Onno van Nijf The Social World of Roman taxfarmers 2008

The Customs Law of Asia Edited by M. COTTIER, M. H. CRAWFORD, C. V. V. CROWTHE R, J.-L . FERR ARY, ARY, B. M. LEVI CK, ¨ RRLE O. SALOMIES, M . WO and with paper by M. COR BIER , S. MITC HELL , O. VAN VAN NIJ F, D. RATHB RATHB ONE, G. D. ROWE

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Contents Illustrations Abbreviations Map

xii xiii xxii

Introduction Monumentum Ephesenum

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TEXT AND TRANSLATION

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COMMENTARY

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Geography, Politics and Imperialism in the Asian Customs Law 165 s. mitchell

The Lex Portorii Asiae and Financial Administration

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m. corbier corbier

The Elaboration and Diffusion of the Text of the Monumentum Ephesenum

236

g. d. rowe

Nero’s Reforms of Vectigalia and Vectigalia and the Inscription of the Lex Portorii Asiae

251

d. rathbone

The Social World of Tax Farmers and the their Personne nnel

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Bibliography Greek Index Index of Persons Index of Places Index of Words Latin Index General Index

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The Social World of Tax Farmers and their Personnel O. van Nijf

1. INTRODUCTION One day, the sage and miracle worker Apollonius of Tyana and his party were about to cross the border of the Roman Empire on their way to the Far East: 1 When hen they they were were ab abou outt to cros crosss to Mesopo esopota tami mia, a, the the telones stationed at Zeugma took them to the tari V ( pinakion ) and asked what he was taking with him. Apollonius said, I take with me Prudence, Justice, Virtue, Temperance, Courage and Perseverance, stringing together a lot of nouns all in the feminine gender. Immediately the oYcial, with an eye to his own proWt, said: ‘Well then, make me a list of those slave girls of yours’. ‘I cannot’, retorted Apollonius, ‘I am not taking them as my slave girls, but as my mistresses.’

I owe a debt to the late Keith Hopkins who discussed this paper with me at an early stage. I am also grateful to Thomas Corsten for discussion and for making material available to me ahead of publication, and to Maaike Leemreize for checking the data at a very late stage. 1 Phil. VA 1. 20 (tr. C. P. Jones): ðÆæßïíôÆò äb ÆPôïfò Kò ôcí ìÝóÅí ôHí ðïôÆìHí › ôåºþíÅò › K ðØâåâºÅìÝíïò ôfiH ˘ åý åýªìÆôØ ðæeò ôe ðØíÜŒØïí qªå ŒÆd MæþôÆ ‹ ôØ I ðÜªïØåí › äb ÚðïººþíØïò· IðÜªø  çÅ çÅ óøçæïóýíÅí äØŒÆØïóýíÅí Iæåôcí KªŒæÜôåØÆí Iíäæåß Æí ¼óŒÅóØí ðïººa ŒÆd ïo ôø ŁÞºåÆ åYæÆò OíüìÆôÆ › ä XäÅ âºÝ ðøí ôe  Æı ÆıôïF ŒÝ æäïò IðüªæÆłÆØ ïs í,  çÅ çÅ ôÜò äïýºÆò › äb ïPŒ îåóôØí år ðåí ïP ªaæ äïýºÆò IðÜªø ôÆýôÆò Iººa äåóðïßíÆò. ;

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The episode must have struck a chord with many of the readers of this travel story, particularly with those who had travelled themselves. The anecdote allowed the reader—from the comfort of his home—to have a laugh at the expense of an unpopular, but ubiquitous Wgure: the petty customs oYcial. To many provincials the face of the Roman Empire must have been that of the tax farmer, but we are surprisingly ill informed about the social world in which he operated. Modern studies of Roman tax collection or of the bureaucracy in general often focus on the legal or institutional aspects of these organizations; the human element is often neglected. This is not surprising as many ancient documents are virtually silent on this point as well. Even the Ephesian Customs Law, which supplements our knowledge of Roman customs duties at so many points, shows little interest in the lower ranks of the system. It is the aim of this chapter to shed some light on the social world of Roman tax collection. I shall have little to say of the top levels of the organization, the societates of societates of publicani publicani in in Rome, and little of the higher echelons of imperial administration. I shall try to focus as much as I can on the lower ranks, ranks, the grass-ro grass-roots, ots, and try to bring to life the petty oYcials who patrolled the roads and harbours, manned the customs houses, and toiled over the endless paperwork. They made a crucial contribution to the establishment and maintenance of the Roman Empire, but we shall see that literary sources, with their e´ lite bias, would not seem to re Xect this. The precise nature of their duties is usually ignored in these texts, and when tax farmers are mentioned they are usually treated with the contempt that the upper classes felt for the working population. Information on the minutiae of the enormous task that was tax farming must be gleaned from legal texts, papyri, and inscriptions from various parts of the Empire. Thes Thesee are are disc discus usse sed d in the seco second nd part part of this this pape paperr. Howe Howeve verr, inscriptions can fruitfully be approached as a form of self-representation of their authors. In the last part of the paper we shall see what image the tax farmers and their personnel chose to present of themselves. A list of known individuals with a connection to the portorium Asiae is given in the Appendix.

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2. PUBLICANS AND SINNERS Roman literary authors generally maintain a digni Wed silence regarding the thousands of men who were responsible for collecting the revenues of empire. Although people were taught at school that cust custom omss duti duties es were were a fund fundam amen enta tall instr instrum umen entt of empi empire re,,2 this interest does not seem to have been extended to the individuals concerned. Customs oYcials rarely make an individual appearance in literary texts, and when they do, they are not often named, and they appear as two-dimensional characters. They were seen as irrelevances, who occasionally proved an irritant during a journey. Plutarch, setting himself up as the voice of the cultivated gentlemen of his age, formulates it as follows: 3 Busybodies search out these very matters and others still worse, not to cure, but merely to expose them. For this reason, we are annoyed and displeased with customs oYcials, not when they pick up those articles that we are importing openly, but when in the search for concealed goods they pry into baggage and merchandise which are another’s property. And yet the law allows them to do this.

The idea that members of the lower classes, even if they were special oYcials called scrutatores ,4 were rummaging through one’s possessions was clearly too much. The educated traveller may well have turned to the dictionary of Pollux to Wnd a convenient list of words to abuse a tax farmer if he went too far: 5 As is clear from [Quint.] 341. 6, which defends the customs duties by pointing out that they paid i.a . for the army and for festivals. . 518E): ïƒ äb ðïºıðæÜªìïíåò ÆPôa ôÆFôÆ ŒÆd ôa ôïýôøí ôØ 3 Plut. De Curios. (Mor ååß æïíÆ ÇÅôïFóØí ïP ŁåæÆðåýïíôåò Iººa ìüíïí IíÆŒÆºýðôïíôåò ‹ Łåí ìØóïFíôÆØ äØŒÆß øò ŒÆd ªaæ ôïfò ôåºþíÆò âÆæıíüìåŁÆ ŒÆd äıóååæÆßíïìåí ïPå ‹ ôÆí ôa KìçÆíB ªøóØí Iºº ‹ ôÆí ôa ŒåŒæıììÝíÆ ÇÅôïFíôåò Kí Iººïôæß ïØò óŒåýåóØ ôHí åN óÆªïìÝíøí KŒºÝ ªø ôß ïØò IíÆóôæÝ çø ŒÆd çïæôßï çøíôÆØ ŒÆß ôïØ ôïFôï ðïØåE í › íüìïò äßäøóØí ÆPôïE ò. 4 See below, n. 34. ðïØò ¼í· âÆæýò çïæôØŒüò ŒÆd ŒÆŒ ŒÆŒß Çø Çøí ìbí ôåºþíÅí åY ðï 5 Poll. Onom. 9. 30 f.: ŒÆd ªøí ŁÆºÜôôÅò IªæØþôåæïò ååØìHíïò ¼ªåøí ºfiÅóôåýøí, ºÅØÇïìÝíïò ðÆæåŒºÝ ªø âØÆØüôåæïò ŒÆôÆäýøí ôïfò ŒÆôÆåŁÝíôÆò IðÜíŁæøðïò KðÆåŁÞò ¼ðºÅóôïò ÆØïò Iðïðíß ªø ªøí ðØÝ Çø Çøí ºøðïäıôHí Iðïäýøí ±æðÜÇøí ¼ìåôæïò ÆN óåæïŒÝ æäÅò âß ÆØ IçÆØæïýìåíïò ðÆæåØóðæÜôôøí N ôÆìüò IíÆßóåıíôïò, IðÅæıŁæØÆŒþò äıóååæÞò IíÞìåæïò ¼ªæØïò ¼îåíïò ŁÅæØþäÅò  æìÆ ðæüâïºïò ðÝôæÆ íÆıÜªØïí ŁÅæßïí ¼ìØŒôïí 2

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Should you want to abuse a tax farmer, you might try saying: burden, packanima animal, l, garott garotter er,, sneak-t sneak-thie hief, f, shark, shark, hurric hurricane ane,, oppres oppressor sor of the downdowntrod trodde den, n, inhu inhuma man, n, nail nail in my coYn, insati insatiabl able, e, immode immoderat rate, e, Shylo Shylock, ck, violator, strangler, crusher, highwayman, strip-Jack-naked, snatcher, thief, overcharger, reckless, shameless, unblushing, pain in the neck, savage, wild, inhospitable, brute, dead weight, obstacle, heart of stone, Xotsam, pariah, and all the other vile terms you can Wnd to apply apply to someon someone’ e’ss charact character er.. . .

Or praise him, when the man showed proper respect: Should you want to praise a tax farmer, you might say: law-abiding, hospitable, ab le, just, just, not overs overstep teppin pingg the law law, not over over-ze -zealo alous, us, better better than than life, life, knowing your place, palliator of the journey’s discomfort, someone you might want to interrupt your journey for; sweet harbour.

The concern with the right vocabulary, and the choice of words, convey a distinct upper-class perspective: to the readers of Pollux, a good tax farmer was someone who knew his place. Tax farming was evidently ev idently not a proper occupation for members of the Roman e´ lite—even though they might not despise its pro Wts, so long as they could be reaped discreetly. E´ lite objections to tax collecting seem to have focused on moral issues that were connected with the ‘banausic status’ of the tax farmers. 6 As Cicero put it:7 ‘First those employments are condemned which arouse people’s dislike, for example tax farmers and money lenders.’ A variant of this view stresses the morally suspect character of the tax collector by putting them on a par with pimps and procurers. procurers. The association must have been eV ective. ective. Dio Chrysostom raises the issue in a dialogue about freedom: 8

ðïØò ¼í ííïìïò ŒÆd ‹ óÆ Kí ôÆE ò XŁïıò ºïØäïðïæß ÆØ ÆØò  ååØò åN ä KðÆØíåE ò ôåºþíÅí åY ðï åhîåíïò äß ŒÆØ ŒÆØïò KíäïôÝ æø æø ôïF íüìïı ðæÆüôåæïò ôïF ºß Æí IŒæØâïFò Œæåßôôøí ôïF âßï âß ïı åN ägò ÆN äå äåE óŁ óŁÆØ ðÆæÆìıŁïýìåí Łïýìåíïò ïò ôcí ôïF ðºïF äıóåÝ æåØÆí åN ò ní ¼ í ôØò IíÆðÆýóÆØôï fiz ôØò ¼í äÝ øò ðæïóïæìßó ìß óÆØôï. 6 Tax farming was classi Wed as a banausic occupation according to the Souda s.v. ‘banausos’ (¼ B, entry 93). V . I. 62. 150 : ‘Primum improbantur ii quaestus, qui in odia hominum 7 De O incurrunt, ut portitorum, ut faeneratorum’. æÅôÆØ ìbí ðe ôHí íüìøí 8 Dio Chrys. 14. 14: Ôß äÝ ; ïY åØ óïØ KîåE íÆØ ‹ óÆ ìc Iðåß æÅ KªªæÜçøò ÆN óåæa äb ¼ººøò äïŒåE ôïE ò IíŁæþðïØò ŒÆd ¼ôïðÆ ºÝ ªø ªø äb ïx ïí ôåºøíåE í j ðïæíïâïóŒåE í j ¼ººÆ ‹ ìï ìïØÆ ðæÜôôåØí. :

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Well then, do you think that it is permitted to you to do all things, which, while they are not forbidden by the laws, yet are regarded as base and unseemly by mankind? I mean for example collecting taxes, or keeping a brothel, or doing other such things.

Other sources agree: Artemidorus calls tax collecting an ‘unblushing profession’, which could signify prostitution, when it appears in a dream.9 The emperor Julian Julian also classes classes together people of the baser sort: ‘tax collectors, dancers and adulterers.’ 10 These texts may re Xect mere upper-class prejudices, or result from the rhetorical device of invective that relied on blackening the morality of one’s opponents, but the charge may not have been totally base ba sele less ss.. Tax farm farmer erss were were famo famous usly ly clas classe sed d with with sinn sinner erss in the New Testament, which suggests that in the society of Wrst-century Palestine the association between tax farmers and prostitution could be presented as plausible. 11 A papyrus from the Zeno archive shows that the association was not always imaginary. The text mentions a pair of crooks who dealt in female prostitutes. They had kidnapped a girl, provided provided her with an out Wt, and handed her over to a customs oYcial who was to act as her pimp—the rationale apparently being that there would be frequent traYc, and plenty of customers.12 It is more di Ycult to get an idea of the attitude of ‘ordinary’ Romans and Greeks towards tax farmers. Badian suggests that we can easily empathize with their feelings, when he refers to ‘the natural dislike that all working and earning men and women rightly feel for the tax collector’, but it may not be so easy to get a grip on the perspective of the ancient ‘working man’—(let alone of the ‘working woman’).13 We shall see below that they may have been particularly vulnerable to extortion at the hands of tax collectors, but there are few Wrst-hand accounts to present their views. We hear of the proverbial rapacity of tax gatherers, but we have no way of establishing Art. Oneir . 4. 42: qí ªaæ  KæªÆóß Æ ¼åæøìïò (but see 3. 58 for dreams where a tax farmer could signify something positive for people who were in business). ˆ nai, ˆ stai, nai, orche stai, and hetairotrophoi . The charge 10 Julian, Adv. Gal . 283E. He lists telo had a long history anyway: Theophrastus, Theophrastus, Char . 6, puts tax farming on a par with innkeeping and brothel keeping. 11 Cf. Youtie 1973. 12 PSI 4, 406, cf. Pomeroy 1984, 163. 13 Badian 1983, 11. 9

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how widespread such proverbs were. 14 There are hardly any texts that aim to give a more more measured image. Only one source purports to give the opinion of a tax collector, and he takes a defensive stance. 15 ‘Diomedon the tax farmer said: if it is not shameful for you to sell the taxes, it is not shameful for us to buy them.’ Plutarch, though hardly a spokesman for the working classes, exposes the hypocrisy of the upper classes in this respect: 16 And they think it is a disgrace to be a tax collector, which the law allows; but they they thems themselv elves es lend lend mo money ney cont contra rary ry to law law, coll collec ecti ting ng taxe taxess from from their their debtor debtors, s, or or rath rather er,, if the truth truth is to be told told,, cheat cheating ing them in the act of lending lending..

The common man may well have agreed. However, the e´ lites had no monopoly on double standards. Lucian defends the view that poverty wou oulld mak make it excu excussab able le for for a man man to def defraud raud a fell fello ow citi citize zen, n, to as ask k for for gifts ifts,, to beg beg and and steal teal,, and even even to be a tax tax collec llecto torr.17 But in the end the the negative negative view prevails prevails also here: in his imagination imagination of Hell, Hell, Lucian Lucian puts puts them all, tax collectors and upper class faeneratores class faeneratores , together:18 As it happene happened d [Minos] [Minos] himsel himselff was sitting sitting on a lofty lofty thr throne, one, while while beside beside him stood the Tormentors, the Furies, and the Avengers. From one side a great number of men were being led up in line, bound together with a long chain; they were said to be adulterers, procurers, tax collectors, toadies, informers, e.g. Plut. Aquane an ignis sit utilior (Mor . 958 D 6): ‘Man has been granted but little time to live and, as Ariston says, Sleep, like a tax farmer, takes away half of that’ (ŒÆd ìcí Oºß ªïı åæ üíïı ŒÆd âßï âß ïı ôïE ò IíŁæþðïØò äåäïìÝíïı › ìbí Úæß óôøí çÅódí ‹ ôØ › o ðíïò ð íïò ïx ïí ôåºþíÅò ôe l ìØóı IçÆØæåE ôïýôïı). Another example can be found in Iamb., Bab . 93: ‘The tax collector gave the necklace to the merchant. Will not wolves set down lambs from their jaws and lions release fawns from their teeth back to their mothers when a tax collector acually parts with so great a prize? (  äøŒå ôeí ‹æ ìïí › ôåºþíÅò ôfiH Kìðüæfiø ïPŒ XäÅ ŒÆd º ýŒïØ ŁÞóïıóØí ¼æíÆò KŒ ôHí óôïìÜôøí ŒÆd ºÝïíôåò Iðe ôHí Oäüíôøí IðïºýóïıóØ íåâæïfò ôÆE ò ìÅôæÜóØí ›ðüôå ŒÆd ôåºþíÅò IçBŒåí ¼ªæÆí ôÅºØŒÆýôÅí). 15 Dion. Hal. Ad Amm. 1, 12 f.: › ôåºþíÅò › ˜Ø ïìÝäøí åN ªaæ ìÅä ìE í ÆN óåæeí ôe ðøºåE í ïPäb ìE í ôe TíåE óŁ óŁÆØ. [829 C 9]: 9]: ÆPôïd ªaæ ðÆæÆíüìøò äÆíåß ÇïıóØ vitando do aere aere alie alieno no [829 16 Plut. De vitan ôåºøíïFíôåò ìAººïí ä åN äåE ôIºÅŁbò åN ðå ðåE í Kí ôfiH äÆíåß ÇåØí åæåøŒïðïFíôåò. 17 Luc. Pseudolog. 30. 18 Luc. Menippus sive de Nekyiomanteia 11: KôýªåÆíå äb › ìbí Kðd Łæüíïı ôØíeò ŒÆd ¯æØ ¯æØ íýåò ŒÆd ÚºÜóôïæåò łÅºïF ŒÆŁÞìåíïò ðÆæåØóôÞŒåóÆí äb ÆPôfiH — ïØíÆd ŒÆd ôÝ æø æøŁåí äb ðæïóÞªïíôï ðïººïß ôØíåò KçåîBò ±ºýóåØ ìÆŒæfiA äåäåìÝíïØ KºÝ ªïíôï äb år íÆØ ìïØåïd ŒÆd ðïæíïâïóŒïd ŒÆd ôåºHíÆØ ŒÆd Œ üºÆŒåò ŒÆd óıŒïçÜíôÆØ ŒÆd ôïØïFôïò ‹ ìØºïò ôHí ðÜíôÆ ŒıŒþíôøí Kí ôfiH âß fiø åøædò äb ï¥ ôå ðºïýóØïØ ŒÆd ôïŒïªºýçïØ ŒÆóôïò ÆPôHí ŒÆd ŒüæÆŒÆ ðæïófi ÞåóÆí Tåæïd ŒÆd ðæïªÜóôïæåò ŒÆd ðïäÆªæïß ŒºïØeí  ŒÆ äØôÜºÆíôïí KðØŒåßìåíïò. 14

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and all that crowd of people who created such confusion in life. In a separate company then millionaires and the moneylenders, potbellied and gouty, each of them with a neck iron and a hundred pound ‘crow’ upon him.

It is diYcult, therefore, to get an image of the customs farmer that is not coloured by ideology or prejudice. The tax farmer, when he appears in literature, is represented in a negative light as someone who is marked by excessive greed and lack of morality. However, However, such texts are not very helpful on the precise duties of individual tax collectors, or on their position in the organization. They have even less to say on the question of how those men saw their own lives and their own roles as servants of the Roman Empire.

3 . T H E BU B U R E AU A U C R A CY CY We are only beginning to appreciate the complexities and detailed division of labour that went into the collection of the many taxes that suppor supported ted the Imperium Imperium Romanum Romanum..19 The Ephesi Ephesian an Customs Customs Law Law provides us with some detailed lists of the places where the customs duties were to be levied (ll. 7–11, §§1–2), it mentions mentions possible exempexemptions (ll. 58–67, §§25–7), and it even goes into some detail about the constr constructi uction on of stat stations ions and guar guard-p d-post ostss (ll. (ll. 35–6, 35–6, §13), §13), but it does not give much thought to the individuals concerned. The terminology can ˆ ne be loose and imprecise. The tax farmer is usually called telo nˆ e s s or ˆ mosio ˆ ne de mosio nˆ e s s, but for the lower ranks a blanket term such as epitropos is deemed suYcient. From the perspective of the lawgivers in Rome, the individuals who at a local level were running the organization on a day-to-day basis were apparently of little interest. This was of course course the result of the way that tax collection had been arranged. Tax farming was a convenient way of compensating for the absence of an adequate bureaucratic structure in the Republic. It provided the state with money upfront, leaving the trouble of actually collecting the money conveniently to wealthy entrepreneurs. The e´ lite business men themselves relied heavily on authorized agents The standard work is of course still De Laet 1949, but see now Brunt 1990b. The position of uilici is discussed in Aubert 1994, esp. ch. 5, and Carlsen 1995, esp. 43–55. 19

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(usu (usual ally ly slav slaves es or free freedm dmen en)) to carry carry ou outt econ econom omic ic and and meni menial al activities, that ‘their life-style, political and economic engagement, and social prejudices prevented them from carrying out personally’, while still being able to reap the Wnancial beneWts of their e V orts. orts.20 It is this double distancing that must account for the relative lack of interest in the law among the people on the ground. It is well known that from the onset of the Principate private enterprise was gradually phased out from tax collecting, even though we do not know in detail how this process evolved. Direct taxation was taken out of the hands of the publicani , and left to the town coun counci cils ls,, thus thus impl implic icat atin ingg loca locall e´ lite litess in the the expl exploi oita tati tion on of the the provinces. This was not, however, deemed necessary or practical for the collection of indirect taxes such as customs duties. Publicani remained active here at least until the end of the second century, even though there is evidence that local e´ lites could sometimes be involved, as we shall see below. The traditional view (advocated by De Laet) is that the companies who farmed the customs duties were replaced sometime under Trajan by individual conductores . In an important article Brunt has pointed out that there is not enough evidence for this view, and he insists that companies must have continued until the Severan age at least. Recently, Aubert has argued that Brunt may have gone too far in the other direction: ‘there is no reason why [conductores [conductores ] should be discarded altogether from the history of tax collection: both companies and individual tax farmers could have lived side by side.’21 Important though they were from an institutional point of view, these changes would have had a limited e V ect ect on the daily daily operations operations,, which may well be connected to the existence of slave agents. The sla slave pers person onne nell of the the indi indivi vidu dual al tax tax farm farmer erss or of tax tax farm farmin ingg comp compan anie iess coul could d witho without ut any any diYculty culty be tran transf sfer erre red d from from on onee comp compan anyy to anot anothe herr, or to an indivi individua duall conductor, if necessary necessary.. The Customs Law does not make an explicit statement about the transfer of slaves, but as the tax farmers had to use the same buildings and staging-posts as had been used previously under King Attalos, we may assume that slaves and other property were also transferred 20 21

Aubert 1994, 322. Aubert 1994, 330 with references to the earlier debate.


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(§28, l. 68). The text also states that they had to hand these over to incoming publicani , and the same must have applied to slave personnel in districts that had Wrst been taxed by the Romans themselves. Where and when imperial agents took over, the tax personnel would would simply simply be incorporated incorporated into the familia Caesaris and Caesaris and do their jobs as before.22 The data do not allow me to di V erentiate erentiate much between between the various various categories categories of tax oYcial, and and I am well aware aware that that the situation on the ground may have been more varied than would appear at Wrst sight. The Romans adopted local practices, and will have made innovations where necessary. However, if we start from the Customs Customs Law, Law, and use additional additional information information from inscriptions inscriptions and other material from Asia and elsewhere, we should still be able to draw up a reliable and coherent picture of the daily chores of Roman tax collecting.

4 . C U S T O M S H O U S E S A N D S TA TA F F The Customs Law shows that the system relied on a dense network of customs oYcials cials sprea spread d over over a relati relativel velyy wide geogra geographi phical cal area. area. Customs posts, described simply as epoikia (buildings), or telonia (customs houses) were set up in the major harbours of the tax district, and along major land roads into the district (ll. 22–6, §9). Smaller Smaller collection collection points, points, paraphylakai (guard(guard-pos posts) ts),, were were to be found along minor roads and around the territories of free cities (l. 32, §12). In addition to the places mentioned in the text we Wnd stations in places such as Laodicea and Amorium. 23 One inscription informs us that a customs station was located in Cibyra. Cibyra. 24 Perhaps we should also reckon with temporary posts, which were closed part of the year, as seems to have happened in Illyria. 25 Although the Romans were willing to take over pre-existing customs houses that had been used by the Attalids, there was a tendency to impose some order. The names of the tax farmer and of his representative were to be advertised clearly (ll. 27–8, §10). It would 22 24

Cf. Weaver 1972, passim. 23 See Appendix nos. 4b and 3. I.Kibyra 107; see Appendix nos. 8a–8b. 25 Carlsen 1995, 51.

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have been practical to post a tari V list listin ingg the curre current nt rate ratess and and exceptions as well. These may have taken the shape of a wooden pinakion , such such as the the on onee ment mentio ione ned d by Phil Philos ostr trat atus us in the the Apol Apollo loni nius us episode quoted above, but it would probably have been su Ycient to have a copy on papyrus. 26 No parallel for the inscribed tari V of Palmyra has been found in Asia. 27 The Customs Law further gives some precise directions for when a new customs building or guardpost had to be constructed: 28 If he wishes, he is to have up to one building [in all these cities and places] for the sake of [declaration (?)] or registration or habitation, provided that [it is] not in a temple or temenos , or [sacred place; and at (?) - - -] they are to have have [??? [???]] guar guardd-po post sts, s, and and (in (in any any case) case) on onee guar guardd-po post st on the the Rive Riverr Rhyndacus. Whatever place of this province [there is, wherever it is necessary to declare, if in] these [places] a harbour lies by the sea, [they are to have] by each harbour in these (places) up to one guard-post in sequence, if [they wish, for the sake of exaction of telos of telos ]; ]; and also on the coast by the sea; and around the boundaries boundaries of the province, where it is lawful lawful to go or drive (animals), if they wish; [provided that] they have (a building) within [??? feet of wherever it is necessary to declare], built or fenced, one in each place, thirty feet from front to back, , and provided that it is not [built in a temple or temenos ] or sacred place or with (another) building nearer than ninety feet.

It was not only a place where the transactions took place, or where documents were kept, but it would seem that the customs o Ycials also lived there. The head of a customs house was a uilicus , or in Greek oikonomos —in —in some cases we Wnd a praepositus , who was normally a freedman. He was in charge of a familia of slaves, who performed a variety of specialist jobs, either collecting the taxes, or handling the administrative side.29 The staV of a uilicus could be large. Epigraphical and papyrological sources yield a wide variety of job-t job-titl itles, es, whose whose precis precisee functi functions ons are not alway alwayss clear clear.. A uilicus would have one or more assistants, who could act as his representa-

See below in the section on procedures. 27 IGR 3, 1056 ¼ OGIS 629. See Matthews 1984 and Teixidor 1984. 28 ll. 30–6, §§12–13. All English translations of the Customs Law are from the version in this volume by M. H. Crawford. 29 Aubert 1994, 333–42. The Egyptian material is presented in Sijpesteijn 1987. 26


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tive. Such men were known as uicarii , if the uilicus was himself a slave, or as pragmateutai and pragmateutai and actores .30 Among the more specialized ˆ i pule ˆ i i (gateoccupations we Wnd portitores (collectors), hoi pros te ˆ tai (search keepers), scrutatores , and ereune tai (search oYcers). Accounting and book keeping were handled by Wnancial specialists: tabularii, arkarii, librarii, commentarienses, dispensatores, or cheiristai ( cheiristai (Wnancial clerks) and grammateis . In some cases there may have been one or more armed men: at least in Egypt we Wnd arabotoxotai (policemen, who used a type of bow that was called ‘Arabic’). In addition we would expe expect ct,, parti particu cula larl rlyy in the the larg larger er hous houses es,, pers person onal al slav slaves es ( serui , ˆ thoi and boe thoi ) and in some cases wives and children of the members of staV .31 Such customs houses were real outposts of empire: selfcontained microcosms inhabited by servants of the Roman state.

5. PROCEDURES It is easy to underestimate the sheer amount of work—and paperwork—that must have gone into the collection of customs duties. Inscriptions, literary sources, and legal sources give only a limited impression. The Customs Law clearly states that the process involved two stages: an (oral) declaration, and a written registration. 32 A tax law from Egypt gives us some idea of how these procedures may have worked in practice. A tax farmer could accept the valuation placed by the merchant on his cargo as a basis for paying duty, 33

Weaver 1972, 200–6 on uicarii . 31 See Carlsen 1995, 51 for the suggestion that they would work nearby lands to produce the necessary provisions. For the family relations of uilici and other customs oYcials, see below in the section on funerary practices. It is perfectly clear that customs oYcials owned personal slaves; cf. Dig . 39. 4. 1. 5. For a 5-year-old slave girl who belonged to a group of tax farmers in Apollonia (Cyrenaica), see Robert 1968, 436–9 [¼ OMS 6, 112–16]. 32 Cf. l, 4, §13: ðæïóçøíåßôø ŒÆd I ðïªæÆçÝ óŁø. ïí KðØÇÅôÞófiÅ j . 1. 36, 6 V .:.: K½aí äb j <›> ôåºþíÅò KŒçïæ½ôØóŁBjíÆØ ôe ðºïE ïí 33 P.Oxy › ìðïæïò KŒçïæôØÇÝ ½ôø j ŒÆd Kaí ìbí åæåŁfiB ô½Ø ôåjæïí j n I ðåªæÜłÆôï óôåæÞjóØìïí óôø Kaí äb ìc åjæåŁfiB › ôåºþíÅò ô½cí äÆjðÜíÅí ôfiH Kìðü½æfiø ôïF j KŒçïæôØóìïF Iðïä½üôø j ŒÆd ðÆæa ôHí K½ªºÆâüíôøí j ôa ôÝ ºÅ íÝ ôøóÆí ¥ íÆ ºÅ, ååØæïªæÆç½ß Æí ºÆìâÆjíÝô åN ò ôe ìÝ ºjºïí IóıŒïçÜíôÅôïØ j zóØí. 30

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but if the tax farmer desire that the ship should be unloaded, the merchant shall unload the cargo, and if anything be discovered other than what he had declared, it shall be liable to conWscation. But if nothing else is discovered, the tax farmer shall repay to the merchant the cost of unloading. And they shall receive from those who farm the taxes a written declaration, in order that they may not be liable to false accusations subsequently.

ˆ tai In some cases specialized search o Ycers, scrutatores or ereune tai , ˆ s would unload the cargo or handle a metal siromaste s (probe) to search through loads of grain or other bulk goods. 34 The paperwork must have taken up a lot of time as well. We may form some impression of what must have been contained in the archives of Asia if we turn to the situation in Egypt. 35 Transporters received upon payment a receipt, the size of a credit card, with a more or less standardized text stating the place where the customs was paid, and the name of the duty. Normally they also recorded the name of the transporters, the products over which taxes were paid, their quantity, and the means of transportation, and, Wnally, nally, the date. Most receipts would have clay seals attached to them, stamped with a portrait of the emperor. Large numbers of customs receipts have surv surviv ived ed in the the Egyp Egypti tian an dese desert rts; s; the the foll follow owin ingg text text is a typic typical al example:36 Ounophris who exports a donkey with two (2) artabae of artabae of dates has paid the customs duty of 1% through the gate of Philadelphia. Year 14 of Imperator Caesar Trajan Hadrian Our Lord, Phaophi 24.

It was the job of a symbolarius , a specialist o Ycial, to dispense such declarations, for which the trader would have to pay a small surcharge (symbolon (symbolon ). ). This type of o Ycial was only attested in Egypt, but a symbolarius recently turned up in an epitaph from Ephesus. 37

´ 1899, 180; 1933, 160; 1974, 485. See Aubert 1994, 339. For the Scrutatores: AE ˆ tai ˆ s ereune tai , see Sijpesteijn 1987, 96–7. The siromaste s is mentioned in the Suda (Ó entry ØæïìÜóôÅò óŒåFüò ôØ óØäÅæïFí ºÆâcí îıºß íÅí  åïí ðÆæa ôïE ò ôåºþíÆØò åN ò 478): Ó Øæ  æåıíÆí. 35 Sijpesteijn 1987, esp. 85–90. Cf. Hopkins 1991, 133–4. . G inv. 39850: ôåôåºðþíÅôÆØÞ äØa ðýºÅò 36 Sijpesteijn 1987, 147, no. 137. Cf. Vindob ÖØºÆäåºçß Æò j æ ˇ Á PÁ íþçæØïò KîÜÁ ªðøíÞ ZíïðíÞ çïß Á ½íØÁ ŒÁ ïÁ ò j IæôÜâÆò äýï âÁ  ôïıò Øä j ` æÆØÆÁÁíïÁ F jj ` Á çØ j Œä. Á ÆÁ H Á ½Pôï ŒæÜôïæïò ˚ Æß óÆæïò Ô æÆØÆ Á äæØÆíïF ôïF Œıæß ïı Ö 37 Appendix, no. 5c. 34

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At all the customs stations these payments were registered one by one into large ledgers, ledgers, recording recording all imports imports and exports by tabularii and other specialists. 38 At regular intervals intervals these ledgers were sent to responsible oYcials in regional centres for checking, creating work in the province for hundreds (thousands?) of administrators. The setup may have diV ered ered in detail from customs house to customs house, but we may assume that the daily chores of tax collection in the district of Asia will have been roughly comparable. The loads of pape paperwo rwork rk,, and and the the dema demand ndss in term termss of manp manpow ower er must must have have been similar. Apart from the major customs houses, a network of guard-posts ( phylakai ) and ‘minor guard-posts guard-posts’’ was set up throughout throughout the provprovince. The trader was supposed to register with the nearest o Ycial (ll. 42–5, §17), but the Law also provided for places where no customs oYcial was to be found: 39 If there is neither a collector nor a procurator there according to this lex , to whom one may declare [and with whom one may register before importing, whenever] this is the case, whatever city may be nearest to that place, they are to register with the person holding the highest o Yce in it [as is appropriate according to the lex ]. ].

Other texts also give the impression that the involvement of local e´ lites in the collection of customs duties was not rare. 40 Finally, the staV on a customs post may have included a ‘ X ying squad’ that patrolled the minor roads in the countryside. In western provinces we Wnd ‘circitores’ ; in Egypt eremophylakes would patrol the deserts.41 There is no clear evidence that they were also active in Asia, but a customs o Ycial from Apollonia, who died in Laodicea, where he was buried by his uicarii , was perhaps on patrol. 42 Still, it must have been relatively easy to escape the spying eye of the customs oYcial. A passage in a novel illustrates what might happen. Merchants would try to avoid customs as a matter of course, Sijpesteijn 1987, 85–90. 39 ll. 40–2, §16. ´ 40 AE 1947–1948, 179 is an honori Wc inscription for a tax farmer (tetartones ) of the customs duties, who was also a councillor in Palmyra ( c .ad 160 ) and a councillor who acted as phorologos is on record in Thrace (SEG 32, 676, ad 3). ´ 41 Circitores : AE 1938, 91; 1985, 714; 1989, 334. For Egypt, see Sijpesteijn 1987, 93. 42 See Appendix, nos. 4b and 4c. 38

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and many customers would happily collude. 43 ‘A merchant who had a beautiful woman for sale approached me. Because of the customs oYcial he had anchored his boat outside the city near your property.’ The Customs Law tried to deal with such scams: 44 [Whatever anyone may import by sea,] he is [not] to divert the ship or indeed to divert whatever he may unload or discharge onto land to other places for the sake of [evasion of telos of telos ; and if] anyone acts [in contravention of these provisions] the lex is to be valid on the same basis as if he was carrying something unregistered.

The customs oYcials, however, had to catch the perpetrator Wrst, and many many traveller travellerss would simply have taken their chances. chances. The customs oYcers for their part may well have decided that it was easier (and more pro Wtable) to concentrate on the traders who did register, and see how much they could squeeze out of them within—or just beyond—the limits set by the law. law. There were various points that oV ered ered the tax oYcials some leeway. The trader had to supply supply an estimate estimate of the value of his cargo, but it was the tax farmer who ultimately put a value on all goods (ll. 45–6, §18), and he would not have been likely to settle on too low a level. Another strategy might have been to levy a tax on goods for which customs had already been paid. The Customs Law prohibits this (ll. 16–20, §6), but the traveller would have had to be able to prove that he had paid his taxes Wrst. It is easy to imagine what would have happened if a trader lost his symbolon , or when the customs o Ycial accused him of carrying more goods than he had declared. Disagreement could, of course, also arise on the interpretation of exemptions. The very length of the section on exemptions in the Customs Law suggests that this was a major source of contention (ll. (ll. 58 58–6 –68, 8, §§25 §§25–7 –7). ). A scho school ol text text prov provid ides es us wi with th an amus amusin ingg dil dilemma emma that could arise in such circumstances. What to do with a Roman matrona , who had a string string of of pearls pearls hidd hidden en on her her bosom? bosom? Tax farmer farmerss were not allowed to search Roman women, but the temptation to investigate nonetheless must have been strong.45 Other exemptions Char. Chaer. and Call . 2. 1. 3 (cf. 1. 13): ðæïóBºŁÝ ìïß ôØò ìðïæïò ðØðæÜóŒøí ªıíÆEŒÆ ŒÆººß óôÅí äØa äb ôïfò ôå ºþíÆò  îø ôBò ðü ºåøò uæìØóå ô cí í ÆFí ð ºÅóßïí ôHí óHí åøæß øí. 44 ll. 15–16, §5. 45 [Quint.] Decl . 359. 43

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could also give rise to conXicts. How many of the slaves or other goods of a traveller were really for private use? Who was to say what was imported to deal with threats from enemies? How far did the exemptio tion for for good goodss brou brough ghtt to the the Seba Sebassteia teia at Perga ergamo mon n exte extend nd (ll. (ll. 12 128– 8–33 33,, §57)? Many uncertainties or ambiguities of this kind had to be confronted nted on a dail dailyy bas asis is.. It may may be doub doubte ted d that that all all case casess wer were solv olved in a manner favourable to the traders or travellers.

6 . C O N T R O L A N D C O L L US US I O N The eager tax collector may, of course, have been driven by a sense of duty, or civic-mindedness, but, as he was working on a percentage basis, we cannot exclude that he will have kept his own Wnancial interest Wrmly in mind. Personal corruption may thus easily have crept in. A text from Egypt shows that traders in a hurry were occa occasi sion onal ally ly wi will llin ingg to pay pay ba baks kshe hees esh h in orde orderr to spee speed d up the the procedures.46 [So-and-so] prefect of Egypt says: I am informed that the tax farmers have employed exceedingly clever devices against those who are passing though the country and that they are, in addition, demanding what is not owing to them and are detaining those who are in urgent haste, in order that some may buy from them a more speedy departure. I, therefore, command them to desis desistt from from such such greed greedine iness ss . . .

The tax system was clearly open to abuse, which to the individuals involved may well have been one of the attractions of buying the lease in the Wrst place. The state o V ered ered some protection against the worst abus ab uses es,, but but limi limite ted d itse itself lf mainl mainlyy to gran grantin tingg exem exempt ptio ion n to thos thosee categories of people who really mattered. Others may have expected to have to fend for themselves. A well-timed backhander may have done the trick. P.Princ . 2, 20 with Reinmuth 1936: ðÆæåïò j `Nª ýðôïı ºÝ ªåØ j ŒÆôÅåïFìÆØ ôïfò ôåºþíÆò j äåØíHò óïÁ çÁß óÁ ÆóŁÆØ ôïE ò ä ØåÁ æjåïÁ ìÁ Ý Á íïØò ŒÆd IðÆØôåE í ôÁ a j ìÁ cÁ OçåØºüìåíÆ ÆP ôïE ò Kðd ðºåE j½ïí ŒÁ ÆÁ Ád ŒæÆôåE í ôïfò KðåØªïìÝíïıò j ½¥ íÆ ŒÆd ôe ôÜåØïí IðïåøæåE í ôØjíbò KÁ îøíÞóøíôÆØ ðÆæÆªªÝ ºjºø ½äb ïs í ÆPôïE ò ðÆýóÆóŁÆØ ôBò j ½ôïØÆýôÅò ðº½åïíåîß Æò ðÁ ÆÁÁíôÁ ½ÆåfiB. 46

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It should be recognized, however, that traders and other travellers were not the only ones to su V er er from corruption of tax oYcials. An inscription from Aphrodisias shows that free cities were sometimes subject to illegal customs duties, which could only be removed by appeal to the emperor. 47 A second-century text from Egypt shows that the Roman state could itself fall victim to the malpractices of its functionaries. The papyrus is a letter by a whistle-blower, who had worked as a guard in a customs house, and who had discovered that the tax farmer had falsi Wed the oYcial records.48 To his highness the epistrategos Julius ulius Petro Petronia nianus nus from from Pabou Pabouss son of Stotoe¨tis son of Panomieus, a priest of the village of Soknopaiou Nesos in the the divis divisio ion n of Hera Herakl klei eide dess of the the Arsi Arsino noı¨ıte no nome me,, Arab Arab arch archer er at the the customs house of the said Soknopaiou Nesos. While not seeking an occasion of accusation, but because I saw the treasury being defrauded by Polydeukes, who contrary to the prohibition has now for four years been in charge of the afore aforesai said d customscustoms-hou house, se, and by Harpaga Harpagathe thes, s, son of Er . . . , I presen presented ted to the overseers of the nomarchy a copy of Harpagathes’ autograph returns in my possession of the imports and exports passing through the customshouse, requesting that an examination of them should be held in order to determine whether the taxes upon these had been added to the treasury account. Polydeukes having discovered this attacked me with other persons, whose names I do not know and belaboured me with many blows, and not satisWed with this set upon me Heraklas, one of the guards of the domains, and taking me up by force they together carried me to the counting-house of the superintendent of the domains and caused me to be scourged in order to make me give up the register of Harpagathes. Reynolds, Aphrodisias no. 15. øØ — åô ŒæÆô½ß óôfiø KðØóôæÆôÞªfiø j ðÆæa 2, 77: Éï 48 P.Amh . É ïıºß øØ åôæøíØÆífiH ôHØ ŒæÆ —Æ âïFô½ïò ôïF ÓôïôïÞôåøò —ÆíïìØÝ øò j ƒ åæÝ øò Iðe ŒþìÅò ½Ó ïŒíïðÆß ïı ˝ Þóï Þóïı ôBò j ˙æÆŒºåßäïı ìåæßäïò ½ôïF Úæó½Øíïßôïı íïìïF ÚæÆâïjôïîüôï ı ðýºÅ½ò ôïò ÆPôBò Óï ŒíïðÆß ïı ˝ Þóï Þóïı j [.].[....]Áí ŒÆôÅªïæ ½. . . Iººa ›æHí ôeí çß óŒïí j ðåæØªæÆçüìåíïí ðe — ïºıäåýŒïıò ôåôæÆåôåE j XäÅ åæüíøØ ðÆæa ôa IðåØæÅìÝí Æ KðØôÅæïFíjôïò ôcí `æðÆªÜŁ½ïı ôïFÁ ¯æ ïÁ ½ ôÁ ÆÁ Œïò KðÝä øŒÆ j ô½ïE ò ôBò ðæïŒåØìÝí Åí ðýºÅí ŒÆd ðe j ½`æ `æðÆªÜŁïı N äØ½ïªæÜçøí j ½íïìÆæåß Æò KðØôÅæÅôÆ½E ò Iíôß ½ªæÆjçïí zí år å½ïí ôïF `æ Ýí ôøí IîØÁ HÁ Áí ôcí KîÝô ÆóØí IíÆªæÆçß øí ôHí äØa ôBò ðýºÅò åN óÆåŁÝíôøí j ½ŒÆd KîÆåŁ½Ýíô ÆPÁ ½ôHí j ª½åÁíÝóÁ ½ŁÆØ åN ò ôe KÁ ðÁ ½ØªÁíHíÆØ åN ðæïóåôÁ Ý ºÅ ôfiH ŒıæØ Œı æØÆŒ ÆŒHØ HØ Á ½ŁÅ j ÆPôHí ôÜ ôÝ ºÅ ºüªøØ ŒÆd j KðØªíïfò › — ïºıäå½ýŒÅò KðåºŁþí ìïØ j ìåŁ ôÝ æø æøí zí ôa O íüìÆôÆ Iª íïH ˙æÆ ½ŒºAí ô ØíÆ ðºåßó åß óÁ ½ôÆ½ØÁò j ðºÅªÆE ò ìåfiMŒß óÆôï ŒÆd ìc IæŒåóŁå½dò j KðÞ½íåªŒÝ ìïØ ˙æÆ ìÆåÆØæïjçüæøí ïPóØÆŒHí ŒÆd IìçüôåæïØ âß fiÆ j âÆó½ôÜîÆíôÝò ìå åN óÞíå óÞíåªŒÆí åN ò ôe ºïª½ØóôÞæØïí j ôïF KðØôæüðïı ôHí ïPóØHí ŒÆd Kðïß ÅóÜí ìå j ½ Œ½  ÆÁ ØÁïí ZíôÆ ìÆóôØªïFóŁÆØ åN ò ôe IíÆäHj½íÆß  ìÁ å Æ½PôïE ò ôe ôïF ½<æðÆªÜŁïı IíÆªæÜçØïí. 47

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Fortunately for Pabous, the matter came to the attention of his superiors, and he was allowed to make a formal complaint. It may be doubted, however, that under similar circumstances many of his colleagues would have shown the same disinterested courage. There was clearly some need to supervise the customs oYcials. Developments in the way that the taxes were leased out will have made this more urgent. From the reign of Augustus the payment of a lump sum up-front was apparently replaced by a percentage system, presumably because the contractors would have found it diYcult to make secure secure estimates estimates of the levels of traYc, and of potentia potentiall incom income. e.49 However, as this would increase the number of opportunities to defraud the state, imperial procurators (with their own uilici and uilici and uicarii ) were made responsible for supervising the tax collectors. Gradually an imper imperia iall ‘bur ‘burea eaucr ucrac acy’ y’se seem emss to have have grow grown n up alon alongs gsid idee the the tax tax syst system em proper, but it is not always easy to distinguish between the two, as the job titles were the same, and as their responsibilities partly overlapped. The situation got even more complex in those provinces, where between the reigns of Commodus and Severus, the same procurators began to be responsible for collection and for supervision.50 Such close coexistence would not seem the best recipe for a strict and impartial supervision of the tax collectors’ practices. It is interesting to see that tax collectors also seem to have maintained excellent excellent relations relations with those other representa representatives tives of Roman Roman power: the military. In some cases customs o Ycials and soldiers appe appear ar to hav have been been clos closee frie friend nds, s, as in Mogun Mogunti tiac acum um (Mai (Mainz nz), ), wher wheree a uilicus and a bene W ciarius ciarius consular consularis is (a memb member er of the the military police) set up a joint dedication. 51 The seating seating inscription inscriptionss from the amphitheatre of Aquincum (Budapest) show a uilicus with uilicus with a reserved place between a karcerarius legionis (milit legionis (military ary prison prison oYcer) and a veteran.52 They may have been part of the Roman equivalent of an ‘expat community’, but to the other spectators they may well have represented the ugly face of Roman imperial power. The evidence for soldiers abusing their position is even stronger than that for tax collectors. Apuleius tells the tale of a centurion who brutally knocks a market gardener o V his ass.53 A number of recently 49 51

Aubert 1994, 329–30 and Brunt 1990, 381–3. CIL 13, 18118. 52 CIL 3, 10493d.

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published inscriptions conWrm that the picture was realistic. 54 For us it is sometimes hard to see what is going on, and who exactly was invo involve lved. d. A fragme fragmenta ntary ry docume document nt from from Cibyra, Cibyra, conce concerne rned d with illegal and violent exactions from peasants, may have involved soldiers. A recent interpretation, however, identiWes a number of tabularii in the the text text,, whic which h may may poin pointt the the Wnger nger rath rather er in the the direction of customs oYcers.55 The Digest rec Digest recogn ognize izess that that the tax tax system system was corru corrupt, pt, but but taking taking the the approach of most large organizations, the Roman state would seem to have have put the the blam blamee sq squa uare rely ly on rela relati tive vely ly lowlow-ra rank nking ing indiv individu idual al oYcials.56 Nobody is unaware of the extent of the audacity and insolence of cliques of tax farmers. This is the reason why the praetor promulgated this edict to contr control ol their their audaci audacity ty.. Where Where a tax farmer farmer’’s familia is alle allege ged d to have have committed theft or has caused wrongful injury, if the persons whom the matter in hand will concern are not brought before me, I will grant a iudicium without possibility of noxal surrender against the owner. It should be understood that in this context, the title ‘familia’ covers the tax farmer’s slaves. However, if somebody else’s slave is serving as a slave of a tax farmer in good faith he is included as well.

The oYcial line, then, was that such practices were to stop, but they may have been unavoidable. The creativity of the tax farmers was probably in Wnite, and the more audacious among them must have been able to amass considerable personal fortunes. I suspect that the corrupt tax collector is rather representative of how the system worked in practice. Peculation may well have outstripped peculium See for example SEG 38, 1244: a letter of Pertinax concerning molestation of civilians from Tabala, and 37, 1186, from Takina: a letter by Caracalla concerning the bad behaviour of soldiers. 55 Milner 1998, no. 112. Recently new readings of the text were suggested by Professor G. Souris of the University of Thessaloniki at a seminar in Cambridge, and by Dr T. Corsten (pers. comm.), who identi Wed a ‘tabul[arius]’ and his adiutores in the text. The term ‘tabularius’ makes it possible, but by no means proves that the exactions were made by customs oYcials. 56 Dig . 39. 4. 12: Quantae audaciae, quantae temeritatis sint publicanorum factiones, nemo est, qui nesciat. idcirco praetor ad compescendam eorum audaciam hoc edictum proposuit: ‘Quod familia publicanorum furtum fecisse dicetur, item si damnum iniuria fecerit et id ad quos ea res pertinet non exhibetur: in dominum sine noxae deditione deditione iudicium iudicium dabo. dabo. Familiae Familiae autem appellatione appellatione hic seruilem seruilem familiam familiam contineri contineri sciendum est. Sed et si bona W de de publicano alienus seruus seruit, aeque continebitur .’ 54


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as a source of income and power of the uilici and uilici and uicarii involved uicarii involved in tax collection. But even when they were not personally corrupt, the fact fact that that the the tax tax farm farmer erss wo work rked ed on comm commis issi sion on can can on only ly hav have increased their zeal to tax whatever they could lay their hands on, thus raising state revenue. This may well have dampened o Ycial willingness to investigate anything but the worst excesses too deeply.

7. THE SELF-PRES ENTA ENT ATION OF THE TAX TAX FARMERS F ARMERS At this point we should perhaps shift our perspective, and investigate whether we can say anything on the self-perception of the tax farmers, particularly of those in the lower ranks. The epigraphic documents set up by these men, mainly epitaphs and other inscriptions, were naturally also driven by ideology. Funerary and honori Wc inscript scription ionss are best best seen seen as (joint) (joint) proje projects cts of self-r self-repr eprese esenta ntatio tion, n, involving usually two parties: the deceased or honorands and the dedicants of the inscription. Messages sent out by mortuary display were varied, but frequently they referred to social status, wealth, and identity. An inscribed epitaph was a deliberate and enduring commemoration of whatever features were seen as the dead person’ person’s most signiWcant characteristics, the features that de Wned his social identity. We should be careful, though: epitaphs may not provide an unproblematic guide to the actual status of individuals during life, but were more likely a re Xection of how people chose to represent themselves. What those inscriptions do is not just to identify a particular individual, but to place this person in a particular social context. These monuments, then, oV er er a useful perspective on the collective selfperception and social aspirations of a particular class of men. 57

8. THE DEATH OF A TAX FARMER A few of the inscriptions commemorating the Asian tax farmers are simple epitaphs. It is worth considering what such monuments have 57

I have discussed these issues in van Nijf 1997, 27 and 34–8.

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to tell us beyond the identi Wcation of the deceased. In the Wrst place it should be remembered that setting up a funerary inscription, even a modest one, was staking out a claim to moderate wealth and respectability. The very poor never received an individually marked grave. The epitaphs of Roman tax collectors contributed to establishing them as a relatively prosperous group. 58 Moreover, it is clear that most funerary inscriptions identi Wed customs oYcials primarily on the basis of their occupation. In this respect they resembled other so-called banausic occupations, such as those of craftsmen and traders. It is important to realize the social implications of this practice, as identiWcation by job-title represents a break with earlier Greek practice. I have argued elsewhere that this practice gave craftsmen and traders a chance to exploit their occupational titles as emblems of distinction that they could not acquire by political activities.59 Low-ranking customs oYcials may well have employed similar social strategies in their epigraphic self-representation. Often slaves or free freedm dmen en,, they they may may have have deri derivved a sens sensee of stat status us,, or impo import rtan ancce, from from their connection with the customs service in a way that seems to go beyond simple pride in one’s job. It may be suggested that they valued particularly highly the link it provided with the ultimate source of prestige, prestige, the Roman Roman state. state. It is striking, striking, for example, example, that some some oYcials chose chose to use Latin (or Latin and Greek) for their epitaph, even though they might have been more familiar with Greek. Among the examples from Asia sia we Wnd: nd: Isoc Isochr hrys ysus us and and Bell Bellic icus us in Amor Amoriu ium, m,60 Felix elix and and the the anonymous uilicus from uilicus from Miletus,61 Leo from Apollonia,62 Agathonicus and Amerimnus from Cibyra,63 and Ias and Quintus in Ephesus (the latter even coined a new Latin word, ‘teloniarius’ , to make his point).64 Even though the use of Latin was not exceptional in Roman Asia, a Latin epitaph would have stood out suYciently to mark the Roman identity of the deceased.65 Patterson 1992, 17. Cf. Gordon et al . 1993, 155: ‘Every funerary epitaph makes reference, among other things, to the fact that other men could not a V ord ord one.’ 59 Van Nijf 1997, 31–69. 60 Appendix no. 3. 61 Appendix nos. 9a–d. 62 Appendix no. 4b. 63 Appendix nos. 8a and 8b. 64 Appendix nos. 5d and 5f. 65 For a convenient survey of bilingual inscriptions from Asia Minor see now Kearsley and Evans 2001. 58


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A second social context to which funerary inscriptions draw attention tention is the family family proper proper.. There might be a potential potential conXict, as a few tax oYcials may have privileged their relations with the familia over those with their blood relatives, and chose to be buried in a collective tomb belonging to the familia of a societas or individual conductor . An example of a locus sepulturae of sepulturae of oYcials has been found in Italy.66 A number of Asian customs o Ycials were likewise buried by their colleagues.67 We cannot exclude that this was often a conscious choice, as it was in the case of professional associations, more than necessity. However, more often than not, epitaphs of tax collectors focused on their family relations. The Ephesian teloniarius Quintus teloniarius Quintus buried his own wife,68 and a scrutator of the statio statio Bilachensi Bilachensis s and his wife buried their daughter.69 Another uilicus , Bargathus, was buried by his wife, Hilara.70 Sentimental reasons may not have been the only ones to play a part here. As we saw above, many of the uilici and uilici and other employees of the customs service were slaves. In their case the very idea of maintaining family connections was not unproblematic, as the family ties of slaves did not enjoy the same legal status as those of free persons. Contubernium took the place of marriage, and o Ycially slav slaves es coul could d no nott appo appoin intt thei theirr chil childr dren en as heir heirss (or (or at leas leastt no nott without the permission of their master). It is not surprising, then, that the e´ lite among the slaves would choose family life as an area particularly suited for negotiating and demonstrating their superior status.71 Imperial slaves for example would often be ‘upwardly nubile’. Slaves in the customs’ service were no exception. Quite a few slave oYcials seem to have had freed or freeborn wives of whom they were deservedly proud.72

ILS 1870 from Verona, which was a locus sepulturae of a familia involved in the collection of the uicesima libertatis . 67 Appendix nos. 3, 4b, perhaps 9a. The father and son team from Cibyra managed to have it both ways, nos. 8a and 8b. 68 Appendix no. 5g. ´ 69 AE 1974, 485. ´ 70 AE 1975, 202. 71 Weaver 1972, 170–95. 72 Cf. ILS 1566, an epitaph set up by Pedia Epictesis for her husband Placidus, an imperial slave who worked as a customs o Ycial in Gaul. 66

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A similar e V ect ect of self-promotion was achieved by usurping another right of free citizens that slaves formally lacked: to make a legally valid will. This is what seems to have happened with a slave uilicus in Mile Miletu tuss who who ment mentio ions ns ‘hei ‘heirs rs’’ in his his epit epitap aph, h, if Peter eter Herrmann’s reconstruction of the inscription, of which only fragments survive, is correct.73 We are here clearly dealing with a slave whose (self-)perceived utility in the customs service was a source for his social ambitions. The families of such slaves also stood to bene Wt: a daughter of a uilicus was uilicus was proud enough of her father’s connections with the tax system for her to record his occupation on her own epitaph. It is indicative of the kind of social world in which she was moving that she was married to a kapelos , a trader.74 As we saw above, the collection of customs duties gave rise to a considerable bureaucratic organization, which naturally produced a need for increasing diV erentiation erentiation among the diV erent erent grades of the posts.75 We cannot reconstruct a precise career path for the ambitious tax collector: but we know that several tax-collecting slaves were prou proud d enou enough gh to hav have thei theirr pseu pseudo do-c -cur ursu suss reco recorrded ded on ston stone. e. Eutyches, a uicarius in uicarius in Noricum, became a contrascriptor at contrascriptor at a diV erent erent station.76 An imperial slave called Felix was a uilicus in one station, but he reminded the reader that he had been promoted from the job of uicarius at another station.77 Such behaviour should be seen as a clear clear case case of ‘imitatio ‘imitatio domini ’, domini ’, and was typical of a socially mobile and increasin increasingly gly self-con self-conWdent dent clas classs of peo peopl ple, e, who who were were full fullyy awa aware re of the the impact of their daily activities on life in the provinces. 78 The funerary record of the Roman customs o Ycials, then, presents a somewhat diV eren erentt pictu picture re from from that that aris arisin ingg from from the the lite litera rary ry sources: we seem to be confronted with a prosperous and proud group who were willing to exploit their institutional links (the source of their success) as well as their rise in the world and their family connections in their epigraphic self-fashioning. Milet 6. 2, 667. Herrmann suggests that the heredes may have inherited from a possibly freeborn wife, whom he suspects in l. 4. For my purposes this does not matter much. See appendix no. 9d. 74 Naour 1976, no. 29. 75 As also happened among the members of the Familia Caesaris , cf. Weaver 1972, 18, which of course partly overlapped with the customs service. 76 ILS 1857. 77 ILS 1860. 78 Pleket 1971, 245. 73


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9 . A N H ON O N O U R A BL B L E JO JO B The crux in dealing with the (presumed) ambitions as expressed through funerary inscriptions is of course to Wnd out how such aspi as pira rati tion onss were were rece receiv ived ed by so soci ciety ety.. Was it poss possib ible le for for the the tax tax collectors, slaves and freedmen included, to achieve some sort of social respectability? respectability? It has been suggested that tax collectors were not natural candidates for laudatory decrees and honori Wc statues, but the situation may not have been so simple. 79 Tax collectors must have had an ambiguous social status. On the one hand their legal status as slaves or freedmen classi Wed them in theory below ordinary Roman citizens; on the other hand, their function in the tax system gave them power and this must have a V ected ected their standing in society. The resulting ‘status dissonance’ has been identi Wed as a major force behind the incessant epigraphic self-representation of other slaves and freedmen in imperial service. 80 Roman senators could well a V ord ord to look down upon these attempts at achieving social respectability. From the perspective of the ordinary provincial, however, the situation may well have seemed di V erent. erent. Tax collection was an important mediating institution between the provincials and the centre in Rome. I would rather expect that, just as with other mediators and power brokers, tax collectors and tax o Ycials were natural candidates for receiving honoriWc inscriptions. It is a diV erent erent matter that not all inscriptions discussed explicitly the exact nature of benefactions granted by the tax collector. The honoriWc language of inscriptions often served to present certain relationships in socially acceptable terms. Inscriptions were not always designed to be speci Wc: euphemism and double-speak were part and parcel of the honori Wc vocabulary. vocabulary.81 This does not make our job any easier, however: inscriptions that mention tax collectors are not that uncommon, as we shall see, but they do not always refer to what exactly the collectors had done. A series of inscriptions from Chios is Brunt 1990, 388: ‘We can well understand that they were not often the subjects of laudatory decrees. The collection of taxes did not win men’s hearts. Nor was it anything to boast of.’ 80 Weaver 1972. 81 See van Nijf 1997, ch. 2 for a fuller discussion. 79

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illustrative of the style. Here we Wnd honoriWc monuments set up by groups of ferrymen who operated between Chios and Erythrae for xenophylakes —customs —customs oYcials—on the island. Most inscriptions ran something like this: 82 The ferrymen to Erythrae award a crown to the customs o Ycials who were in oYce in the year of Decimus: Aphrodisius, son of Serapion, Dionysius, son of Seleucus, Parasius, son of Heraiscus, for their virtuous attitude (arete ( arete ) towards them.

It would would seem that that each team of oYcials received received a fresh inscription. inscription. Other similar inscriptions for other oYcials: archontes , agoranomoi , and so on, suggest that it was impossible to do business on Chios without the erection of an honoriWc monument. Some tax oYcials of the Roman Empire seem to have followed the same route. An inscription for Iulius Capito, conductor publici portorii Illyrici et ripae Thraciae , records an impressive range of honours from many of the cities in his tax district. These included honoriWc decrees, ornamenta decurionalia , honorary councillorships, appointments of patronage, and honoriWc statues. The honours were a reward for unspeciWed merita , the nature of which may only be surmised. Had he taxed only what was legal? Had he bent the rules a bit, and turned a blind eye? Or perhaps he had behaved very badly indeed, and were the honours designed to prevent worse?83 Public honoriWc inscriptions may well have presented the respectable face of private corruption. If we turn our attention to the district of Asia, we Wnd a number of tax collectors who may Wt this mould. The most famous one is perhaps T. Flavius Sabinus, the father of Vespasian, who was a tax farmer in the province of Asia. Suetonius records that he had received a dedi dedica cati tion on ŒÆºHò ôåºøíÞóÆíôØ: for having been a good tax farmer.84 Another example from Asia is the Ephesian M. Aurelius Mindius Mattidianus Pollio, who was the recipient of two honori Wc inscriptions (by the look of it two versions of the same honours) in ¯æ ýŁæÆò óôåçÆj çÆjíïFóØ ôïfò îåíïçýjºÆŒÆò ôïfò IK 1, 74. ïƒ ðïæŁìåýïíôåò j åN ò ¯æ ¼æîÆíôÆò j Kí ôHØ Kðd ˜Ý Œìïı KíØjÆıôHØ ÚçæïäßóØïí Ó ÆæÆj ÆæÆjðß øíïò ˜ØïíýóØïí Óå jºåýŒïı —ÆæÜóØïí ˙æÆj ˙æÆjß óŒïı IæåôBò íåŒåí j ôÁ Bò åN ò  Æôïýò. The title is unique. These oYcials were ‘in charge of foreigners’. I suppose that this means that they were some sort of customs oYcials. See also van Nijf 1997, 92–3 for discussion and further references. 83 ILS 1465. 84 On this man, see Levick 1999, 4–7. 82

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his home town. The honours were apparently in recognition of a sple splend ndid id care career; er; his his tax tax farm farmin ingg is menti mention oned ed on only ly in pass passin ing. g.85 L. Boionius Pansa is another case: his is not formally an honori Wc inscription, but a so-called agoranomos inscription agoranomos inscription which referred to other activities.86 As the agoranomia was not a particularly highranking function, he may well have chosen to be commemorated for his higher status as tax o Ycial. With the case of Crispinus we reach another aspect: the tax collector as civic benefactor. In his case we have two (incomplete) honoriWc inscriptions.87 One other text shows that he had presented himself as a (moderate) benefactor of Ephesus, by the dedication of a statue of Daidalos and Ikaros to Artemis and Trajan in the gymnasium near the harbour (an obvious location for a customs oYcial to work out). It is perhaps not so surprising that relatively high-ranking o Ycials would seek and get this type of social recognition, but it is an indication of the importance of their function, and of the pro Wts of tax collecting, that individuals lower down in the bureaucracy were able to do the same. I have suggested above that the idea of being a small cog in a large institution may have fostered a sense of selfimportance and pride in belonging to the tax-gathering machine. It also seems to have provided some with the ambition and the funds to do more. A striking illustration of the scale of the ambitions of a lower-ranking tax farmer is perhaps the case of Potens, who was active in Iasos during the reign of Claudius. I write ‘perhaps’, because his association with the tax farming business is not certain. 88 Most scholars seem to accept that he was a well-to-do slave involved in tax collection in the city. He must have done very well, however, as he ˆ s te ˆ s poleo ˆ s (benefactor received received public praise for his role as a euergete s (benefactor of the city). Various inscriptions record his acts of generosity: including building activities, a gift of 100,000 denarii , an expensive silver phiale o phiale oV ered ered to Isis and Sarapis, and the remittance of interest on a loan. Moreover, he seems to have been the founder of a local ‘dynasty’, as honori Wc and funerary texts refer to several members of Appendix no. 5b. Append ndix ix no no.. 5c. 5c. See See Garn Garnse seyy and and van van Nijf Nijf 19 1998 98,, for for a disc discus ussi sion on of the the 86 Appe agoranomos inscriptions. 87 Appendix no. 5a. 88 Appendix no. 7d. 85

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his family, who seem to have been absorbed into the local e´ lite. Such social mobility is rare, however. Most uilici and other tax oYcials were were less less ambi ambiti tiou ous: s: the the euer euerge geti tism sm of the the cust custom omss oYcial cial wa wass usually directed towards more limited contexts such as cult associations, or their own organization. Kalok Kalokair airos os and Eutych Eutyches, es, slave slave agents agents of Mindius Mindius Pollio ollio,, were were probably more representative of their kind. 89 They were responsible for restoration restoration works to the customs house, the telonion, and for the gilding of an Aphrodite statue. This act of allegiance to their organization is not unparalleled in the world of the tax farmers, and several low-ranking oYcials are on record who chose the customs house as the focus of small-scale euergetism. An imperial slave, who was a uilicus in Aquil quilei eia, a, had had rest restor ored ed and and embe embell llis ishe hed d the the stationes (oYces) on either side of the emporium. 90 And an African inscription records that a slave uicarius involved in tax collection restored and enlarged the telonion , thus displaying displaying his loyalty loyalty to the system. system.91 It should be noted that the pragmateutai of pragmateutai of Mindius, who were the benefactors of the telonion , felt it necessary to state their allegiance to their principal, whose career was recorded in some detail, focusing on functions that were relevant to his tax connections. Their own status was apparently enhanced by reference to their boss, and their own self-representation was bound up with the representation of his status. This logic also lies behind honori Wc inscriptions or dedications that were set up by low-ranking tax o Ycials to their superiors. 92 The eV ect ect would be even more pronounced when the dedicant was able to appeal to a higher authority still. Several inscriptions set up by tax farmers were directly or obliquely dedicated to the emperor. An inscription from Africa manages to maximize the number of claims to be loyal to the system. A uilicus records that he had restored a dedication to Venus Augusta that had originally been set up by the promagistri of his portorium. portorium.93 It is clear that monuments such as these could could be read from two perspectives. perspectives. On the one hand they are a declaration of individual loyalty to the system. This might have been a useful move to obtain promotion, but it also brought status to the individuals concerned. 89 91

Appendix nos. 6a and 6b. ´ ILS 1654. 92 AE 1981, 24.

90

´ 1934, 234. AE ´ 93 AE 1923, 22.


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However, there was another eV ect: ect: these monuments and their insc inscri ript ptio ions ns were were also also a remi remind nder er—t —to o the prov provin inci cial als— s—th that at the the presence of tax men (like that of soldiers) was somehow sanctioned by the emperor. Customs o Ycials, who were on a daily basis handling documents in the emperor’s name, and who were wielding stamps with the imperial image as a symbol of their petty power, may have used the monuments as a more ostentatious symbolic reference to the larger structures of power of which they were part. These inscriptions, then, have the same eV ect ect as the funerary texts mentioned earlier, as they located the honorand clearly in the context of the ultimate source of status: the Roman state.

10. CONCLUSION I began this paper with the negative image of tax farmers and their personnel that arises from the literary sources. It is clear that members of the e´ lite were at pains to dissociate themselves as much as possible from such embarrassing activities. From their perspective the men who stopped the carts, searched the ships, and collected the money were of little or no account. Yet the Roman state clearly depended on the revenues that these men generated, and they are well worth our attention. I have tried to make their activities a bit more more visible visible,, using using a select selection ion of epigra epigraphi phical cal and papyro papyrolog logica icall sources, which represent, however, only a tip of the iceberg. We have gained, I hope, a small taste of the complexities of the organization, and of the daily activities, of the collectors and administrators. We have also seen that tax farmers may have made their presence felt locally: traders and travellers without su Ycient protection were squeezed hard, which would have raised the prices of consumer goods, and made travelling a nuisance. The state may have tried to stop sharp practices, but the Wnancial rewards for the tax farmers may have simply been too great. The evidence suggests that exercise exercise of petty power, power, and the proWts resulting from it, were major factors in their self-esteem. In their funera funerary ry epigra epigraph phyy tax farmer farmerss repres represent ented ed themse themselve lvess as wo worth rthy y

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members of society, as family men and reliable o Ycials. The image arisin arisingg from from their their honori honoriWc inscr inscrip ipti tion onss wo work rkss over over very very simi simila larr themes, and manages to make even more of their loyalty to the system. Despite the prejudices of their e´ lite bosses, and the grudges of their ‘customers’ in the provinces, tax farmers seem to have been a clea clearl rlyy iden identi tiWab able le,, artic articul ulat ate, e, and and self self-c -con onWdent dent grou group: p: no nott afraid to use their position as a source of status and social mobility. The collection of taxes and customs dues was part of the day-to-day reality of life in the Roman provinces. The individuals who carried out these tasks clearly stood out in their own eyes and, judging by the honoriWc monuments they received, in the eyes of their contemporaries. In this light they were not only instrumental to the success of the Roman empire, but they were also among its main beneWciaries.

Appendix List of the known individuals connected with tax farming in the Province of Asia

General 1. P. Terentius Terentius (1 bc) Job title: promagister of promagister of the portoria in portoria in Asia. Source: Cic. ad Att . 11. 10. 1. 2. T. Flavius Sabinus (father of Vespasian) Vespasian) Job title: publicanus / publicanus / ôåºþíÅò Source: Suet. Vesp . 1. 2. publicum quadragesimae in Asia egit manebantque imagines a ciuitatibus ei positae sub hoc titulo ŒÆºHò ôåºøíÞóÆíôØ.

Amorium 3. Isochrysus Isochrysus Job title: (seruus) uilicus . ´ 1988, 1031. Source: AE His name seems to suggest that he was a slave; the job title ‘seruus ‘seruus uilicus ’ is very common.


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Apollonia (Pisidia) 4a. T. Flavius Asclepas Asclepas (1/2 (1/2 ad) ðß ôæïðïò. Job title: (procurator) / Kðßô Source: MAMA 4, 113. He was based in Apollonia. He is apparently a freedman, as he does not list a career, but Brunt 1990, 408 suggests that he may have been a knight of Flavian or any later date. 4b. Leo (imp.) (imp.) Job title: (seruus) uilicus . Source: IK 49, IK 49, 102. The inscription does not state that he was a slave, but this is implied in the fact that the inscription was set up by his uicarii . The inscription was found in Laodicea on the Lycus. 4c. Anonymi Anonymi (imp.) (imp.) Job title: uicarii . Source: IK 49, IK 49, 102. See previous item.

Ephesus 5a. Aulus Aulus .[..]cius .[..]cius Auli f. Palatina Palatina Crispinus (1/2 ad, Trajanic) Job title: promagister duum publicorum XXXX portuum Asiae IIII / IæåþíÅò ôåóóÆæÆŒïóôBò ºØìÝí øí Úóß Æò ä . Source: IK 17.1, IK 17.1, 3045; IK 12, IK 12, 517 þ 517a (cf. IK 59, IK 59, 158). This This indi indivi vidu dual al cann cannot ot be name named d wi with th cert certai aint ntyy. The The edit editor orss of IK propose A. A[ni]cius Crispinus, whereas W. Eck (Eck 1997, 113–14) suggests ˆ nes/promagister A. L[ar L[ar]c ]ciu iuss A. f. Pal. al. Cris Crispi pinu nus. s. He wa wass archo which h nes/promagister , whic implies that he was the acting representative of a consortium that had contract contracted ed the portorium in Asia, and the uicesima uicesima libertatis libertatis in a range of provinces. 

5b. M. Aurelius Aurelius Mindius Mattidianos Mattidianos Pollio Pollio Job title: (promagister) / IæåþíÅò ì0 ºØìÝí øí Úóß Æò Source: IK 13, IK 13, 627; IK 17.1, IK 17.1, 3056; OGIS 525. OGIS 525. He is usually seen as a promagister , but Brunt 1990, 407, suggests that Mindius Pollio could not have been a promagister of a societas , because he was too busy with his other—oYcial—jobs. cial—jobs. Brunt may underestim underestimate, ate, however, the potential of the dependent labour force. Mindius will have

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handled his business interests through his trusted business agents, such as Kalokairos and Eutyches (see below 6a, b). 5c. Lucius Boionius Boionius Pansa Pansa Flavianus Flavianus ðß ôæïðïò ºØìÝí øí Úóß Æò. Job title: (procurator) / Kðßô Source: IK 13, IK 13, 924. This man appears with this title in a so-called ‘agoranomos inscription’ attached to the South Gate of the agora. This suggests that he was a local man, or at least that he undertook a local career. Agoranomos was Agoranomos was not a very high-ranking local function; he may have preferred to be commemorated for his ‘imperial’ function. (See Garnsey and van Nijf 1998, 1 on the agoranomos inscriptions.) 5d. 5d. Ias Ias (3 (3 ad?) Job title: Seruus symbolarius . ´ 1988, 1019. Source: AE The edd. Knibbe be and and Ipli Iplikc kçioglu, ¸ioglu, give give the the name name as ‘Had ‘Hadis is’’, and and edd. pr ., Knib suggested that it was a suitable name for a slave tax farmer ‘in the same wayy that wa that we might ight nam name a nast nastyy dog Sa Sattan’ an’. Unfor nforttunat unatel elyy, this this colourful name has to be struck oV : Engelmann 1999, 167 has argued that we should read ‘Iadis’ as a genitive of the name Ias. The name refers to the the the fact fact that that the the slav slavee had had been been bo boug ught ht on on onee of Ioni Ioniaa’s man many slav slavee markets. It was apparently fairly common to derive a slave’s name from his previous owner, or from the place where he was bought. Varro De Ling. Lat . 8. 21 mentions the names Ion and Ephesius as examples. The title symbolarius is new: a óýìâïºïí is a small sum (surcharge) to be paid for a receipt (De Laet 1949, 317); a symbolarius was symbolarius was responsible for issuing these receipts. 5e. Ianuarius Ianuarius (3 ad?) Job title: procurator publici XXXX p. Asiae . ´ 1988, 1019. Source: AE The procurator of the symbolarius in symbolarius in the previous item. If the identiWcation with PIR 2 I 8 is right, he should be dated to the third century. 5f. Quintus? Quintus? Job title: teloniarius . Source: IK 16, IK 16, 2296. The connection with the portorium Asiae is uncertain. Note the use of the calque ‘teloniarius’ . 5g. C. Furius Sabinius Sabinius Aquila Aquila Timesitheus Timesitheus (3 ad) Job title: uice-procurator of uice-procurator of the portorium in Asia. Source: ILS 1330. ILS 1330.


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An inscription from Lyon (ad 235) honours him as procurator prouinciarum Lugdunensis and Aquitaniae ; it also shows that he had served as procurator of Asia Asia and and also also as the uice-procurator of the the uicesima (hereditatium) (hereditatium), and of the portorium in Asia. He would later become praetorian prefect (and father-in-law) of Gordian III.

Halicarnassus 6a. Kalokair Kalokairos os (2 (2 ad) Job title: actor (ðæÆªìÆôåıôÞò). Source: OGIS 525. OGIS 525. Actor of M. Aurelius Mindius Mattidianos Pollio (see above). He restored ˆ nion with the telo nion with his colleague Eutyches (cf. next item). Their names suggest that they were Pollio’s slaves. 6b. Eutyches Eutyches (2 ad) Job title: actor (ðæÆªìÆôåıôÞò). Source: OGIS 525. OGIS 525. See previous item.

Iasus 7a. Anonym Anonymus us (1 ad, 26) Job title: seruus uilicus . Source: IK 28, IK 28, 415. A fragmented inscription, but the title is clear. 7b. Anonymus Anonymus Job title: (seruus) uilicus / ïNŒïíüìïò . Source: IK 28.2, IK 28.2, 417. The text does not state that he was a slave, but the inscription is damaged, and it is very likely that we have to supply this title here also. 7c. Pulcher Pulcher (1/2 ad) Job title: (uilicus) ïNŒ ïíüìïò. Source: IK 28.2, IK 28.2, 416. Pulcher was the ïNŒ ïíüìïò (uilicus ) of the koinonoi in Asia. Note his Latin transliterated name. The text does not state that he was a slave. 7d. Potens Potens (1 ad Claudius) Job title: unknown, probably slave oYcial (uilicus (uilicus ?) ?) (perhaps a publicanus ). ). Source: SEG 43, SEG 43, 717; IK 28.2, IK 28.2, 253; cf. IK 28.2, IK 28.2, 407. Ther Theree is so some me disc discus ussi sion on conc concer erni ning ng the the conn connec ecti tion on of Poten otenss wi with th the portorium sugges estts tha that he wa wass a publicanus of portorium Asiae Asiae . The ed. ed. pr . sugg Itali taliaan desc descen entt, but mos ostt scho schola lars rs think hink tha that he wa wass a sla slave-uilicus e-uilicus

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´ 1993, 1531). The inscriptions from Iasos show that (cf. SEG ad loc . and AE he acted as a benefactor to the city, and that he seems to have been the founder of a kind of ‘dynasty.’ His position in tax farming (and the wealth thus acquired) may have been instrumental in his social mobility and that of his children.

Cibyra 8a. Amerimnus Amerimnus Job title: seruus uilicus . Source: IK 60.1, IK 60.1, 107. Amerimnus soc (iorum) iorum) p (ublici ) / (quadragesimae ) p (ortuum) ortuum) A(siae ) ser (uus ) uil (icus ) / Cibyrae / Agathonico soc (iorum) ( quadragesimae ) iorum) / p (ublici? ) (quadragesimae / port (uum) uum) Asiae uilico Ciby/rae [ Ciby/rae [vac ] W lio lio suo / memoriae causa The inscription mentions a father and son, who were both seruus uilicus at uilicus at the statio at statio at Cibyra. This is the father. It is unclear whether they were active simultaneously, or whether the son ‘inherited’ the job. This text is the Wrst to attest a statio at Cibyra, which was between 40 bc and ad 250 part of Asia. As it was located just on the border with Lycia, a station there made perfect sense (cf. Nicolet 1993), even though the place is not mentioned in the Customs Law. The date of this inscription is uncert uncertain ain:: Corste Corsten n sugges suggests ts late late Repub Republic lican– an–T Trajani rajanicc on the basis basis of the double hypothesis that by then Asia and Bithynia were joined in one district (not the case: see Nicolet 1993) and that by then individual conductores had taken over from societates (which is not certain if we believe Brunt). 8b. Agathonicus Agathonicus Job title: (seruus? ) uilicus . Source: IK 60.1, IK 60.1, 107. See the previous entry; this is the son. It would seem very likely that the son was a slave like his father, but the text does not mention this; I wonder whether the word seruus may seruus may have stood in the gap. If so, we should have a parallel for the awkward formulation in Milet 6.2, Milet 6.2, 563; see below.

Miletus 9a. Felix Felix ). Job title: uicarius uilici (or perhaps seruus uilicus ). Source: Milet 6.2, 563 (cf. IK 59, IK 59, 40). Felici Primioni XXXX j port. Asiae uilic. Mil. se j ÖÞºØŒØ —æåØìß øíïò ŒïØí j ì ºØìåí Úóß Æò ïNŒïí ÌåØjºÅô äïýºfiø. There is some debate as to the exact nature of his position. The text as presented by Herrmann leaves open :

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:

:

:


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two possibilities. Herrmann suggests that Felix was a seruus uilicus , whose (for (forme mer) r) ow owne nerr, Prim Primio io,, wa wass on onee of the the part partne ners rs in the the societas : Felici Primioni (s ), XX XXXX XX j port (uum) uum) Asiae Asiae uilic uilic (o ) Milet (i ) ser (uo ) j ÖÞºØŒØ, —æåØìß øíïò ŒïØíðøíHíÞ j ì0 ºØìÝí ðøíÞ j Úóß Æò ïNŒïíðüìfiøÞ ÌåØjºÞôðfiøÞ, äïýºfiø). This is, however, epigraphically awkward. Most scholars prefer to follow the older reading: uilic (i ) Milet (i ) ser (uo ) and ïNŒ ïíðüìïıÞ ÌåØºÞôðfiøÞ CIL 3, 447 and ILS 1862). ILS 1862). This would make Felix the uicarius of äïýºfiø (cf. CIL 3, the slave uilicus Primio. uilicus Primio. ;

;

9b. Primio? Primio? ). Job title: (seruus) uilicus (or perhaps socius ). Source: Milet 6.2, 563. On the accepted reading of the inscription, Primio was the (slave) uilicus at uilicus at Miletus. If we were to follow Herrmann, Primio, as the owner of Felix, may have been a socius . 9c. Tyranius? yranius? ). Job title: unknown connection (or perhaps a uicarius ). Source: Milet 6.2, 563. Very dubious case: If Felix was a seruus uicarius , Tyranius may have been his own slave-uicarius slave-uicarius . However, as it is more likely that Felix was a uicarius himself, Tyranius’s connection with the portorium remains uncertain. Herrmann restores Turanios, which was the reading by Fredrich on which CIL 3, CIL 3, 447 was based. Other editions prefer the female name Tyrannis (cf. CIL 3, Suppl. 7149 and ILS 1862). ILS 1862). 9d. Anonymus? Anonymus? Job title: seruus uilicus ? uilicus ? Source: Milet 6.2, 667. A fragment of a funerary inscription that was, in the interpretation of Herrmann, set up by an unknown [ser(uus) uil(icus) ? Milet]i . The reading is not certain, however. Herrmann suggests a dating from Hadrian onwards.

Onno van Nijf The Social World of Roman taxfarmers 2008

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