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The Historians' History of the World 05 [The Roman Republic]
- Автор: Gutenberg
- Год: 1905
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: История
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It must not here be forgotten that of late years circumstances had greatly exalted the power of the senate and proportionally diminished the power of the tribunes. In great wars, especially such as threaten the existence of a community, the voice of popular leaders is little heard. Reforms are forgotten. Agitation ceases. Each man applies his energies to avert present danger, rather than to achieve future improvements. The senate under the leading of old Fabius Cunctator ruled absolutely for several years. Even elections to the consulate, which he deemed inopportune, were set aside—a thing almost without example, before and after, in Roman constitutional history. Fabius was at length superseded by young Scipio, who in his turn became absolute, and at the close of the war might have made himself dictator, had he been so pleased. At present, popular spirit had fallen asleep. Constitutional opposition there was none. The senate seemed likely to retain in peace the power which war had necessarily thrown into their hands.
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
At the close of the Hannibalic War, Rome was in possession, nominally, of five provinces, which were Sicily, Sardinia, the Gallic coast of Umbria, with Hither and Farther Spain. But of these provincial possessions Sardinia and the Spains were almost to be conquered again; and Gallic Umbria was shortly after absorbed into Italy, while the magnificent district between the Alps and the Gulf of Genoa became the province of Gaul. Sicily was the only province as yet constituted on a solid foundation. To Sicily, therefore, we will confine our remarks; a course which is further recommended by the fact that we are better informed with regard to Sicily than with regard to any other of the foreign possessions of the republic.
We must call to mind that, in speaking of Sicily as of Italy, we are not to think of the country as a whole, but as broken up into a number of civic communities, each being more or less isolated from the rest. At the close of the First Punic War, when the Romans had expelled the Carthaginians from the island, the greater part of it was formed into a province; while the kingdom of Hiero, consisting of Syracuse with six dependent communities, was received into free alliance with Rome. But in the Second Punic War, Syracuse and all Sicily were reconquered by Marcellus and Lævinus, and the form of the provincial communities was altered. The cities of Sicily were now divided into three classes. First, there were those cities which had been taken by siege: these, twenty-six in number, were mulcted of their territory, which became part of the public land of Rome; their former citizens had perished in war, or had been sold as slaves, or were living as serfs on the soil which they had formerly owned. Secondly, there was a large number of communities, thirty-four in all, which retained the fee-simple of their land, but were burdened with payment of a tithe of corn, wine, oil, and other produce, according to a rule established by Hiero, in the district subject to Syracuse. Thirdly, there were eight communities left independent, which were, like the Italians, free from all imposts.
These states were all left in possession of municipal institutions; they had the right of self-government in all local matters, with popular assemblies and councils, such as were common in Greek communities. But all were subject to the authority of a governor, sent from Rome, with the title of prætor, whose business it was to adjudicate in all matters where the interests of Rome or of Roman citizens were concerned, and, above all, to provide for the regular payment of the imposts. In Sicily, which in those days was a well-cultivated and productive country, this department was so important that the prætor was assisted by two quæstors, one stationed at Syracuse, the other at Lilybæum.
Communities which, during the wars of conquest, had joined the invaders at once or at a critical point in the war, were left free from all ordinary and annual imposts. Cities that were taken by force became, with their territory, the absolute property of Rome. Between these extremes there was a large class, which retained full possession of their lands, and complete local independence, but were subject to the payment of yearly imposts to the imperial treasury, which were levied on the produce of their land. All alike were obliged to contribute towards the expenses of the prætor’s court and government.
TAXATION
The most important distinction between the Italian and provincial dominions of Rome consisted in taxation. It was a general rule that all Italian land was tax-free; and that all provincial land, except such as was specified in treaties or in decrees of the senate, was subject to tax. Hence the exemption of land from taxation was known by the technical name of Jus Italicum or the Right of Italy.
This last distinction implies that the imperial revenues were raised chiefly from the provinces. We will take this opportunity of giving a brief account of the different sources from which the revenues of Rome were raised in the early period.
The imperial treasury was in the ancient temple of Saturn, situated at the end of the Forum beneath the Capitol. Here the two quæstors of the city deposited all the moneys received on account of the state, and no disbursements could be made without an order from an officer authorised by the senate. The sources of receipt were twofold, ordinary and extraordinary.
The ordinary revenues consisted of the proceeds and rent of public property, custom duties, tolls, and the like, and the tax levied on provincial lands.
The property of the state was, as has often been noticed, very large. Much of the public land, however, had been distributed to colonies, and the rent received for the rest seems to have been small. Yet the quantity of undistributed land in Italy and Sicily was so great that it must have yielded a considerable revenue. Besides this, the fisheries, with all mines and quarries, were considered public property. Even the manufacture of salt was a state monopoly from the censorship of M. Livius, who thenceforth bore the name of Salinator, or the salt-maker.
Besides these rents and monopolies, custom duties were levied on certain kinds of goods, both exports and imports, and tolls (called portoria) were demanded for passengers and goods carried by canals or across bridges and ferries.
There was also an ad valorem duty of five per cent imposed on the manumission of slaves. This was not carried to the account of the year, but laid by as a reserve fund, not to be used except in great emergencies.
The revenue derived from the provincial land tax was only beginning to be productive, but in a few years it formed the chief income of the republic.
It appears that for the civil government of the republic the ordinary revenues were found sufficient. The current expenses, indeed, were small. The Italian and provincial communities defrayed the expenses of their own administration. Rome herself, as we have said, claimed the services of her statesmen and administrators without paying them any public salaries.
In time of war, however, the ordinary revenues failed, and to meet the expenses of each year’s campaign an extraordinary tax was levied as required. This was the tributum, or property tax. Its mode of assessment marks its close association with war expenses. We have seen above that the whole arrangement of the centuriate assembly was military. Not the least important of these was the census or register of all citizens, arranged according to their age and property. It was made out by the censors at intervals of five years, and served during the succeeding period as the basis of taxation. The necessities of each year determined the amount to be levied. It was usually one in a thousand, or one-tenth per cent; but once, in the Second Punic War, the rate was doubled. The senate had the power of calling for this payment.
At length it became necessary to call on wealthy individuals to furnish seamen, and to advance money by way of loan; and contracts were formed with commercial companies to furnish stores and clothing for the army, in return for which they received orders on the treasury payable at some future time. The obligations thus contracted were not left as a national debt. The first instalment of repayment was made in the year 204 B.C., immediately after the submission of Carthage; the second and third at successive intervals of four years.