Taxation in the Roman Republic

Taxation was a significant factor during the Roman Republican era. Taxes were essential in the running of the republic and were used to fund the Imperial Roman Army. Various taxation system existed in Rome including tribute, vectigalia and portoria taxes. Tributum

were direct taxes, and the system was used until 167 BC. Vectigalia tax system denoted the indirect taxes while portoria tax system referred to as the customs taxes. Publicani or the tax farming system was also fundamental in the history of the republic. As such, the economic activities practiced by the publicani are deemed to be one of the most astonishing features in the modern economy. In the heydays of the Republican era, the system was a lucrative business practice.

Roman Republican Era Early Taxation

In the beginning, the wealth and property owned by an individual were assessed and the public taxes determined. Typically, the taxes were 1% but would at times be as high as 3% when circumstances such as war occurred.[1]

The modest taxes of the republic were levied on real estates, homes, and land. Moreover, the taxes were also levied against animals, slaves, monetary wealth and personal items. However, the challenge of census accuracy proved to impede revenue collection. 

Tribute, Vectigalia and

Portoria Taxation Systems

Tributum tax was imposed on the citizenry to fund the costs of war. This system was used as a form of giving tribute to the Roman provinces. Trubutum soli which referred to land tax and tributum capitis; the poll tax were the major tribute taxes.[2]

During the Republican era, the majority of the Roman state revenue came from provisional tribute.  With vectigalia taxation, citizens were exempted from paying taxes. The vectigals referred to duties that were imposed on specific privileges and goods especially portoria. Vectigals system also encompassed several rents that were paid on the public pastures and an import/export tax. Vectigalia tax was not like tributum which was levied per person. People did not pay tax at all because the tax earned from Vectigalia

was satisfactory in running the provinces as well as sustaining the state.

The tribute taxes were collected according to the census list. Also, there were different treatments imposed on the provisional lands and especially “tributum capitis which had varying rates in the various provinces”.[3]

The most prominent Vectigalia was the vicesima hereditatium which was a 5% tax on legacies and inheritances.[4]

Introduction of inheritance tax was driven by the need to equalize the burden placed on the Roman citizens. Also, aerarium militare was introduced for funding veterans during civil wars.[5]

The great increase in the number of slaves also formed a broader tax base. 1% sales tax was established as a way of financing aerarium militare.[6] During the Roman Republican era, customs were omnipresent, and this led to portoria

or customs duty taxes. Citizens were obligated to pay duties to the administration. At custom stations goods were to be declared. The levy of customs duties was a vital system that helped the collection of taxes.

The republic became extremely rich by 167 BC, and this was fuelled by the massive conquests it made. They were able to gain valuable items such as gold and silver mines in territories like Spain.[7] The mines created a great revenue source to Roman Republic. Rome, at the time, did not require tax levies against the individuals to fund its operations.

Taxes in the Provinces

Expansion of the Roman republic occurred tremendously, and as a result, the state found more accurate way of carrying out its census data. The census was taken in the provinces, and in an attempt to “ease the strain, the taxes were assessed as a tithe on the entire communities” and not on one person.[8]

It is significant to note that the assessment of tax in the community was under the Provincial governors’ jurisdiction. Besides, the various local magistrates were also mandated to assess the taxes.

Role of the Publicani in Roman Tax Collection

The discussion of Roman republic tax system cannot be complete with mentioning the crucial role played by the publicani. The publican, which was also called the tax farming system, formed the foundational principle of the Roman tax system. Rome did not collect the taxes itself but rather relied on the publicans. When the citizens initially paid the tributa, taxes, the republic collected the taxes itself. However, the vectigals were collected by the publicans. They comprised of private citizens that were accorded or sold the right to collect taxes. They collected a lot of taxes, and this included the vectigals in Italy. The era created a bizarre tax period as it swelled the wealth of the publicans.  They collected taxes on ports, mines, and the ager public as well as another types of provisional tributum.[9]

The Publicans monopolized the tax farming taxation system. They established huge companies that were well organized. The state allocated the rights to tax collection depending on the highest bid placed by the private citizens. In return, the publicans promised the state a certain amount. As a result, the publicans came up to be notoriously extortionists and vitally exploitative ways of collecting the taxes. Caesar and Crassus had a number of publican companies, and they became absurdly wealthy.

The Publicani were utilized in the process of tax collection in the provinces. The Publicani carried out auction of taxes after few years. The payments were in the form of loans given to the state government, and thus attracted interest. The republic collectors kept the excess of what they bid and the interests that was due from the treasury.[10] This is because they risked incurring losses in the next collection bid. As such, tax farming became a highly profitable sector, and it served to improve on revenue generation along with enriching the pockets of the publicani.

Nevertheless, the publicani system of taxation was characterized by massive cheating and corruption. This is because the tax farmers were able to collude with the local magistrates and the farmers in buying huge quantities of grain at lower prices and then hold grain in reserves. The grain was sold at a higher value when there were shortages. Also, the publicans were known to carry out activities like lending money, banking and thus they gave cash to the provinces at exorbitant rates of about 4% or even more in a month. Publicani focused on their efforts to collect revenues where it was easily available as a result of the limited capacity and time. More importantly, the efforts of the publicani were driven by the need to become wealthy.[11]

In addition, the growth of a provisional base favored the publicans as they had the luxury of giving a bid against the previous taxes and therefore, they increased their wealth.

Augustus Changes on the Tax System

After a considerable Roman expansion, Augustus brought the tax farming taxation system to an end. This was fueled by excessive complaints from the citizenry and huge unpayable debts. The publicani still existed as entrepreneurs and money lenders. The system of tax farming was then replaced by a direct taxation in the end days of the Republican era. The procedure required regular census which was taken to evaluate the number of individuals liable for taxation depending on the wealth and income status. For this reason, the tax collected varied significantly depending on the economic status. The new system was deemed to be more fair and  less corruptible compared to the tax farming system.

Augustus instituted an imperial system which ended up being less progressive. The “Growth in the provincial taxable basis under the Publicani led to higher collections in time, while under Augustus, fixed payments reduced this potential.”[12] Individuals came to know the exact amount they were required to pay as tax, and due to this, the excess income remained with the communities despite assessments that were done to adjust the tax base. The slow process built a room for people who earned a high income to remain untaxed, and thus tax evasion was rampant.  Augustus’ system was thus seemingly less effective as compared to the tax farming publicani system. As a result, the Augustus new tax practices proved to be favorable in promoting substantial economic expansion in the Roman Republican era.

Despite the system having been conducive in promoting economic growth and expansion, the rising costs of the Republic drove the necessity to impose changes in the taxation system. The challenges encountered were due to the rising administration costs and the need to finance the Imperial Roman Army. The tax structure was revised, and the outcome culminated to huge rates of inflation and debased coinage values. It was a drastic system that was adverse to the economy. The land tax was reinstated on the landowners, and special tolls on companies and money traders were imposed to increases tax collection. During Diocletian reigned, the Diocletian’s program was created, and it was intended to ease the burden of tax payment by the various classes.[13] The burden of payment was shifted to citizens and later to the local senatorial class. The tax on the senatorial class was compounded and became hereditary, and thus, economic ramifications and all debts were passed to the next senatorial generation and this ruined many families.

Conclusion

The taxes in the Roman Republican era were excessive. At the time, the per capita income was way much less whereas individuals were heavily taxed. The strain of tax revenue was particularly placed on publicani, and they were able to influence the economy, and this had dire consequences. The high rate of corruption and tax evasion hampered tax collection. Besides, the publicans aimed to enrich themselves, and this led to massive economic struggles which plagued the Roman Republic. The taxation in the provinces was a problematic tax due to unreliable data on the census that gave a room for corruptible activities. Augustus reformed the provisional tax system and restricted the publicans the collection of taxes.

Bibliography

Albana, M. “La vicesima libertatis in età imperiale.” QC 9: 41–76. 1987.

Badian, E. Publicans and Sinners: Private Enterprise in the Service of the Roman Republic. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 1972.

Brunt, P. A. “Publicans in the Principate.” In Roman Imperial Themes, edited by P. A. Brunt, pp. 354–432. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1990.

Günther, S. “Financing the Civil Wars—The Case of Duties and Taxes.” In Journal of Ancient Civilizations (JAC) 30: 2015.

Wolters, R. (2007.) “Vectigal, Tributum und Stipendium—Abgabeformen in Römischer Republik und Kaiserzeit.” In Geschenke und Steuern, Zölle und Tribute: Antike Abgabeformen in Anspruch und Wirklichkeit, edited by H. Klinkott, S. Kubisch, and R. Müller-Wollermann. 2007.

[1] Brunt, P. A. “Publicans in the Principate.” In Roman Imperial Themes, edited by P. A. Brunt, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1990. 354–432.

[2] Wolters, R. “Vectigal, Tributum und Stipendium—Abgabeformen in Römischer Republik und Kaiserzeit.” In Geschenke und Steuern, Zölle und Tribute: Antike Abgabeformen in Anspruch und Wirklichkeit, edited by H. Klinkott, S. Kubisch, and R. Müller-Wollermann, 2007, pp. 407–430.

[3]

Ibid, 420

[4]Brunt, P. A. “Publicans in the Principate.” In Roman Imperial Themes, edited by P. A. Brunt, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1990. 354–432.

[5] Günther, S. “Financing the Civil Wars—The Case of Duties and Taxes.” In Journal of Ancient Civilizations (JAC) 30: 2015, 4-8.

[6] Albana, M. “La vicesima libertatis in età imperiale.” QC 9: 41–76. 1987, 4-7.

[7] Günther, S. “Financing the Civil Wars—The Case of Duties and Taxes.” In Journal of Ancient Civilizations (JAC) 30: 2015, 12-28.

[8] Ibid., 5

[9] Badian, E. Publicans and Sinners: Private Enterprise in the Service of the Roman Republic. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 1972, 5-9.

[10] Ibid, 9-10.

[11] Badian, E. Publicans and Sinners: Private Enterprise in the Service of the Roman Republic. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 1972, 17-19.

[12] Brunt, P. A. “Publicans in the Principate.” In Roman Imperial Themes, edited by P. A. Brunt, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1990. 354–432.

[13]Badian, E. Publicans and Sinners: Private Enterprise in the Service of the Roman Republic. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 1972, 12-18.