Comes sacrarum largitionum
Introduction The insignia of the ''comes s. largitionum'' in the ''Notitia Dignitatum'': money bags and pieces of ore signifying his control over mines and mints, and the codicil of his appointment on a standThe '''''comes sacrarum largitionum''''' ("Count of the Sacred Largesses"; in , ''kómes tōn theíon thesaurōn'') was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire.Although it is first attested in 342/345, its creation must date to ca. 318, under Emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). The ''comes'' was the successor of the Principate-era ''rationalis'', and supervised those financial sectors that were left outside the purview of the praetorian prefects: the taxation of senators, the ''chrysargyron'' tax, customs duties, mines, mints and state-run mills and textile factories. Initially, the ''comes'' also controlled the emperor's private domains, but these passed under the control of the ''comes rerum privatarum'' by the end of the 4th century. He also exercised some judicial functions related to taxation in his administrative courts in particular in matters of fiscal debt.The office of the ''comes'' gradually declined in importance after the late 5th century, especially after Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518) abolished the hated ''chrysargyron''. He remained however one of the main fiscal ministers, controlling an array of bureaux (''scrinia'') and with an extensive staff detached to the provinces. The last ''comes'' known is mentioned under the Emperor Phocas (r. 602–610). He was succeeded by the ''sakellarios'' and the ''logothetes tou genikou'', who remained the chief fiscal ministers in the middle Byzantine period (7th–11th centuries).
See also * Roman finance
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