The term treasury refers to the entire state patrimony. Erario comes from the Latin word erarium, which means copper, since in the ancient world the coins were mostly made of this metal. In our days the word treasury is used as a synonym for public treasure.
The historical origin of the term
In Roman civilization the concept of aerarium was already used to indicate the totality of the money obtained by the administration of the taxes it collected from the citizens. In this sense, the Romans used several similar concepts, such as the fiscus, the royal chamber or the amortization box. All of them were related to the idea of the state, that is, the organization that manages the general interests of the citizenry.
However, it should be noted that in a strict sense the concept of state as we understand it today was not the same for the Romans, who used another term, the Roman people (Populus Romanus). In any case, Roman civilization did have a deep-rooted idea of belonging to an organized community.
Scholars of the institutions of ancient Rome maintain that the aerarium emerged as an administrative mechanism to manage inheritances in those cases in which someone died without making a will or without descendants, since in these cases the money passed into the hands of the state. On the other hand, it should be noted that the concept of aerarium was incorporated into Roman Law but its authentic origin comes from Greek civilization, since in the Greek polis there was a sense of the public as opposed to the private. In some ways, the idea of aerarium in its origin is quite similar to the current inheritance tax.
The public aerarium was destined to finance the infrastructures and the services of the community, for which a responsible person was needed, the quaestor. The quaestor was a public official, specifically a magistrate who was in charge of supervising the expenses and paying the salaries of the members of the army.
The aerarium, an example of the legacy of Roman Law
The aerarium of the Romans evolved and today we speak of the public treasury to refer to state assets in general. This example serves to remind us that Roman Law is more than a relic of the past, as it is very present in the current legislation of most nations. Thus, in our days, general principles of Roman Law continue to be used (Alterum non laedere or not to harm the other, Summ cuique tribuere or to give each one his own or the right of the pater familia).
Photos: iStock - javarman3 / Paolo Cipriani
