2. There Are Several Laws In The Theodosian Code Which Relate To The
Different Fleets Of The Empire:
The Eastern fleet, the principal port of
which was Seleucia, a city of Syria, on the Orontes, by which
Were conveyed
to Rome and Constantinople, all the oriential merchandize that came by the
land route we have described to Syria, was particularly noticed, as well as
some smaller fleets depending on it, as the fleet of the island of
Carpathus. The privileges granted to the African fleet are expressly given
to the Eastern fleet.
In another part of the code of Justinian, the trade between the Romans and
Persians is regulated: the places were the fairs and markets are to be kept
are fixed and named; these were near the confines of the two kingdoms; and
these confines neither party was allowed to pass.
From a law of the emperor Constans, inserted in the Theodosian code, it
appears that some of the ships which came from Spain to Rome were freighted
for the service of the state; and these are particularly regulated and
privileged in this law.
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. These abuses arose from the management of this trade being
in the hands of a very few persons: the emperor therefore passed a law,
dividing the management into different branches, each to be held by
separate individuals. From the code of Justinian we also learn, that corn
was embarked from other ports of Egypt besides Alexandria, by private
merchants; but these were not permitted to export it without permission of
the emperor, and even then not till after the imperial fleet was fairly at
sea. The importance of the corn trade of Egypt fully justified these laws;
for at this period Constantinople was annually supplied with 260,000
quarters of wheat from this country.
The resources of the Romans were principally derived from the tribute
levied on the conquered countries; but in part also from duties on
merchandize: in the latter point of view, alone, they fall under our
notice. No custom duties seem to have been imposed till the time of
Augustus; but in his reign, and that of his immediate successors, duties
were imposed on every kind of merchandize which was imported into Rome; the
rate varied from the eighth to the fortieth part of the value of the
article. The most full and minute list of articles of luxury on which
custom duties were levied, is to be found in the rescript of the emperors
Marcus and Commodus, relating to the goods imported into Egypt from the
East. In the preamble to this rescript it is expressly declared, that no
blame shall attach to the collectors of the customs, for not informing the
merchant of the amount of the custom duties while the goods are in transit;
but if the merchant wishes to enter them, the officer is not to lead him
into error. The chief and most valuable articles on which, by this
rescript, duties were to be levied, were cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, ginger,
and aromatics; precious stones; Parthian and Babylonian leather; cottons;
silks, raw and manufactured: ebony, ivory, and eunuchs.
Till the reign of Justinian, the straits of the Bosphorus and Hellespont
were open to the freedom of trade, nothing being prohibited but the
exportation of arms for the service of the barbarians: but the avarice, or
the profusion of that emperor, stationed at each of the gates of
Constantinople a praetor, whose duty it was to levy a duty on all goods
brought into the city, while, on the other hand, heavy custom duties were
exacted on all vessels and merchandize that entered the harbour. This
emperor also exacted in a most rigorous manner, a duty in kind: which,
however, had existed long before his time: we allude to the annona, or
supply of corn for use of the army and capital. This was a grievous and
arbitrary exaction: rendered still more so "by the partial injustice of
weights and measures, and the expence and labour of distant carriage." In a
time of scarcity, Justinian ordered an extraordinary requisition of corn to
be levied on Thrace, Bithynia, and Phrygia; for which the proprietors, (as
Gibbon observes,) "after a wearisome journey, and a perilous navigation
received so inadequate a compensation, that they would have chosen the
alternative of delivering both the corn and price at the doors of their
granaries."
Having thus given a connected and general view of the Roman commerce, we
shall next proceed to investigate the progress of geographical knowledge
among them.
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