There Were Several Laws Made Also Respecting The Fleet Which The Emperors
Employed For The Purpose Of Collecting The Tribute And Revenue, And
Conveying It To Home And Constantinople.
The law of the emperors Leo and
Zeno, which is inserted in the Justinian code, mentions the fleet which was
kept to guard the treasures:
And by another law, taken from the Theodosian
code, we learn, that the guards of the treasures, who went in this fleet,
were officers under the superintendent of the imperial revenue.
3. We have already mentioned the dependence of Rome on foreign nations for
corn, and the encouragement given, during the republic and in the early
times of the empire, to the importation of this necessary article. In the
Theodosian and Justinian code, encouragement to the importation of it seems
still to have been a paramount object, especially from Egypt; for though
from an edict of Justinian it would appear that the cargoes from this
country, of whatever they consisted, were guarded and encouraged by law,
yet we know that the principal freight of the ships which traded between
Alexandria and Rome and Constantinople was corn, and that other merchandize
was taken on board the corn fleets only on particular occasions, or, where
it was necessary, to complete the cargoes. Among the other edicts of
Justinian, regulating the trade of Egypt, there is one which seems to have
been passed in consequence of the abuses that had crept into the trade of
corn and other commodities, which were shipped from Alexandria for
Constantinople.
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