Tax Administration in Roman Caesarea Philippi. What does a boundary stone say about Roman taxation? (Nathan Steinmeyer, Bible History Daily)
Strangely, despite several dozen such stones having been discovered, primarily in the hinterland of Caesarea Philippi, none have ever been found outside the Levant. However, since the tax reform of Diocletian and Maximian was an empire-wide reform, we might expect to find such stones all around the empire, not just in one particular region. Thus, the peculiar distribution of the stones has remained a problem for Roman and Levantine archaeologists.Background on the inscribed boundary stone is here and here.
The Case of the Very Long Roman Legal Papyrus from the Judean Desert, Or, Do You Really Have to Pay Sales Tax on Slaves? (This Week in the Ancient Near East Podcast).
The publication of a really long Roman legal document from the Judean Desert has us wondering about crime. Is changing a location on a contract really forgery? How about a little light counterfeiting of silver coins? Ok fine, but there’s sales tax on slaves? That makes all this even worse.Background on Manuscript P.Cotton is here and here.
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