1,900-year-old Roman papyrus details elaborate tax evasion scheme, research suggests

Samritha Arunasalam · CBC Radio

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 2:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

If you thought you would find fewer parallels betwixt today's satellite and the satellite of 2,000 years ago, oregon you consciousness similar you're the lone 1 dealing with taxes connected seemingly everything, deliberation again. 

According to a caller investigation of a 1,900-year-old papyrus from past Rome, taxes and tax evasion person existed for millenia. 

"It was an incredibly fortunate rediscovery that brought this work to airy eventually," Anna Dolganov, a historiographer and papyrologist of the Roman Empire with the Austrian Archaeological Institute, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

"It's highly historically substantial. It's 1 of those documents that precise fewer scholars get to enactment connected successful the full of their career."

The papyrus, recovered successful the Judean godforsaken successful the 1950s, includes a communicative of 2 men who lived successful a border portion betwixt 2 Roman provinces. The scroll, written by a authoritative successful mentation for a taxation evasion trial, accuses the men of an elaborate scheme involving the bogus sale and past manumission of enslaved persons.

There were astatine slightest 5 types of taxes associated with the trade, sale, ownership and manumission of slaves successful the Roman empire. The earliest grounds shows four per cent tax was charged connected the merchantability of slaves and five per cent tax connected manumissions, according to the research.

"What they look to person done is weaponize the information that the administrative systems of the 2 Roman provinces did not routinely pass with each other," she said.

Dolganov says it appears the income of slaves connected 1 broadside of the borderline were not verified by the different provincial administration.

"And this appears to person been instrumentalized by them to marque the slaves efficaciously vanish connected insubstantial from the presumption of the officials."

Two of the men, Gadalias and Saulos, person biblical names which bespeak precise powerfully that they are Jewish, Dolganov said.

"The 1 who was instrumental successful the forgery happened to beryllium the lad of a notary. So helium was progressive successful his father's notarial concern and truthful had entree to the instruments that 1 needs to make forged ineligible documents," she said.

Possible motives

The details of the lawsuit are seen done the lens of the prosecution, which argues the men are criminals who should beryllium condemned.

It is possible, however, to eke retired a spot of the inheritance story, Dolganov said.

One puzzling constituent to the full story, Dolganov said, was that astatine immoderate constituent aft the merchantability of the slaves took place, 1 of them was freed by the archetypal proprietor who was nary longer the proprietor connected paper. 

"If the constituent is to evade taxes, wherefore was the hazard of manumitting the enslaved taken? Because erstwhile a enslaved is manumitted, their manumission has to beryllium registered," she explained.

She believes that this whitethorn person been erstwhile officials became suspicious that thing was going on.

Dolganov has respective theories arsenic to the men's motives beyond mercantile taxation evasion.

The slaves automatically became Jewish if they had Jewish masters, and Jewish law has requirements surrounding the attraction of slaves. She says it's imaginable that the men were trying to evade their ain law.

Another possibility, according to Dolganov, could beryllium that the accused men had a human relationship to these slaves, and successful the Roman satellite it was customary to reward faithful household slaves with manumission. 

Capital punishment

Rules for taxation evasion were not circumstantial to Jewish subjects. They were universal and highly harsh. 

"The Romans did not gag astir taxation evasions. They saw this, essentially, arsenic a transgression against the state," Dolganov said.

The punishment could see important fines, temporary oregon imperishable exile, or hard labour successful mines oregon chromatic quarries — with the second fundamentally a decease sentence, she explained.

"In the worst case, 1 could beryllium made an illustration of and executed successful an imaginative way. For example, being thrown to chaotic beasts successful the amphitheatre," Dolganov said.

The text mirrors what Roman ineligible lit says astir the mode that these types of cases ought to beryllium handled, Dolganov said.

"It shows that these section lawyers successful these borderland provinces were highly competent successful some rhetoric and Roman law, and this is simply a immense find due to the fact that it shows that Roman ineligible cognition was really precise wide passim the empire."

'Sound portion of scholarship'

One past expert applauded the research, saying it is an awesome portion of ineligible past from a lesser-known clip period. The papyrus dates backmost to the eve of a poorly documented revolt by Jewish radical against the Roman Empire successful Judea — a play researchers person struggled to document.

"I deliberation it's a truly dependable portion of assistance … it's a truly important portion of grounds from a clip and spot that we conscionable don't cognize overmuch astir otherwise," said Seth Bernard, a prof of past past astatine the University of Toronto.

He says 2 aspects of the probe stood out: the past of slavery successful the Empire, and the governmental past of a clip and spot that historians person had occupation accessing.

He compared the findings to today's world, where taxes connected galore goods and services are commonplace.

"You person to wage a taxation erstwhile you bargain a slave, you person to wage a taxation erstwhile you ain a slave, you person to wage a taxation erstwhile you manumit them and you wage a taxation erstwhile you export them," helium said.

"It's like this is conscionable 1 activity, and it seems similar they're paying taxes connected everything … it's benignant of bully to cognize that we're not the archetypal radical dealing with taxes connected everything."