IGII25 13249 Edict of Constantius and Galerius against the Caesariani (tax collectors)

Edict of Constantius and Galerius against the Caesariani (tax collectors)

IG II² 5 13249 Date: 305 AD

A: Text known from Latin copy at Ephesos (Ephesos Museum inv. 4642) [Emperor Caes(ar) Flavius Valerius Constantius, pious, lucky, unconquered] [Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Germanicus Maximus five times, Sarm(aticus) Maximus four times], [Persic(us) Maximus] twice, [Britannicus Maximus twice, Carp(icus) Maximus five times, Armen(iacus) Maximus], [Med(icus) Maximus], Adiab(enicus) Maximus, [tribunician power – times, consul – times, proclaimed emperor – times, father of the fatherland, proconsul and] (5)[Emperor] Caes(ar) Galerius [Valerius Maximianus, pious, lucky . . . ]^[1] . . .

B: Text known from Latin copies at Ephesos (Ephesos Museum inv. 940) and Lappa, and quotation in CIL V 2781 (1)(and their) Caesars [say]: Assurance is provided to our actions by your shared knowledge (conscientia), which is a witness (testis) to the fact that the chief of our concerns for those looking to our clemency (clementiae) both always has been and still is that the blessedness of the Roman World, which submits to our will (nutibus), (5)[may be] restored in the face of absolutely all the malicious prosecutions (calumnias), which the audacity (desperatio) of the Caesariani has extended against the whole human race, by fortifying (the Roman World) with the strongest securities . . . is, although from others . . . which recent . . . are . . . (10)most . . .

C: Text known from Latin copy at Ephesos (Ephesos Museum inv. 326) (1) . . . trouble . . . . . . of – or . . . . . . inflict . . . . . . partner . . . (5) . . .

D: Text known from Greek copy at Athens and Latin copies at Tlos (CIL III 12134) and Ephesos (Ephesos Museum inv. 4055) (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) . . . to the person . . . . . . of them . . . . . . of an earlier . . . . . . a day . . . . . . to encroach, for if . . . (10) . . . of beneficence (eupoieias) . . . . . . kindness (euphrosunē) . . . having caused . . . . . . as we weighed up the matter with thought, to prevent something by chance . . . . . . of what has been planned by us might have escaped our notice, through which some loophole (prophasis/occasio) might provide the temerity of the aforementioned with some ability (exousian/facultatem) for plotting against the property of the innocent, (15)we thought that this ought to be corrected by appropriate remedies. uninscribed space Thus, it pleases us [that] anyone who endured malicious prosecution (sukophantias/calumnias) up to the 13th day before the Kal(ends) of October in the consulship of us, Constantius and Maximianus Augusti for the fifth time (19 September 305 AD),^[2] as a result of those men’s warrants (parasēmiōseōn/adnotationibus), who were subjected to judgements of a hostile fortune and made a place in the Fisc (tamieiō/fisco), shall be freed through the benefactions (euergesiais/beneficiis) of our piety (eusebeias/piaetatis), (20)and moreover in future they shall fear no disturbance of this kind from the Fisc at all, for if it has ever seemed that some people met with injustice (adikin/iniquum) with the awareness of our philanthropy (philanthrōpias/liberalitatis) from these documents (grammatōn/scripturis), which an enemy with an urge to avenge himself even after death, maliciously registered them,^[3] or which, as if for the sowing of profit or even plunder, (25)the unbounded and accursed evil character (kakoētheia/nequitia) of the Caesariani forged.^[4] And so that the legal pretexts (titloi/tituli) for disturbances of this kind, having been rooted out, may be put to rest forever, know that the commands of our sanction (thesmou/sanctionis) have gone forth that absolutely all warrants (parasēmiōseis/adnotationes) recorded up to the aforementioned day in the offices (taxesin/officia) of the Fisc in books, whether on parchment or paper, or in any documents (30)whatsoever, shall immediately be sent to our court (stratopaidon/comitatum), that is to say so that, after these benefactions (philanthrōpias/beneficia) of our piety, there shall not be any documents (grammatōn/instrumentis) whatsoever remaining in the aforementioned offices (taxesin/officia), to provide loopholes (prophaseis/occasio) to the Caesariani for their habitual way of constantly wronging our provincials (eparchikous/provinciales), and that, after this, except by clear (35)evidence (apodeixeōn/probationibus) and correctly registered documents, one may not otherwise be called into the court of the Fisc (to tamiakon... dikastērion/fiscale iudicium), with those clarifications of ours being commanded by our instruction, so that, if in the future any warrants (parasēmiōseis/adnotationes) should be procured in the same way with the accounts of our Fisc, without anyone being troubled in the name (of the warrants), all of them shall be sent to our court (stratopaidon/comitatum) immediately. From this, (40)in accordance with the sanction (thesmos/sanctionem) of our clemency (philanthrōpias/clementiae), it is evident that, if trouble should be stirred up for anyone under the legal pretext (titlou/titulo) of warrants (parasēmiōseōn/adnotationum), he must appeal to the court of the governor (hēgemonos/praesidis) or even the prefects (eparchōn/praefectorum),^[5] whose concern, when the verdict (apophaseōs/sententia) is delivered, shall in favour of the one who suffered the injustice, and whose judgment shall be delivered against any, who might continue their previous obstinacy, (45)with appropriate strictness (eutonia/severitate).

References:

IG II² 5 13249 (Translated text) (PHI) (AIO)

IG II² 1121 (PHI)

SEG 46.146 (PHI)

CIL V 2781, ll. 31-34 (EDCS)

CIL III 14195, 18

CIL III 12134 (EDH)

I Cret. II 34 (EDH)

IK Ephesos 1328 (PHI)

IK Ephesos 1808, 3

EDH HD050420 (EDH)

EDH HD047240 (EDH)

EDH HD051001 (EDH)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Edict (emperors)

A - Findspot: Ephesos, west side of the Agora (Ephesos Inscriptions Museum 2596 inv. 4642)
B - Findspot: Ephesos, south stoa of the Agora (Ephesos Inscriptions Museum 1239 inv. 940)
B - Findspot: Lappa
B - Findspot: Quotation in document recorded at Padua (Lost)
C - Findspot: Ephesos, orchestra of the Theatre (Ephesos Inscriptions Museum 2596 inv. 4642)
D - Findspot: Ephesos, Hanghaus II (Ephesos Inscriptions Museum 2596 inv. 4642)
D - Findspot: Athens, Panagia Pantanassa in Monastiraki (EM 10556)
D - Findspot: Tlos, southeast of the Acropolis (Lost?)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note: This text has been reconstructed from a Greek text from Athens and four other copies preserving parts of the original Latin text. These consist of four fragments from Ephesos (HD051001), one from Tlos in southwestern Asia Minor (CIL III 12134 = EDH HD050420, now lost), one from Lappa in Crete (I Cret. II 34 = EDH HD047240), and a portion quoted in another edict recorded at Padua in the sixteenth century, whose original location is uncertain (CIL V 2781, ll. 31-34, now lost). The Latin text was reconstituted by D. Feissel, Antiquité Tardive 4, 1996, 273-287 and is reprinted in IG II² 5. AIO's translation draws on both the Greek and Latin texts. We incorporate three modifications by S. Corcoran, ZPE, 133, 2000, 251-255 based on the Lappa copy: pros]pectibus (“those looking to”) rather than respectibus (“those respecting”) in B, l. 2 , rep[aretur rather than [tuta sit ("[may be secure]") and -tu sunt in tr- … in B, l. 9.

This is the most complete of three edicts at Athens from the period of the Tetrarchy (293-324 AD), during which the Roman empire was administered by two 'Augusti', each supported by a subordinate 'Caesar'. It was dispatched between 1 May 305 and 24 July 306, when the Augusti were Constantius Chlorus (father of Constantine) in the West and Galerius in the East, with Severus and Maximinus respectively as their Caesars (D. Kienast, W. Eck, and M. Heil, Römische Kaisertabelle,⁹ 2017, 272-75). Constantius is named first in A, ll. 1-5 as the senior Augustus, but the findspots of the copies strongly suggest that the edict was an initiative of Galerius. The other Tetrarchic edicts from Athens are IG II² 5, 13248 and probably 13250. Most edicts from this period are inscribed in Latin, but all three Athenian examples are close translations of original Latin texts.

This edict seeks to rein in the Caesariani, the agents of the Imperial Fisc in the late third and early fourth century AD. Specifically, it seeks to prevent them from engaging in malicious prosecutions (calumnia) based on fraudulent warrants (adnotationes). These were documents ordering someone brought before a court, exiled, or imprisoned (A. Berger, Encyclopedia Dictionary of Roman Law, 1968, 250). All adnotationes issued up to 19 September 305 were to be sent from the Fisc to the Imperial Court to be registered and reviewed. People who had lost cases due to a fake adnotatio would be exonerated somehow (C, ll. 15-25). In future, the Caesariani would not be allowed to rely upon adnotationes dated before 19 September 305 in court unless they had been sent to the Imperial Court (C, ll. 34-36). Any new adnotationes would have to be sent to the Imperial court as soon as they were issued (C, ll. 37-39) and any future cases relying on them had to be judged by a governor or praetorian prefect, rather than the courts of the Fisc (C, ll. 39-45).

Copies of the edict are frequently found with two other edicts: one restoring property illegitimately seized by the Caesariani (CIL III 13569) and another ‘On Accusations’ (de Accusationibus, FIRA² I 94), which legislated against malicious prosecution for treason. S. Corcoran suggests that these formed a single dossier, although there are chronological difficulties with this (in S. Crogiez-Pétrequin & P. Jaillette, Société, économie, administration dans le Code Théodosien 2012, 265-84). Further laws to control the Caesariani, with similarly invective language, were issued by Diocletian (Codex Justinianus 10.1.5), Licinius (Codex Theodosianus 10.7.1), Constantine (Cod. Theod. 9.42.1, 10.1.5, 10.8.2). After Constantine they fade from the historical record. [2] It is unclear whether 19 September 305 is a prospective deadline or a date that has already passed. [3] C, ll. 22-24 seem to be dealing with interventions by the Caesariani in inheritance, but it is unclear why this specific issue is introduced here. Elsewhere in the text, the Caesariani are motivated by greed rather than vendettas. [4] The conditional clause in ll. 21-25 ought to conclude with an apodosis/consequence that any appearance of Imperial support for injustices resulting from the fraudulent warrants was mistaken, but this seems to have been omitted. [5] The Praetorian Prefect was the chief official of the Imperial administration, directly subordinate to the emperor. In this period, there was one for each of the Augusti and perhaps one for each of the Caesars too.

Added: 6 Mar 2026
Updated: 6 Mar 2026
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