The city food-problem 403 



a self-conscious letter-writer he resembles the younger Pliny, but is 

 weaker and set in a less happy age. 



A topic constantly recurring 1 in his correspondence is the appre- 

 hension of famine in Rome and the disturbances certain to arise there- 

 from. The distribution of imperial powers among several seats of 

 government (of which Rome was not one) since the changes of Dio- 

 cletian had left to the ancient capital only a sort of traditional primacy. 

 The central bureaus were elsewhere, and Rome was only the effective 

 capital of the southern division of Italy. Yet the moral force of her 

 great past was still a living influence that expressed itself in various 

 ways, notably in the growth of the Papacy out of the Roman bishopric. 

 For centuries it had been the licensed lodging of a pauperized mob, fed 

 by doles to keep them quiet, enjoying luxurious baths at nominal cost, 

 and entertained with exciting or bloody shows in the circus or amphi- 

 theatre. This rabble had either to be kept alive and amused or got rid 

 of; but the latter alternative would surely have reduced Rome to the 

 condition of a dead city. It was morally impossible for a Roman 

 emperor to initiate so ominous a policy. So the wasteful abomination 

 dragged on, and every hitch in the corn-supply alarmed not only the 

 praefectus annonae but the praefectus urbi with the prospect of bread 

 riots. And the assignment of the Egyptian corn to supply Constantinople 

 made Rome more than ever dependent on the fortunes of the African 2 

 harvest. When this failed, it was only by great departmental energy that 

 temporary shortage was made good by importations 3 from Macedonia 

 1 Sardinia or Spain or even by some surplus from Egypt. Even lower 

 Italy, where little corn was grown, was at a pinch made to yield some. 

 But bad seasons were not the only cause of short supplies. The acts of 

 enemies might starve out Rome, as the rebellion of Gildo in Africa 

 (397-8) nearly did. Moreover the slackness and greed of officials 4 

 sometimes ruined the efficiency of the department, and ' profiteering ' 

 i was practised by unscrupulous 5 capitalists. Nor even with good harvests 

 'abroad were the prefects always at ease, since the corn-fleets might be 

 delayed or scattered by foul weather, and meanwhile the consumption 

 i did not cease. And it sometimes happened . that the cargoes were 

 damaged and the public health suffered 6 from unwholesome food. 

 Among these various cares the praefectura annonae was no bed of 

 iroses. No wonder the worthy Symmachus tells us of private charity 7 

 'to relieve the necessities of the poor, and even gives a hint of voluntary 



1 See epist II 6, 7, 52, iv 5 (4), 18, 21, ix 14, 114 (124), x 2, 21, relat 3 15-18, 9 7, 

 ; i8, 35. 37- 



3 epist in 55, 82, iv 54, 74, vn 38, 68, relat 18. 



3 epist n 6, ill 55, 82, ix 42, vn 68, relat 9, 18, 37. 



4 epist vn 66, ix 10, relat 18. 5 epist n 55, iv 68. 



6 epist vi 15 (14). ^ epist vi 15 (14), vn 18, 68. Seeck, v 284, 555. 



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