tremendous influence. He was responsible for all money taxes, examined banks, ran the mints and mines everywhere, weaving mills and dye works, paid the salaries and expenses of many departments of the state, the upkeep of imperial palaces and other public buildings, supplied the Courts with clothing and other items. To accomplish these many tasks, he was aided by a large central staff, a regional field force and small staffs in larger cities and towns. Just below the comes sacrarum were the rationales, comptrollers, positioned in each diocese. They supervised the collection of all tribute, taxes, or fees. They were everywhere and omnipotent until Constantine demoted them after his reorganization of the palatine level ministries' competencies in the years 325–326 by restricting their activity to supervision of the collection of taxes collected in gold and silver performed by the governors under the general supervision of the vicars. The rationales lost the last of their provincial field force of procurators between 330–337. Only the praetorian prefects were more powerful. His office, as vice-regent to the emperors, took precedence over all other civilian officials and military officers. They were chief finance officers of the Empire. They composed the global budget and set the tax rates across the board. Before Constantine's reforms they were directly responsible for the supply of the army, the annona militaris, which was a separate tax form the time of Diocletian in place of arbitrary requisitions. The annona civilis, the general in kind taxes were turned over to the prefects alone. To their care was entrusted the supply of food stuffs to the capitals, the imperial armament factories, the maintenance of the state post. The magister officiorum ("Master of Offices"), who was a kind of Minister of the Interior and State Security and the comes rerum privatarum ("Count of the Private Fortune") could counter the political the comes sacrarum largitionum. The magister officiorum made all the major decisions concerning intelligence matters was not a fiscal officer and could not interfere with the operation of the sacrae largitiones and the res privata. The comes sacrarum largitionum gradually lost power to the prefects as more and more in kind taxes of his department were converted to gold. By the 5th century their diocesan level staff were no longer of much importance, although they continued in their duties. However, the heads of the office continued to have power into the 430s in