Praefectus annonae

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The columns of the statio annonae are now part of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Another statio was located near the Crypta Balbi.

The praefectus annonae ("prefect of the provisions"), also called the praefectus rei frumentariae ("prefect of the grain supply") was a

grain supply to the city of Rome. Under the Republic, the job was usually done by an aedile
. However, in emergencies, or in times of extraordinary scarcity, someone would be elected to the office, and would take charge of supplying the entire city with provisions.

Equestrian order. Augustus also specified that these officers were to be aided by an adjutor (from the second century termed a subpraefectus). Later, Augustus specified that the praefecti should be of consular rank. After Augustus' reign, one person would usually hold this office,[2]
frequently for a span of several years. This continued until the fall of the Roman Empire.

During the later Empire, further praefecti annonae were established for the city of

province of Africa
, the two chief sources of grain for the provisioning of Rome.

List of known praefecti annonae urbis Romae

The entries from AD 14 to 337 are based on d'Esurac, La préfecture de l'annone, service administratif impérial d'Auguste à Constantin.

List of known praefecti annonae urbis Alexandriae

  • Claudius (349)
  • Flavius Soterichus (350/450)

List of known praefecti annonae Africae

  • Amabilianus (315-316)
  • Isidorus (368/375)
  • Demetrianus (369-372)

Notes

  1. ^ Addressee of a rescript of Hadrian; otherwise unknown.
  2. ^ Dating Blassianus here instead of c. 133, following Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p", p. 297, No. 1.
  3. .

References

  1. ^ Livy, iv.12; Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. ii, p. 418.
  2. ^ Cassius Dio, lii. 24; Digesta, 1 tit. 2 s. 2 §33; 14 tit. 1 s. 1 §18, tit. 5 s. 8; 48 tit. 2 s. 13.
  3. ^ AE 2000, 267
  4. ^ Added from Magioncalda, "La carriera di l. Iulius Ursus e le alte prefetture equestri nel I sec. D.C."

Bibliography