Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Aerarium

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

AERA'RIUM. The public treasury of the Roman state, as distinguished from the exchequer, or private treasury of the emperors (fiscus); in which the produce of the yearly revenue, the public accounts, the decrees of the senate, and the standards of the legions, were deposited. (Cic. Leg. iii. 4. Tac. Ann. iii. 51. Liv. iii. 69.) During the republic the temple of Saturn was used as the treasury.

2. Aerarium sanctius. A private department of the same, in which were kept the monies and treasures acquired by foreign conquest, and the fees paid by slaves for their manumission (aurum vicesimarium), and which was never opened but upon great emergencies. Liv. xxvii. 10. Compare Quint. x. 3. 3.

3. Aerarium militare. The army pay-office, a separate treasury established by Augustus to provide for the expenses of the army, for which purpose some new taxes were imposed. Suet. Octav. 49.