period of Augustus’ reign, Pliny connects disease in the city ( pestilentia urbis) with famine in Italy ( fames Italiae). Water-borne disease, caused by the presence of faecal matter and general decay, often accompanies the flooding of major population centres, and would certainly have caused death in a pre-industrial city of Rome’s size. 6 But very high short-term prices would not have been the only problem. Jerome had evidence that in AD 5 the price of grain inflated to HS 110 for one month’s ration to a member of the plebs frumentaria, extraordinarily high when we consider that in the wake of the great fire of AD 64, the price was apparently HS 3.
As with most major floods, nearly all stored products (not just produce) were probably destroyed, increasing demand and exposing residents to very high short-term prices.
5 Ostia was no doubt similarly inundated, preventing immediate relief. Mean the Aventine, was navigable for a whole week, most stored grain was probably ruined, stores closest to the river spoiled first. 4 Given that in AD 5 the city, which could just 3 In AD 64 a food shortage occurred when fire, sweeping through the city, destroyed grain stores. Low crop yields and the flood probably caused decreased supply. …for eight horrible days men and homes were destroyed as the Tiber attacked. … per dies octo Tiberis impetu miseranda clades hominum domorumque fuit. The year AD 5 witnessed the antecedents of a crisis that would burden the years immediately following:
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