Viator ad Aerarium

 

I had intended to write an article about some nonsensical Latin graffiti used as decoration in Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, but a quick check on the internet revealed that one item, which I had believed to be created in-house, was actually authentic!

I am a frequent visitor of the theme park and I often scoffed at the faux relief with the inscription viator ad aerarium mounted on the wall of the theater in San Marco, an Italo-Roman-themed section of the "countries" available to visit. I thought, "What in world do they mean by 'traveller to the treasury'? Did they mean to say, 'Way to the bank'? Is this what Google Translate generated for them?" I had to reconsider that last statement because I realized the relief has been in place long before Google Translate was been a thing.

Furthermore, the context of the inscription did not inspire confidence that the phrase was real. Take a look:

The items scrawled on the wall around the relief, with the exception of the horse, are basically meaningless, just doodles and letters in Latin word-like objects. It's not supposed to mean anything, but I didn't want to let it go.

Imagine my surprise when I did a search for "viator ad aerarium" and found that art pages and museums were selling pictures and posters of an actual relief which was obviously used to create this particular item. A little more digging revealed that this relief and inscription can be found in the Vatican Museums! Behold this work available from art.com:

So, what does the original and its decorative copy really mean beyond the literal "traveller to the treasury"? I learned that aerarium is the term used to describe public funds, kept separate from the fiscus, or private funds, or the Roman emperors. It's very important to keep these monies in different piles. The term viator denotes an actual public official who worked for the ancient Roman banking system. The best description I could find was translated from the Enciclopedia Italiana (1937):

The functions of the viatores were similar to those of the lictores; the most important were to communicate to the senators the convocation of the senate, to carry out judicial summonses, seizures, and arrests. They were also information officers. Outside Rome the governors of the provinces had viatores under them. There were also some in some municipalities; a dozen lictores and viatores were at the service of the municipality of Narbonne. In one relief, a bag is found as the emblem of a viator, employee of the treasury (viator ad aerarium), indicating the collection service and the qualification of cashier officer.

Essentially what we are looking at is the the sign of a real Roman tax collector! So, how did this copy of an authentic Roman relic come to set the scene in a theme park in southeast Virginia? I am guessing that such items were available for purchase and used without much thought of what it really meant. I applaud Busch Garden's attempt at authenticity.

The first two photographs are my own; the third is from the website art.com.

I will be making a future post showing more graffiti and art from San Marco, BGW.