Benjamin Franklin famously quipped “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.” These two constants of death and taxes apply not only to individuals, but also civilizations such as that of Ancient Rome. And while tax codes often seem complex, their complexity pales in comparison to that of attempting to understand and explain the decline of civilizations. For centuries, people have explored the reasons why civilizations fall, with explanations ranging from illness to environmental factors to political instability. One such possible factor is taxation, which Charles Adam explores in his book For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization, which argues that taxation is a major force in the rise and fall of civilizations. This paper investigates the role of taxes in ancient Rome and contends that an ineffective tax system was a major contributor to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Overview of Taxation in Ancient Rome
All known civilizations had some form of taxes (Adams 1999, 1). Ancient Rome was no exception. Because of detailed written records, first-hand accounts of the taxation process, and artistic depictions, modern scholars can gain insight into the workings of ancient Rome’s tax system.
Just as the Roman Empire evolved over time, so too did its tax system. Before the expansion of Rome following Italy’s unification in 272 BC, taxes were quite modest, less than a percent of land, money, animals, houses, and slaves (Bartlett 1994, 290). These low taxes were sustainable since major expenses, such as the army, were provided willingly by the citizens, such as serving one year without pay in the army (Adams 1999, 79). Furthermore, the government only provided minimal services, so it did not...
... middle of paper ...
...ivilization. Lantham, Md: Madison Books.
Bartlett, Bruce. 1994. "How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome." Cato Journal. no. 2: 287-303.
Boek, J.A. Sander. 2008."Taxation in the Later Roman Empire." Master’s thesis, Leiden University.
Burg, David F. 2004. A World History of Tax Rebellions: An Encyclopedia of Tax Rebels, Revolts, and Riots from Antiquity to the Present. New York: Routledge.
Hopkins, Keith. 2009. “On the Political Economy of the Roman Empire.” In The Dynamics of Ancient Empires: State Power from Assyria to Byzantium, edited by Ian Morris and Walter Scheidel, 178-204. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hopkins, Keith. 1980. "Taxes and Trade in the Roman Empire (200 B.C.-A.D. 400)." The Journal of Roman Studies: 101-125.
MacMullen, Ramsay. 1987. "Tax Pressure in the Roman Empire."Societe d’Etudes Latines de Bruxelles. no. 4: 737-754.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire was the first example in history on the collapse of a constitutional system which was caused by the internal decay in political, military, economics, and sociological issues. The government was becoming corrupt with bribery. Commanders of the Roman army turned their own army inward towards their own Constitutional systems, fueled by their own ruthless ambition. This paper will talk about how the violence and internal turmoil in 133B.C.-27 B.C. was what provoked the economic stagnation in the city of Rome and to the end of the Republic and the many corrupt politicians and generals who only thought of nothing more than personal gains and glory. The senate lost control of the Roman military and the reason they rose against the senate was because the senate were no longer able to help manage the social problems or the military and administrative problems of the empire. The economics of the Roman Empire soon hit rock bottom due to the high taxation to support the army. Gold was also eroding since Rome was no longer bringing new resources through the expansion. Emperors then tried to mint coins out of silver and copper instead and the end result was inflation and dramatic rises in
Since its beginning the Roman Empire has been struggling to be in control of its surroundings. However, it took over 500 years for the decline of this powerful empire. Historians have argued different factors such as the migrations of new groups for its unexpected disintegration. But, what were the real factors of its decline? Also, what is the most important factor that lead to this empire to its end? The Roman Empire, a marvelous city, was disintegrated because of the loss of traditional values, economic troubles with overreliance on slavery and military overspending caused by its overexpansion.
Livy’s The Rise of Rome serves as the ultimate catalogue of Roman history, elaborating on the accomplishments of each king and set of consuls through the ages of its vast empire. In the first five books, Livy lays the groundwork for the history of Rome and sets forth a model for all of Rome to follow. For him, the “special and salutary benefit of the study of history is to behold evidence of every sort of behaviour set forth as on a splendid memorial; from it you may select for yourself and for your country what to emulate, from it what to avoid, whether basely begun or basely concluded.” (Livy 4). Livy, however, denies the general populace the right to make the same sort of conclusions that he made in constructing his histories. His biased representation of Romulus and Tarquin Superbus, two icons of Roman history, give the readers a definite model of what a Roman should be, instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusion.
One of the main grievances of the Third Estate were the high taxes. It became very difficult for the commoners to be able to pay for taxes because taxation became excessive. For instance, recurring taxes imposed on peasants were taille, a land tax to the state; tithe, a tenth of income or produce given to the church; capitation, tax on the number of people in the family; vingtième, a property tax; and others. Responsibility to the poor tax system and the mounting debts is by numerous large wars, and more importantly, the king c...
One factor that made Rome so great was its geography; it is located in Italy which is a peninsula that is located in the middle of the Mediterranean. Rome lies on the Tiber River which aided trade. Rome has two mountain ranges the Alps and the Apennine, which helped protect the country. Once Rome declared their independents from the Etruscans they created their own constitution. This constitution created a series of checks and balances. They formed a government for the public that was divided into three branches, the magistrate, the senate and the assemblies. The magistrate’s were elected officials in ancient Rome who took over the power and ran the government from day to day. The magistrates had two limits, the first being the Principle of Collegiality, which was the idea that no 1 person was ever going to have complete control. The second limit was that a person could only have one year in console. The senates were most important. They were made up of influenced families and citizens in Rome. They passed no law but just offered their opinions to people, opinions everyone listened to. The only two things that involved the senate were money and war. Assemblies were composed of all Roman citizens. Th...
In the early first century AD, the Roman Empire was subject to autocratic rule and the old Republic was long dead. Augustus had been ruling for forty years and most of that time he was loved and praised by the Senate and the people of Rome. Throughout his reign, Augustus had the one lingering problem of finding a successor to take over the role of Emperor. He had chosen 3 different heirs in his time of rule; however, they all passed before they had the chance to inherit Augustus’ esteemed power. His fourth choice, Tiberius, was the one to succeed Augustus. He was often referred to, by Augustus, as an outstanding general and the only one capable of defending Rome against her enemies. The statement, ‘Tiberius is condemned by many ancient historians (including Tacitus), and his reign is often portrayed as being detrimental to the welfare of the Roman Empire’ is invalid as he treated the senate fairly, created strong economics and security in the state and boosted the empire into an unprecedented state of prosperity. This hypothesis will be proven through this essay by analyzing factors such as Tiberius’ administration of the Empire, his relationship with the senate, his financial control, the effect of Sejanus over his rule and why were his last years as Emperor referred to as a ‘reign of terror’ by Tacitus.
In 509 BC, the Tarquin line of kings was drawn from power and Rome began its stand as a Republic. The changes in the government and society of Rome were immense and were for the improvement of the city and its people. This aspiring new Republic did not flourish overnight into the perfect society; with the birth of the Republic came many new problems. Yet, it would be hard to imagine our modern society which we deem as democratic and just, not resting on the pillars and foundations that the Roman Republic gave us of their ideas on government branches with a system of checks and balances as well as the code of law created by the Romans.
Historical and political documents from Rome have survived centuries, and from these documents the struggle for power is boldly punctuated and clearly explained. During the period of Rome’s expansion, a multitude of different political ideologies arose. From Plutarch’s Lives and from the course-required video game, the portrayed characters, Tiberius, Gracchus, and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, all tried to better the lives of the plebeians, but were politically scorned for these actions in different ways.
Rome was changing. The people of Rome were changing. The citizens of Rome were getting tired of being ruled by others. They wanted to rule themselves. So after years of fighting against the last king of Rome, who was Tarquin the Proud, the people of Rome took over, and created a new form of government called a republic (Mr.Donn). In Rome’s republic, citizens of Rome would vote for their own leaders. Now, Rome was not ruled by heirs to the throne, but by the power of citizens that strove to become great leaders. From 509 to 82 BCE, the Republic of Rome thrived. In 451 BCE, ten men were chosen to write the first ten tables of the Twelve Tables after long opposition by the patricians to publicly educate people about the rights they had. One of these ten men was lucky enough to write the last two “tables” to make The Twelve Tables. Some of the rights included in The Twelve Tables were a person’s innocence until proven guilty and a person’s right to pay off debt. During this time, the Roman Republic annihilated Carthage and poured salt on their fields as Rome grew and became stronger. When 82 BCE came around, Cornelius Sulla, a conniving dictator took over Rome when he named...
There were many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Each one interweaved with the other. Many even blame the initiation of Christianity in 337 AD by Constantine the Great as the definitive cause while others blame it on increases in unemployment, inflation, military expenditure and slave labour while others blame it on the ethical issues such the decline in morals, the lack of discipline of the armies and the political corruption within the Empire. Three major contributions that led to the collapse of the once great empire were: the heavy military spending in order to expand the Empire, the over-reliance on slave labour which led to an increase in unemployment, and the political corruption and abuse of power by the Praetorian Guard leading to the unfair selection of many disreputable emperors and the assassination of those not favoured by the Guard.
The Roman Republic (Res Pvblica Romana) was a form of republican government that was established in 509 BCE to replace the monarchy government that had reigned over Rome since the founding in 753BCE (Steele, 2012). The Failure of the Roman Republic was inevitable as it was an unjust system of government and it was left vulnerable after the attempted changes instigated by the Gracchi, as the Gracchi exposed the weaknesses in the political structure allowing future politicians to manipulate the system. The sources used throughout the essay, which include Plutarch, Appian, Florus and Velleius, will need to be examined closely as each source will demonstrate different views on the Gracchi, as the authors purpose of writing will differ. The Gracchi had set out to change Rome for the better, however in the process; they exposed the internal flaws of the government which resulted in the beginning of the decline of the Roman Republic.
3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
The Roman Republic ultimately failed due to the lack of large-scale wars and other crises that had united the Roman populous early in the history of the Roman Republic. Roman leadership and honor became compromised. In the absence of war and crisis, Rome’s leaders failed to develop the honor and leadership necessary to maintain the Republic.
Grant, Michael the fall of the roman empire: a reappraisal, Radnor pa, Annenberg school of
During Alexander the Great’s conquest of the world, he had specific instructions for imposing property taxes. In order to insure a minimal amount of revolts in areas that Alexander conquered, he reduced the tax rate of landowners and used half of the proceeds to improve roads, ports, and water systems. Alexander kept half for the treasury and the citizens ...