The History of Taxation, Chapter Six: Taxes 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 was the leader of a small country near what is currently known as Turkey. He had an extraordinary ability to arouse rebellion with disgruntled taxpayers. In 88 BC he led a rebellion against Roman rule. By promising 5 years of tax immunity to each city that followed his army, he mustered considerable help.
The Roman Senate sprang into action and told General Sulla to raise an army and restore Roman rule in the rebellious area. Sulla succeeded in suppressing the rebellion after a four year struggle. When the rebellion was squashed, Sulla told the leaders of the disgruntled cities to come to Ephesus. There the citizens were to remit five years of back taxes and pay the general for the cost of the war.
To enforce this tax, Sulla established “special agents.” These special agents were given the ability to scourge and behead, which was enough to make any taxpayer cooperative. Up until this time there were self-assessment tax collectors, corporate tax collecting, army tax collectors and regular government tax collectors. However, these new “special agents” were very skillful 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 Cary, NC for all your tax-related needs!
Special Agents have emerged time and again in the past, persisting into modern times as “financial police” or just “special agents”, using the name initially instituted by Sulla over 2000 years past. As the use of Sulla’s special agents was put in to place in other provinces, soldiers came to understand that the rich spoils of war came from their general, as opposed to the Roman Senate. Roman generals returned to Rome with the unwavering loyalty of their soldiers. Huge civil wars broke out as rival armies fought. With these semiprivate armies, establishment of a military dictator was inevitable. Thus, the Roman Republic dissolved. Royalty, dictators, and military strategists would now rule for the next two thousand years. Democracies and republics would not play a large 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/