The History of Tax Law, Chapter Six: Taxation and The End of Romans

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 tiny nation near what is now Turkey. He had an amazing power to arouse discontent with unhappy taxpayers. In 88 BC he organized a rebellion fighting the Romans. By granting 5 years of tax immunity to every city that followed his army, he mustered considerable support.

The Roman Senate quickly took swift action and told General Sulla to raise an army and re-establish Roman authority in the east. Sulla succeeded in squelching the rebels after a four year struggle. When the rebellion was squashed, Sulla ordered the leading citizens of the revolting cities to come to Ephesus. There the citizens were to denounce the five years of back taxes plus compensate the general for his war debt.

To enforce this tax, Sulla established “special agents.” These special agents were given the power to scourge and behead, which was enough to cause most taxpayers fall in line. Up until this time there had been self-assessment tax collections, corporate tax collection, army tax collectors and the traditional government tax collectors. However, these newly instituted “special agents” were very skilled specialists with the arrogance of bureaucrats and the power of military executioners. Taxpayers lost all hope to evade. If you are feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a Tax Preparer in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!

Special Agents have been instituted time and again in the past, surviving into modern times as “financial police” or just “special agents”, given the name initially instituted by Sulla over two thousand years ago. As the practice of Sulla’s special agents was put in to place in neighboring nations, soldiers came to realize that the rich spoils of war came from their commander, not the Roman Senate. Roman generals returned to Rome with the blind loyalty of their soldiers. Great civil wars started as rival armies fought. With these semiprivate armies, the institution of a military dictator was inevitable. So, the Roman Republic dissolved. Royalty, dictators, and military strategists would now run the Roman Empire for the next 2000 years. Democratically designed governments and republics would not play a dominant 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/