Taxes of the Ancient Greece

Photo: pexels.com

BASIC CONCEPTS

Movable and immovable property, diet, liturgies, quitrent, tax farming, social benefits, economics.

Ancient Greece, or Hellas, as its inhabitants, the Hellenes, still call their country, is considered the civilization that laid the foundation of modern European culture. Many elements of taxation originated in its economic system, which subsequently had a significant impact on the development of taxes.

The word “Greece” has Latin roots and probably came from the name of the inhabitants of the Graea area on the Balkan Peninsula.

CITY-STATES

In the 9th–6th centuries BCE, city-states, or poleis, formed in the territory of Greece and became the basis of ancient Greek civilization. The Greeks primarily understood a polis to be a community of citizens who run a joint farm in a certain area. This principle was later used in Western Europe during the medieval development of cities and their environs as communes.

The most powerful poleis were Sparta and Athens. They represented two distinct types of statehood and had different taxation systems.

“…for it is men who are the city, and not walls or ships empty of men.”

Thucydides, Greek historian.^[1]

TAX SYSTEM OF THE POLEIS

The tax system of ancient Greek poleis combined economics and politics.

Of Greek origin, the word “economics” (Greek: οικονομία, oikonomia) is literally translated as household management (oikos means house, household).

Households were the foundation of economics, while politics achieved shared objectives at the expense of individual households. Thus, on the one hand, citizens were compensated for the costs of participation in public life (people’s assemblies and holidays), but, on the other hand, under extraordinary circumstances, any citizen’s property was considered common property. The history of ancient Greek taxation also features taxes that the state paid to citizens, as well as payments that some citizens made to others.

SPARTA

Sparta (or Lacedaemon) is considered the most archaic so-called closed polis, that is, a city-state focused on its own resources. This made the polis independent of external relations, trade, and supplies of food and weapons.

Sparta arose when ancient Greek tribes conquered the Peloponnese peninsula’s territories with the most suitable lands for agriculture (the regions of Laconia and Messenia). The community of victors lived off the labor of enslaved people and managed their activities.

The stability of the domestic market was maintained through artisan production, mainly metallurgy and blacksmithing. The richest known iron mines in ancient Greece were in Laconia. Laconian steel was the basis of Sparta’s military power. A developed economy provided the residents of the polis with everything they needed. Such political and economic independence of a polis from external influence and connections was called autarky.

Many ancient authors considered an autarky to be the model of an ideal state. It is no coincidence that Sparta’s basic principles were subsequently implemented in part in the countries of the Hellenistic period in the territories conquered by Alexander the Great.

SPARTA’S SOCIAL STRUCTURE

There were three types of poleis in Sparta the Spartiates, perioikoi, and helots. Only Spartiates were considered full citizens. The perioikoi were descendants of the Peloponnese’s inhabitants who allied with the Spartiates during the conquest of the peninsula. They remained free citizens who were considered “neighbors” and owned land but did not participate in political life. The helots were conquered people and deprived of land and civil rights. People from other poleis considered them “state slaves” of the Spartiates.

LYCURGUS’S REFORMS

Relations within the Spartiate community and between other communities were secured by laws introduced by Lycurgus, the legendary lawgiver of Sparta (800–730 BCE). He based them on a study of the social structure of various societies of the Mediterranean, ancient Egypt, and India. Ancient authors make special mention of Lycurgus’s stay on the island of Crete, where, according to legend, knowledge of ancient Atlantis was kept.

Lycurgus divided the land around Sparta into 39,000 equal plots, 9,000 of which he distributed among families of the Spartiates, and the rest among the perioikoi. Selling the lands was forbidden as they could only be inherited. When the number of the Spartiate families changed, the lands were redistributed. Their division depended on the number of helot communities on the granted lands.

The Spartiates were forbidden from cultivating the land: this work was done by helots, who had to provide a fixed amount of goods, usually no more than half of the harvest from the land plot. This portion was delivered annually to the owner of the land, while the remaining part was used by the helots for their own consumption and economic development.

Lycurgus is thought to have introduced iron coins instead of gold and silver ones to combat luxury. Such coins were very heavy and of little worth because iron was treated with a special acid during the minting process, making it brittle and unreusable.

The goods supplied to the Spartiates formed a collective fund, which was then used to arrange syssitia, common meals in public places. Individual food consumption was prohibited by tradition, stigmatized, and severely punished.

CONTROL OVER THE ACTIVITIES OF HELOTS

The Spartiates had to supervise constantly the level of economic independence enjoyed by the helots. Moreover, the Spartiates’ own limited consumption allowed the helot communities to accumulate significant funds to redeem themselves from slavery. The Spartiate community had the right to make use of the helots. Therefore, measures to manage and control them were not private but public. The most well-known of them were the Crypteia.

Ancient literature gives various descriptions of them. Plutarch, an ancient Greek writer, and philosopher (ca. 46–127), depicts them as military operations by the Spartiates to intimidate the helots.

“This secret service was of the following nature. The magistrates from time to time sent out into the country at large the most discreet of the young warriors, equipped only discreet of the young warriors, equipped only with daggers and such supplies as were necessary. In the day time they scattered into obscure and out of the way places, where they hid themselves and lay quiet; but in the night they came down into the highways and killed every Helot whom they caught. Oftentimes, too, they actually traversed the fields where Helots were working and slew the sturdiest and best of them.”

Parallel Lives, Plutarch.^[6]

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (ca. 427–347 BCE) describes the Crypteia as means to control helots’ activities. Five so-called agronomoi from the most experienced members of the Spartiate community were appointed as wardens.

Each of them had 12 young subordinates who constantly inspected their assigned areas. They monitored the condition of roads, buildings, and forti-fications, and gathered information about household income and events. As this mission required secrecy, the warriors were forbidden from using the services of helots.

Furthermore, during the two years in which any one is a warden of the country, his daily food ought to be of a simple and humble kind. …Further, at all seasons of the year, summer and winter alike, let them be under arms and survey minutely the whole country; thus they will at once keep guard, and at the same time acquire a perfect knowledge of every locality.”

Laws by Plato.^[8]

The Crypteia provided reliable information about everything that was happening in the polis. They can also be considered the Spartiates’ preparation for special military operations.

TAXES FROM PERIOIKOI

Perioikoi retained some of their lands. Their settlements were autonomous: the communities managed their poleis independently. However, to oversee their activities, the Spartiates appointed special officials known as harmosts.

Families of the perioikoi received 30,000 land allotments from which they paid quitrent, a type of in-kind tribute. It is also believed that part of the perioikoi’s income was transferred to the king of Sparta.

In addition to farming, the perioikoi engaged in handicrafts, trade, and navigation. The perioikoi also performed military service as heavily armed soldiers.

SPARTA’S VICTORY AND DECLINE

As a closed-type polis, Sparta could effectively resist external influence, including military actions. These circumstances allowed it to win the Greece-wide conflict—the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE). However, this victory turned into the destruction of Sparta’s social system.

As the defeated side, the Athenians paid significant indemnity to Sparta. This caused considerable wealth stratification among the Spartiates: commercial relations began to develop. At the beginning of the 4th century BCE, it became possible to donate and bequeath land plots (their sale was still impossible, but this probably did happen), which only accelerated these processes.

Rich nobles bought not only the helots’ lands on the outskirts of the state but also the plots of their fellow tribe members, which led to a decrease in the number of full members of the community and the destruction of the Spartiates’ unity. It was equality among the Spartiates that underpinned their military power. Social stratification resulted in its loss.

In the 4th century BCE, rich Spartiates were burdened with the need to educate the children of impoverished Spartiates, perioikoi, and even helots. Young men from rich families pursued Spartan education together with their fellows from poor classes.

After the Macedonian conquest of Greece in 338 BCE, Sparta lost Messenia, the southwestern region of the Peloponnese. The number of subordinate helots, possessions of Sparta, and tax revenues decreased, which eventually undermined the economic foundation of the Spartan state. The system in which the Spartiates had dominated was disrupted. The perioikoi and the defeated Athenians took the leading position in Greek affairs. Sparta’s polis system, which was focused on external independence, took a hit, which later led to its decline.

ATHENS

Athens occupied the central territory in Attica, the southeastern part of Greece. These were lands rich in minerals, in particular silver and marble, but poorly suited for farming. The harvest was not enough to maintain the polis, so the Athenians actively traded. This was facilitated by easy access to the sea (port of Piraeus) and advanced shipbuilding.

The basis of the economy of Athens was agriculture. The Athenian polis was a union of ancestral households, oikoi, consisting of families of several generations, their dependents, and slaves. The land plots of the oikoi belonged to the city but were still transferred based on inheritance. The private households were completely autonomous: an oikos was managed solely by the head of the house.

The features of the landscape did not allow for simple land surveying. Each land plot had its own characteristics that had to be considered while using it. Despite all efforts, in Athens, during the entire existence of the state, grain production hardly exceeded half of the population’s needs.

LITURGIES

In Athens, there was a specific tax practice that allowed preserving social equality and unity among citizens—the liturgy. Essentially, citizens had to perform public duties at their own expense from time to time.

Liturgies were one of the main sources of income for the city treasury and a kind of indirect taxation. Wealthy citizens were proud of their liturgical performance. In return for the services provided to the city, they received honor and respect from citizens and, as an additional reward, were allowed to erect monuments.

In the 5th–4th centuries BCE, a property eligibility requirement in the amount of an income of at least three talents was introduced for the performance of certain liturgies. Only archons, the highest officials of poleis, heirs (daughters) before marriage, and minor heirs (after reaching the age of majority, they were exempt from the liturgy for one year), as well as some distinguished citizens were exempt from liturgies.

The choice of a liturgist for the liturgy could prove invalid. This was often caused by the liturgist’s own overstatement of income. In such cases, the city authorities made sure that a citizen would not impoverish himself for the sake of short-term glory.

Conversely, when city authorities overestimated an Athenian’s income, he could avoid the liturgy through the antidosis, i.e., the exchange of property. If a liturgist could not perform his public obligation due to a lack of funds, he publicly offered the obligation to a wealthier person. If that person refused the offer, then the liturgist could propose to exchange property to perform the appointed liturgy later from the acquired funds.

The number of liturgies was limited: one person could not be assigned more than one liturgy during the year, nor perform the same liturgy two years in a row.

The liturgies were divided into ordinary (regular) ones, which were mainly related to holidays, and extraordinary ones, which were of a state or military nature.

ORGANIZING FESTIVALS

The ordinary liturgies included the organization of religious and public festivals that encompassed more than 100 days a year.

To conduct performances during the festivals, a choregos was appointed. A sponsor had to train and dress his group, which consisted of 15 participants for a tragedy, 24 for a comedy, and 50 for dance or choral singing. These performances were like competitions between sponsors.

To prepare torch runners for ritual and sporting events, a special liturgy, the gymnasiarchia, was performed. The sponsor was obliged to maintain a sports school, i.e., gymnasium, and decorate the arena for competitions.

The most widespread liturgy was the hestiasis, the duty to gather all citizens of a phyle for joint meals on certain occasions or holidays. Such feasts played a key role in establishing direct contact between the residents of the polis.

A phyle was originally a community (tribal coalition) and later a territorial unit in Athens (at various times, there were from 4 to 13 phylai).

Another liturgy, the architheoria, involved organizing and supplying embassies for sports competitions and religious holidays on the island of Delos, and sending emissaries to sacred places, Greek states, and other countries.

The liturgy called hippotrophia meant breeding and deploying horses for the army, horse races, and festivals.

EISPHORA

In the event of a threat to the polis, a special decree from the popular assembly established an eisphora, an extraordinary liturgy for all free residents. In fact, it was an extraordinary tax, which was the only exception to the general principle of exempting households from any direct contributions to the public treasury.

The amount of the eisphora was initially calculated based on the estimated annual income from the land plot and, subsequently, from the value of all movable and immovable property, including slaves.

The eisphora was paid not only by citizens of Athens but also by metics (foreigners).

Immovable property is land plots, subsoil, and objects that are rigidly connected to the land (for example, buildings).
Movable property is property that is not immovable.

MILITARY CONSCRIPTION

The most important liturgy was the protection of the polis from external enemies. The social reform of Solon (ca. 640–559 BCE) divided the entire population of Attica into four groups according to income from the oikoi. The first, richest group included major owners with a harvest of over 500 medimnoi (1 medimnos ≈ 52.53 liters), i.e., more than 20 tons. The second group consisted of owners with a harvest of 300–500 medimnoi, the third group 150–300 medimnoi, and the fourth group less than 150 medimnoi.

The form of military service depended on which group the citizen belonged to. Rich citizens from the second group served in the cavalry, armed themselves, and kept horses at their own expense. Well-off citizens from the third group served in the heavy infantry, and the poor from the fourth group joined the navy or light infantry.

TRIERARCHY

The richest citizens were obliged to perform the trierarchy, the most expensive liturgy, entailing the duty to equip and maintain a state ship, a trireme, for a year, and, during military operations, to command it. The trierarch was released from other public duties during the year and had to return the trireme in good condition.

Before the 6th century BCE, the territory of Athens was divided first into 48 districts and later into 50 districts, each of which had to equip one ship.

Initially, the state gave 1 talent to trierarchs for the liturgy, which compensated for their expenses. The maintenance of a trireme cost from 40 minas to 1 talent, which, in addition to the cost of equipment, included the salary and food for the crew. This liturgy later began to be split up among two or more citizens.

In the 4th century BCE, 1,200 of the wealthiest citizens were selected. They had to perform the trierarchy based on their income level. Those with an income of 20 talents or more had to equip 2 triremes, while those with an income of 10 to 20 talents had to equip 1 trireme. Citizens with an income of less than 10 talents were pooled together to reach the sum of 10 talents and then performed the liturgy together.

PAYMENTS TO CITIZENS

Liturgies can be recognized as a kind of taxes or civic duty performed by some citizens for others or for society. However, in Athens, the state paid “taxes” to citizens. They were considered compensation for citizens’ expenses and aimed at ensuring their social activity and independence. Pericles (ca. 494–429 BCE) introduced these payments for the performance of public duties and services to the polis. According to ancient authors, this practice was the “glue of democracy.”

Direct democracy required the regular presence of citizens in the popular assembly or at court hearings. This took them away from running a household, so everyone was paid a diet, i.e., a wage during public events.

SOCIAL BENEFITS

A special government expenditure was payments to soldiers maimed in wars, as well as the maintenance of the families of the deceased and fully arming their sons upon reaching the age of majority.

Over time, this practice was spread to all the poor or those unable to work. They were supported with money, food, and even theater tickets. These allowances were granted by the popular assembly.

SLAVES

The use of slaves is mentioned in the Iliad by Homer, who lived in the 8th century BCE.

“Some gift must grace Eumelus; view thy store

Of beauteous handmaids, steeds, and shining ore…”

Iliad by Homer, translated by Alexander Pope.^[14]

With the development of Hellenic society and the growth of the economy, the number of slaves increased—mainly due to military operations and the slave trade. Slave labor was profitable as one slave brought in about 60–120 drachmas a year. Two or three slaves were enough to support one family. Historians believe that the total number of slaves in Athens ranged from one to several hundreds of thousands. The most plausible estimated ratio of slaves and citizens is 3:1, which is consistent with the productive capacity previously mentioned.

In the 5th century BCE, the subsistence level for a family was about 2–3 obols per day. A sailor earned 3 obols a day, an artisan 3–6 obols, a hoplite 1–2 drachmas, and a teacher more than 1 drachma. One metretes (about 39 liters) of olive oil cost 12 drachmas, a pair of shoes 8 drachmas, a medimnos of wheat 7–9 drachmas, and a sheep 12–17 drachmas.

Slaves paid a poll tax of 12 drachmas to the polis fund, and they paid an additional 3 obols in acknowledgement of their slave origin.

Later, slaves were allowed to work for other employers and even independently engage in crafts and trade. To do this, they had to pay a daily fee, the apophora.

In addition to slaves owned by individuals, there were state slaves who functioned as police officers and engaged in other public works.

METICS

Besides the Indigenous inhabitants who were the mainstay of the Greek polis, and slaves who served them, there were metics, who did not have civil rights.

Metics were foreigners and formerly enslaved people, i.e., slaves who gained their freedom. The metics were personally free but could not participate in the city’s political life, hold public office, or buy real estate (i.e., land plots). They had the right to appeal to the authorities only through a personal patron, whom they had to choose, otherwise they could be deprived of property. For formerly enslaved people, their former masters were supposed to function as their patrons.

Metics largely engaged in trade and handicrafts. They could own movable property and slaves.

Metics living in the city were obliged to pay an annual poll tax, the metoikion, to the city fund. In Athens, it amounted to 12 drachmas for men and 6 drachmas for women living separately. For tax payment purposes, all metics were registered and regularly audited.

The eisphora was higher for metics than for citizens. Metic merchants paid an additional tax for the right to trade in markets.

The metics were allowed to perform some liturgies: the choregos at the Dionysian feast of Lenaia (it required paying 1,000 drachmas), the gymnasiarchia, and the hestiasis.

Metics also served in the army according to the amount of their income, though they could not be riders.

Distinguished metics could be exempted from paying the metoikion, allowed to purchase real estate, communicate with officials directly rather than through their patrons, have equal rights with citizens when performing liturgies, and even become citizens.

For metics, failure to pay taxes could result in imprisonment, confiscation of property, and enslavement.

According to scholars, at various times the number of metics living in Attica ranged from several thousands to tens of thousands.

STATE ECONOMY

Obligations to pay social benefits and defray other public expenditures required special economic measures from the state. One of them was the issue of silver money, which influenced Greek trade. In fact, the only internal source of precious metal in Classical Greece were the silver mines of Laurion. They were in the Athenian polis and belonged to all its citizens. Silver mining made Athens the central trade capital. The work was conducted by private individuals under strict public supervision with mandatory payments of part of the income to the polis.

The polis received additional income from foreign trade. The Athenian port of Piraeus was the center of maritime commerce, which charged the lowest court and trade duties in Greece (about 2%), as well as port and market fees.

At the end of the 5th century BCE, Athens imposed a duty of 10% on all goods for ships crossing the Bosphorus Strait. Later, the “Bosphorus duty” was reduced to 5%.

Foreign merchants needed a labor force, as well as premises for storing and selling goods. This demand was met by leasing public lands, buildings, and slaves, which also replenished the treasury of the polis.

Trade was supervised by agoranomoi (from the Greek ἀγορά, i.e., market square). There were 10 of them: 5 at the city market and 5 at the harbor. They monitored the quality of goods, prices, and weights; resolved market disputes; and punished offenders.

Presumably, since ancient times, farmers paid tithes to local leaders, which the Athenian tyrant Pisistratus (ca. 602–527 BCE) turned into a state tax.

His sons Hippias and Hipparchus, the tyrants who followed him, decreased the tax from 1/10 to 1/20 of the harvest, but introduced new indirect taxes—on upper floors, stairs, fences, and doors. The brothers’ harsh rule provoked a conspiracy in 514 BCE. As a result, Hipparchus was killed, and the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the Athenian citizens who died shortly after the assassination, received ateleia, that is, exemption from all taxes and duties.

ATELEIA

Distinguished citizens, metics and even foreigners could be exempted from some or all obligations, such as liturgies, duties and taxes, and military service. This exemption could be granted temporarily, for example, to members of the Boule (state council) and archons (senior officials in poleis) for the period of their service. Leucon I, the king of the Bosporan Kingdom on the Crimean Peninsula, was exempted from customs duties in return for abolishing customs duties for Athenian merchants exporting bread from Crimea. Herodotus mentions the ateleia granted to the Lydian king Croesus for giving every Athenian citizen two gold staters (the coin weighed about 11 grams).

The ateleia was so common that for some time there was a shortage of those who could perform liturgies. To avoid assigning liturgies to the poor, the authorities banned granting the ateleia to citizens in the future.

“…so that the wealthiest shoulder the liturgies, no one of the citizens, the isoteleis and the foreigners is exempt except the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and in the future it is not permitted to grant an exemption.”

Proposed Law of Leptines, 356/355 BCE.^[16]

DELIAN LEAGUE

A principal factor in foreign trade was the creation of the Delos League. It was initially used to collect funds to protect Hellas during the Greco-Persian wars.

The representatives of poleis met on the island of Delos in the temple of Apollo, the location of the league’s treasury, which was managed by 10 elected treasurers.

The league united more than 200 poleis that paid phoros, a tax of 460 talents (almost 12,000 tons of silver). These funds were used to create and maintain the Greek fleet. Some poleis equipped ships instead of paying phoros. The amount of phoros was initially determined by one of the league’s founders—the Athenian commander Aristides (ca. 530–467 BCE), nicknamed “the Just” because he always put national interests above personal ones. Considering the tax established by Aristides to be reasonable, those required to pay it called it a “blessed happening for Hellas.” When calculating the phoros, the area of the polis’s khora was considered.

Khora means the land plots that city dwellers used for farming.

“The Hellenes used to pay a sort of contribution for the war even while the Lacedaemonians had the leadership, but now they wished to be assessed equably city by city. So they asked the Athenians for Aristides, and commissioned him to inspect their several territories and revenues, and then to fix the assessments according to each member’s worth and ability to pay. And yet, though he became master of such power, and though after a fashion Hellas put all her property in his sole hands, poor as he was when he went forth on this mission, he came back from it poorer still, and he made his assessments of money not only with purity and justice, but also to the grateful satisfaction and convenience of all concerned. Indeed, as men of old hymned the praises of the age of Cronus—the golden age, so did the allies of the Athenians praise the tariff of Aristides, calling it a kind of blessed happening for Hellas…”

Parallel Lives, Plutarch.^[19]

All poleis were officially equal, but over time, Athenian strategoi began to manage the league’s activities. They led military operations, determined the amount of the phoros, and distributed it among the league’s members.

Major poleis paid the phoros independently, while the rest of the cities were grouped into districts, to which special inspectors, episkopoi, were sent from Athens annually to monitor the payments. In some cities, the Athenians set up military garrisons to collect the phoros.

The league was expanding, among other things, through the subjugation of Greek cities subordinate to the Persians in Asia Minor and the annexation of the Hellenes who lived in Crimea and on the Black Sea coast. Attempts made by the island of Naxos and others to withdraw from the union were suppressed.

Initially, contributions went to Delos, but amid rumors about the potential capture of the island by the Persian fleet, the Athenians moved the treasury to Athens in 454 BCE. Aristides the Just said that this decision was “unfair, but useful.”

In 449 BCE, a peace treaty was signed between the members of the Delian League, led by Athens and Persia. As a result, phoros from Greek cities in Asia Minor and the eastern Balkans began to flow to Athens, although officially the cities remained under the rule of the Persian king.

With no military threat, Athens no longer perceived payments from allies as contributions to Greek defensive capabilities. Thanks to the growing power of the Athenian fleet and the polis’s intention to turn the league into its own protectorate, Athens began to interfere actively in the internal affairs of the poleis and used military operations to suppress attempts to withdraw from the league.

The contributions increasingly looked like tribute and were used for the needs of Athens itself. Athens controlled all trading activities, made its coin mandatory (in 434 BCE, the rest of the poleis were forbidden from minting their own coins), and introduced its weight measures in the league’s territory.

In 427 BCE, phoros reached 1,300 talents (about 34,000 tons of silver).

“…Pericles must have added almost a third to this [tax], since Thucydides says that when the war began the Athenians had a revenue of six hundred talents from their allies. And after the death of Pericles the demagogues enlarged it little by little, and at last brought the sum total up to thirteen hundred talents, not so much because the war, by reason of its length and vicissitudes, became extravagantly expensive, as because they themselves led the people off into the distribution of public moneys for spectacular entertainments, and for the erection of images and sanctuaries.”

Parallel Lives, Plutarch.^[20]

The need for financial resources forced Athens to replace phoros with a five percent duty on exports and imports for some time, but that was too difficult to collect, and the phoros was soon returned. However, the increased tax became an excessive burden for taxpayers, which was one of the reasons for the collapse of the Delian League. It was finally dissolved at the request of the Spartans and their allies in 404, after the defeat of the Greeks in the Peloponnesian War.

TAX FARMING

Funds for public needs were collected in Athens through tax farming. Because tax farming was considered as a kind of liturgy, tax farmers were granted exemption from other types of obligations. They may lose their own property if they fail to deliver taxes promptly to the public fund. In each deme (a small administrative unit of Athens), the richest citizen paid tax for all taxpayers and then collected the amount due from the rest of the people.

All these measures led to the effective abolition of taxes from citizens for the needs of the polis. According to historians, people paid into the public fund only for slaves living in their households: 3 obols per year for a slave. This insignificant amount was most likely collected to keep records of slaves, not as a source of public income.

The collapse of the Delian League and the deterioration of the financial situation made Athens return taxes from citizens. At the beginning of the 4th century BCE, after a general assessment of property, the authorities began to collect special fees amounting to up to 1% of the value of citizens’ property.

HELLENISTIC PERIOD

In the 4th century BCE, Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BCE) first subjugated the Greek poleis and then conquered many countries of the world.

The taxation of Greek poleis underpinned tax systems of the states formed because of these conquests. The most interesting ideas were put forward by the Greek philosophers Plato, Xenophon (ca. 430–354 BCE), and Aristotle (384–322 BCE) in their models of the ideal state.

“…offices and contributions and distributions may be proportioned to the value of each person’s wealth, and not solely to the virtue of his ancestors or himself, nor yet to the strength and beauty of his person, but also to the measure of his wealth or poverty.”

Dialogues, Plato.^[23]

“…the greater the number of people attracted to Athens either as visitors or as residents, clearly the greater the development of imports and exports. More goods will be sent out of the country, there will be more buying and selling, with a consequent influx of money in the shape of rents to individuals and dues and customs to the state exchequer.”

On Revenues, Xenophon.^[24]

“Now, as the democracies which have been lately established are very numerous, and it is difficult to get the common people to attend the public assemblies without they are paid for it, this, when there is not a sufficient public revenue, is fatal to the nobles; for the deficiencies therein must be necessarily made up by taxes, confiscations, and fines imposed by corrupt courts of justice: which things have already destroyed many democracies.”

Politics, Aristotle.^[27]

In these models, the central position is granted to the Great City, which subjugated the neighboring rural areas. Residents of the city managed the territory and protected it from external invasions. Villagers ran households and paid taxes to the city’s community. Certain aspects of these models were implemented in Ancient Rome and its tax system.

[1] Cited in “Literal Translation of Key Passages in Thucydides” by Thomas L Pangle. URL: https://www.academia.edu/14554007/Literal_Translation_of_Key_Passages_in_Thucydides. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[2] Image by anonymous (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thucydides-bust-cutout_ROM.jpg), „Thucydides-bust-cutout ROM,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-self

[3] Image by de:Benutzer:Ticinese (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helmed_Hoplite_Sparta.JPG), „Helmed Hoplite Sparta,” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

[4] Image by Jean Housen (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20110712_bruxelles044.jpg), „20110712 bruxelles044,” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

[5] Image by Odysses (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Head_of_a_philosopher_-_Archaeological_Museum_of_Delphi.jpg), „Head of a philosopher – Archaeological Museum of Delphi,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-self

[6] Cited in “The Complete Works of Plutarch. Parallel Lives.” Moralia. Illustrated. (2021). (n.p.): Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing. p 2. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Complete_Works_of_Plutarch_Parallel/XyFCEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[7] Image by Silanion (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Head_Platon_Glyptothek_Munich_548.jpg), „Head Platon Glyptothek Munich 548,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-self

[8] Cited in “Laws by Plato.” Written 360 BCE Translated by Benjamin Jowett. The Project Guttenberg. URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1750/1750-h/1750-h.htm. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[9] Image by Neue Pinakothek, Munich. Leo von Klenze artist QS:P170, Q60163 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akropolis_by_Leo_von_Klenze.jpg), „Akropolis by Leo von Klenze,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-old

[10] Image by Sailko (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ignoto,_c.d._solone,_replica_del_90_dc_ca_da-_orig._greco_del_110_ac._ca,_6143.JPG), „Ignoto, c.d. solone, replica del 90 dc ca da orig. greco del 110 ac. ca, 6143,” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

[11] Image by Nachtbold (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Model_of_a_greek_trireme.jpg), „Model of a Greek trireme,” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

[12] Image: Copy of Ktesilas (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pericles_Pio-Clementino_Inv269.jpg), „Pericles Pio-Clementino Inv269,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-self

[13] Image by The Yorck Project (2002). Raphael artist QS:P170, Q5597 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raffael_058.jpg), „Raffael 058,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-Art-YorckProject

[14] Cited in Complete Works of Homer. The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Homeric Hymns: Illustrated. (2021). (n.p.): Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Complete_Works_of_Homer_The_Iliad_The_Od/LENDEAAAQBAJ. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[15] Image by Bibi Saint-Pol. Anonymous (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homeros_MFA_Munich_51.jpg), „Homeros MFA Munich 51,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-self

[16] Cited in Canevaro, M. What was the law of Leptines’ really about? Reflections on Athenian public economy and legislation in the fourth century BCE. Const Polit Econ 29, 440–464 (2018). URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10602-018-9260-7. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[17] Image by Jastrow (2007). Unknown artist (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phoros_Delian_League_BM_1816.6-10.167.jpg), „Phoros Delian League BM 1816.6-10.167,” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/legalcode

[18] Image by Didier Descouens. Charles Brocas artist QS:P170, Q2958618 Didier Descouens (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Augustins_-_Aristide,_1806_-_Charles_Brocas.jpg), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

[19] Cited in The Complete Works of Plutarch. Parallel Lives. Moralia. Illustrated. (2021). (n.p.): Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Complete_Works_of_Plutarch_Parallel/XyFCEAAAQBAJ. Accessed: July 19. 2023.

[20] Cited in The Complete Works of Plutarch. Parallel Lives. Moralia. Illustrated. (2021). (n.p.): Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Complete_Works_of_Plutarch_Parallel/XyFCEAAAQBAJ. Accessed: July 19. 2023.

[21] Image by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Athens_AR_Tetradrachm_2480111.jpg), „Athens AR Tetradrachm 2480111,” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/legalcode

[22] Image by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2011). Unknown artist (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0_Alexander-Helios_Capitolini_(1).JPG), „0 Alexander-Helios Capitolini (1),” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

[23] Cited in “Dialogues of Plato: Translated into English, with Analyses and Introduction.” (2010). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dialogues_of_Plato/sFvsfYxALRsC. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[24] Cited in “On Revenues” by Xenophon. (2022). Czechia: DigiCat. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/On_Revenues/U9GIEAAAQBAJ. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[25] Image by Jastrow (2006). After Lysippos artist QS:P170, Q4233718, P1877, Q192222 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg), „Aristotle Altemps Inv8575,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-self

[26] Image by MrPanyGoff (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xenophon_statue_-_Vienna.jpg), „Xenophon statue – Vienna.” Cropped. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

[27] Cited in “The Writings of Aristotle.” (n.d.). (n.p.): Lulu.com. URL: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Writings_of_Aristotle/NQjBDwAAQBAJ. Accessed: July 19, 2023.

[28] Image by Metropolitan Museum of Art, online collection (accession number 15.30.67). Frederic Edwin Church artist QS:P170, Q366212 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parthenon_(1871)_Frederic_Edwin_Church.jpg), „Parthenon (1871) Frederic Edwin Church,” marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-old