16 THE ' ALIMENT A ' OF NERVA January little on this subject, and have generally dismissed it with a brief reference to the political- and economic confusion of the third century. Ancient authorities are also silent, with the exception of Capitolinus, who tells us in the passage already quoted that in a.d. 193 ' Pertinax, with hardened heart, cancelled nine years' arrears ex institute Traiani '. Evidently, as early as this date, one emperor at any rate sought to relieve his financial difficulties by withholding alimentary payments which had become customary. Whether the words imply that the invest- ments in land had been supplemented by direct grants from public revenues, or whether they refer to a stoppage of the income from land on its way to the legal recipients, they do at least show that the institution was in serious danger. The mortgage lists mention no term of years after which the principal would be called in ; but even if Trajan intended that his beneficence should last for ever, other and less charitable emperors may not have carried out his intention. The sums lent to the landowners may have been recalled. Further, in some parts of Italy, the agricultural depression which followed on the visitations of plague was so great that many of the farmers may have been unable to pay even the low charges with which their lands were burdened. In other cases the money perhaps failed to reach the object for which it was intended. In the period of political chaos before the accession of Diocletian, the central control over administration was relaxed, and it is quite likely that the local magistrates diverted the alimentary revenues to meet more pressing needs. But even where the alimentary funds continued to exist, the real value of the doles would be greatly reduced, as the purchasing power of money declined. Diocletian's edict of maximum prices was an attempt to cope with this rise, and the emperor expresses himself horrified at what he calls the ' avarice ' of the merchants, and the con- sequent misery of the poor. When the public need was so pressing, the alimentary money, now comparatively insignificant in value, may well have been absorbed into the general revenues of a town, and its original purpose forgotten. Alice M. Ashley. a.d. 315, in which magistrates are told that if a parent brings a child whom he is prevented by poverty from bringing up, they must not hesitate to provide ' alimenta ' and clothes. Probably this has no connexion with the institution of Trajan, but it is interesting to see that some attempt was being made to cope with the problems of poverty ; possibly we may see here the effect of Christian teaching on charity.
