Gregory Aldrete

But they often didn't collect the taxes directly. Instead, they would sell contracts to private businesses to collect taxes. So the private businesses would bid and say, all right, if you give us the contract to collect taxes in Sicily, we'll give you X number of money up front. And then we go out and try to collect enough to make back that money and make ourselves a profit.

And this is a terrible system because obviously they're going to go and try and squeeze as much as they can out of Sicily. And these companies were called publicans, publicani. And in the Bible, there's a phrase, publicans and sinners, and that should give you an idea how they're viewed. So everybody hated these tax collectors.

And this is a terrible system because obviously they're going to go and try and squeeze as much as they can out of Sicily. And these companies were called publicans, publicani. And in the Bible, there's a phrase, publicans and sinners, and that should give you an idea how they're viewed. So everybody hated these tax collectors.

And this is a terrible system because obviously they're going to go and try and squeeze as much as they can out of Sicily. And these companies were called publicans, publicani. And in the Bible, there's a phrase, publicans and sinners, and that should give you an idea how they're viewed. So everybody hated these tax collectors.

And it was a really kind of dumb system because the publicans were going out and squeezing way more than they should in an unhealthy way from the provinces. And the Roman state was doing this kind of weird thing that they should have been doing themselves. And over time, that shifts a bit and it becomes more like your standard taxation. And a lot of the taxation ends up being in kind too.

And it was a really kind of dumb system because the publicans were going out and squeezing way more than they should in an unhealthy way from the provinces. And the Roman state was doing this kind of weird thing that they should have been doing themselves. And over time, that shifts a bit and it becomes more like your standard taxation. And a lot of the taxation ends up being in kind too.

And it was a really kind of dumb system because the publicans were going out and squeezing way more than they should in an unhealthy way from the provinces. And the Roman state was doing this kind of weird thing that they should have been doing themselves. And over time, that shifts a bit and it becomes more like your standard taxation. And a lot of the taxation ends up being in kind too.

So it's like, okay, we're taxing you. You pay it in wheat if you're a farmer or something, not necessarily in cash. So it was – in many ways, the Roman economy is underdeveloped. They didn't have a lot of the sophisticated systems that we have today and it probably held them back in some ways. And again, they have that resistance to change. The Romans also had weird notions about –

So it's like, okay, we're taxing you. You pay it in wheat if you're a farmer or something, not necessarily in cash. So it was – in many ways, the Roman economy is underdeveloped. They didn't have a lot of the sophisticated systems that we have today and it probably held them back in some ways. And again, they have that resistance to change. The Romans also had weird notions about –

So it's like, okay, we're taxing you. You pay it in wheat if you're a farmer or something, not necessarily in cash. So it was – in many ways, the Roman economy is underdeveloped. They didn't have a lot of the sophisticated systems that we have today and it probably held them back in some ways. And again, they have that resistance to change. The Romans also had weird notions about –

just business and profit making that at least originally there was this notion that's shameful. Again, the only thing that's a worthwhile profession is farming.

just business and profit making that at least originally there was this notion that's shameful. Again, the only thing that's a worthwhile profession is farming.

just business and profit making that at least originally there was this notion that's shameful. Again, the only thing that's a worthwhile profession is farming.

So, you know, rich Romans would get involved in what we would call business, you know, manufacturing, particularly long distance trade with ships, but they would often do it through sort of front companies or employees who did it on their behalf officially. And then they sort of funnel the profits to the guy funding it because they They don't want to be soiled with business which is beneath them.

So, you know, rich Romans would get involved in what we would call business, you know, manufacturing, particularly long distance trade with ships, but they would often do it through sort of front companies or employees who did it on their behalf officially. And then they sort of funnel the profits to the guy funding it because they They don't want to be soiled with business which is beneath them.

So, you know, rich Romans would get involved in what we would call business, you know, manufacturing, particularly long distance trade with ships, but they would often do it through sort of front companies or employees who did it on their behalf officially. And then they sort of funnel the profits to the guy funding it because they They don't want to be soiled with business which is beneath them.

So the Romans had a lot of weird attitudes about the economy that I think in some ways didn't help.

So the Romans had a lot of weird attitudes about the economy that I think in some ways didn't help.

So the Romans had a lot of weird attitudes about the economy that I think in some ways didn't help.

They were good at record-keeping. So the Romans – I mean the census is a Roman word. They're the ones that came up with that. Yeah.