A.D. 222. still extant," remarks Gibbon,[1] "a long but imperfect catalogue of Eastern commodities which, about the time of Alexander Severus, were subject to the payment of duties: cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, ginger, and the whole tribe of aromatics, a great variety of precious stones, among which the diamond was the most remarkable for its price, and the emerald for its beauty; Parthian and Babylonian leather, ebony, ivory, and eunuchs; and we may observe," adds this great historian, "that the value of these effeminate slaves gradually rose with the decline of the empire."
The excise. Although the excise seldom exceeded one per cent. ad valorem, it embraced whatever was sold by private contract, or in the markets by public auction, from the largest purchase of lands and houses, to those minute objects which have a value only from their infinite number and daily consumption. Against taxes of this description there were, as there have ever been in all countries, loud complaints on the part of the people; but when the emperor endeavoured to substitute for these obnoxious and vexatious imposts a new tax of five per cent. on all legacies and inheritances, the nobles of Rome, who were more tenacious of their property than of their freedom, were, in spite of their indignant murmurs, compelled to acquiesce in the imposition of a land tax.[2]
The annual tributes, customs, and direct taxation of the provinces, tended still further to produce the balance of values. The farmers were paid with their own money. The Romans laid not only heavy duties upon the natural products of every country subject to their sway, but also an export duty on produce
