38. Dion (l. lxxviii. p. 1343) informs us, that the
extraordinary gifts of Caracalla to the army amounted
annually to seventy millions of drachmae (about two millions
three hundred and fifty thousand pounds). There is another
passage in Dion, concerning the military pay, infinitely
curious; were it not obscure, imperfect, and probably
corrupt. The best sense seems to be, that the Praetorian
guards received twelve hundred and fifty drachmae (forty
pounds) a year (Dion, 1. lxxvii. p. 1307) . Under the reign
of Augustus, they were paid at the rate of two drachmae, or
denarii, per day, 720 a year (Tacit. Annal. i. 17).
Domitian, who increased the soldiers' pay one fourth, must
have raised the Praetorians to 960 drachmae (Gronovius de
Pecunia Veteri, 1. iii. c. 2). These successive
augmentations ruined the empire, for, with the soldiers'
pay, their numbers too were increased. We have seen the
Praetorians alone increased from 10,000 to 50,000 men.