BĔNĔFĬCĬUM

BĔNĔFĬCĬĀRĬUS. The term beneficium is of frequent occurrence in the Roman law, in the sense of some special privilege or favour granted to a person in respect of age, sex, or condition. But the word was also used in other senses. In the time of Cicero it was usual for a general, or a governor of a province, to report to the treasury the names of those under his command who had done good service to the state: those who were included in such report were said in benefic i is ad aerarium deferri . In benefic i is in these pa ages may mean that the persons so reported were considered as persons who had deserved well of the state; and so the word beneficium may have reference to the services of the individuals; but as the object for which their services were reported was the benefit of the individuals, it seems that the term had reference also to the reward, immediate or remote, obtained for their services. The honours and offices of the Roman state, in the republican period, were called the benefic i a of the Populus Roman us. Beneficium also signified any promotion conferred on or grant made to soldiers, who were thence called beneficiarii .