Research indicates that the 900 -year -old Roman details

If you think you will find a little similarity between today’s world and the 2000 -year -old world, or you feel the only person who apparently deals with taxes, think again.

According to Modern analysis of a 1900 -year -old papyrus from ancient RomeTaxes and tax evasion were present.

“It was an incredibly lucky redemption that ultimately explained this publication,” said Anna Dolganov, a historian and storm of the Roman Empire with the Austrian Archaeological Institute. As it happens Host Nil Köksal.

“It is very large historically. It is one of those documents that very few scientists work throughout their career.”

The papyrus, located in the Judea Desert in the 1950s, includes the story of two men who lived in a border area between two romantic provinces. The pass, written by the Prosecutor in preparation for the trial of tax evasion, accuses a detailed plan that includes fake sale and then confronting slave people.

There were at least five types of taxes associated with trade, sale, ownership and confrontation with slaves in the Roman Empire. Early evidence showed that a four -cential tax was imposed on selling slaves and a 5 percent tax on the confrontation, according to the research.

“What they seem to do is arming the fact that the administrative systems of the two romantic provinces did not communicate routinely with each other,” she said.

Dolganov says it seems that sales of slaves on one side of the border have not been verified by the other regional administration.

“It seems that this has been compensated to make slaves effectively disappear on paper from the officials’ point of view. “

Dolganov said that two men, Jadialias and Solos, have the names of the Bible, which strongly indicate that they are Jews.

“The person who had an effective role in forgery is the son of the notary. So he was involved in his father’s work documentation, and therefore he had access to the tools that one needs to create forged legal documents,” she said.

Possible motives

Details of the case are seen through the prosecution lens, which says that men are criminals who must be convicted.

Dolganov said it could get a little out of the background story.

Dolganov said that one of the confusing elements of the entire story is that in the post -sale of slaves, one of them was released by the original owner who was no longer the owner on paper.

“If the point is to evade taxes, then why was the dangers of getting rid of the slave taken? Because when the servant is removed, their confrontation must be recorded,” she explained.

She believes this may have been when officials became skeptical that something is happening.

Dolganov has many theories with regard to male motives beyond commercial tax evasion.

Slaves are automatically Jew if they have Jewish professors, and Jewish law has requirements that surround the treatment of slaves. It says that men can try to evade their law.

There is another possibility, according to Doljanov, the accused men can have a human relationship with these slaves, and in the Roman world it was customary to reward home slaves believers with the manager.

death penalty

The rules of tax evasion were not related to Jewish topics. It was very universal and harsh.

“The Romans did not remove the tax harmony. They have seen this mainly a crime against the state.”

She explained that the penalty can include major fines, temporary or permanent negation, or hard work in mines or stone quarries – with the death penalty mainly.

“In the worst cases, an example of one of them can be presented and implemented in an innovative way. For example, it is thrown on wild monsters in the runway,” said Dolganov.

Dolganov said that the text reflects what Roman legal literature says about the way these types must be dealt with.

“It indicates that these local lawyers in these border provinces were very qualified in both rhetorical and Roman law, and this is a great discovery because it indicates that the Roman legal knowledge was actually very wide throughout the empire.”

“A healthy piece of grant”

One of the history experts applauded the research, saying it was an impressive part of the legal history of a less well -known period of time. The history of the papyrus dates back to a badly documented revolution by the Jewish people against the Roman Empire in Judea – the researchers faced to document it.

“I think it is a truly sound grant … it is a really important evidence from time and place that we do not know much about otherwise,” said Seth Bernard, a professor of ancient history at the University of Toronto.

He says that the two sides of the research have emerged: the history of slavery in the empire, the political history of the time and the place that the historians faced a problem in reaching them.

He compared the results to today’s world, where taxes are on many goods and services common.

“You have to pay a tax when buying a slave, and you have to pay a tax when you have a slave, you have to pay a tax when you raise it and pay a tax when exporting it,” he said.

“It seems like this is just one activity, and they seem to pay taxes on everything … It is good to know that we are not the first to deal with taxes on everything.”