A History of Taxation Practices, Chapter Six: Tax Law and The End of the Roman Empire
W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Mithridates the Great ruled a small country near what is currently known as Turkey. He had the extraordinary power to arouse rebellion among disgruntled taxpayers. In 88 BC he led a rebellion fighting the Romans. By granting 5 years of tax immunity to each city that followed his rebellion, he mustered substantial support.
The Roman Senate quickly took swift action and told General Sulla to muster an army and restore Roman authority in the east. Sulla was victorious in squelching the rebels, but only following a four year struggle. When the rebellion was squashed, Sulla told the leaders of the revolting cities to meet him at Ephesus. There the citizens were to remit 5 years of back taxes and pay Sulla for the cost of the war.
To make sure the tax was collected, Sulla created “special agents.” These special agents were given the ability to scourge and behead, which was enough to cause most taxpayers fall in line. Up until this time there had been self-assessment tax collections, corporate tax collection, army tax collectors and regular government tax men. However, these newly instituted “special agents” were highly skilled specialized men with the ignorance of bureaucrats and the power of military executioners. Taxpayers lost any hope to evade. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a Tax Preparer in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!
Special Agents have been instituted several times in the past, persisting into modern times as “financial police” or just “special agents”, using the title first given by Sulla over two thousand years ago. As the use of Sulla’s special agents was put in to place in other provinces, soldiers came to realize that the rich spoils of war came from their general, not the Roman Senate. Roman generals returned to Rome with the blind loyalty of their soldiers. Great civil wars started as rivalling legions slaughtered each other. With these moderately private armies, establishment of a military dictator was inescapable. So, the Roman Republic dissolved. Royalty, dictators, and military strategists would now run the Roman Empire for the next 2000 years. Democratically designed governments and republics wouldn’t see a dominant role in civilization again until the 1800s. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation in Cary, NC.
Keep an eye out for W. Marc Gilfillan’s next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and the American Revolution.
http://www.marccpa.com/
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