'Necessary Evils': Taxation and Social Welfare in the Late Roman Empire

Alicia McKenzie - University of Toronto

Taxation has played a major role in the formulation of the traditional narrative of Late Roman social history. The imperial government has been criticized by historians such as A.H.M. Jones and others for establishing an indiscriminate system of taxation and damaging the Empire's civic institutions by 'downloading' tax-collecting responsibilities onto the curial class. Despite the pervasive nature of this image, the legal sources of the Late Empire tell a more complex story, revealing numerous measures taken by the imperial government to encourage fairness and maintain administrative integrity in the taxation system.

In this paper, I will examine the imperial government's attempts to curb taxation-related abuses. Using selected laws from the Codex Theodosianus and the Corpus Iuris Civilis, I will illustrate that the imperial government perceived that fundamental inequities in power relationships within the civitas challenged the ideal of fair tax collection. Consequently, it enlisted the provincial governor (who was, notably, accountable to the imperial government, not the municipal) to compensate for these inequities. Governors were required to supervise the preparation of tax assessments, to undertake duties that municipal officials could no longer be trusted to correctly perform, to appoint and supervise tax collectors, and to receive and relay to the imperial government any complaints regarding tax collection from their provincials.

The imperial government was also fully aware that their governors were not immune to corruption. By placing restraints upon their authority and requiring the defensor civitatis and later, the local bishop to collect taxes from vulnerable groups and hear any complaints regarding the governor's behaviour, the imperial government demonstrated its continuing commitment to prevent abuses. The legal sources challenge the notion that the imperial government was disinterested in fair tax collection; rather, they support the idea that it was willing to take both corrective and preventative action when required.