Taxation in the Greco-Roman World

Abstract

The article deals with the different taxes that were exacted in the Roman Principate. It analyzes not only the different concepts of taxation with a differentiation between tributa, vectigalia, and portoria but also the complex system of tax collection, the cooperation between private tax farmers and state officials, and the flow of income into the various treasuries (aerarium Saturni, aerarium militare, fiscus Caesaris). Furthermore, the close connection of Roman taxes with power politics of the Roman emperors as well as the interdependences with developments in society, economy, and law are revealed. Various questions and directions for possible future research are proposed.

ROMA İMPARATORLUĞU’NDA İDRAR VERGİSİ UYGULAMASI Pecunia Non Olet (Paranın Kokusu Olmaz!)

“…Roma İmparatorluğu dönemindeki vergi sistemi ile ilgili olarak bkz. DeLorme Jr, Isom & Kamerschen, 2005;Jones & Martin, 1974;Jones, 1959;Hopkins, 1980;Günther, 2018;Udoh, 2005;MacMullen, 1987. Türkçe kaynaklar içinde emek verilmiş bir doktora tezi için bkz. Sarıtaş, 2012.…”

Tax collection in the Roman Empire: a new institutional economics approach

“…For example, the fiscal system in Roman Egypt is also generally considered to be different from the usual one in other provinces (Rathbone, 1993); and the collection of imperial indirect taxes in the Early Principate continued being farmed by the publican, as in the Republic (Rathbone, 1996), but in a different way (see below). There is not a precise knowledge on the date of the establishment of administrative boards to control the publicani, nor the way in which the procuratores substituted the private tax-farmers, or cooperated with them; see Günther (2018). The taxes on the provinces now paid a wealth tax (about 1%) and a flat poll (tributum capitis) on each adult, which required regular censuses in order to count the taxable population and assess taxable property.…”

European agricultural terraces and lynchets: from archaeological theory to heritage management

“…Classical Roman literature and instructions on how to lay out trenches around trees are found in Columella’s De re rustica but not terraces contrary to Olson 1943 ; Foxhall 1990 ). Although there was Roman taxation of land ( Tributum soli , Gunther 2016 ), there was no specific taxation of terracing.…”