at a higher duty was fixed on the articles of
luxury than on those of necessity, and that the productions raised or
manufactured by the labor of the subjects of the empire were treated
with more indulgence than was shown to the pernicious, or at least the
unpopular commerce of Arabia and India. There is still extant 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, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, ebony ivory, and
eunuchs. We may observe that the use and value of those effeminate
slaves gradually rose with the decline of the empire.

II. The excise, introduced by Augustus after the civil wars, was
extremely moderate, but it was general. It seldom exceeded one per
cent.; but it comprehended whatever was sold in the markets or by public
auction, from the most considerable purchases of lands and houses, to
those minute objects which can only derive a value from their infinite
multitude and daily consumption. Such a tax, as it affects the body
of the people, has ever been the occasion of clamor and discontent. An
emperor well acquainted with the wants and resources of the state was
obliged to declare, by a public edict, that the support of the army
depended in a great measure on the produce of the excise. 1

III. When Augustus resolved to establish a permanent military force for
the defence of his government against foreign and domestic enemies, he
instituted a peculiar treasury for the pay of the soldiers, the rewards
of the veterans, and the extra-ordinary expenses of war. The ample
revenue of the excise, though peculiarly appropriated to those uses, was
found inadequate. To supply the deficiency, the emperor suggested a new
tax of five per cent. on all legacies and inheritances. But the nobles
of Rome were more tenacious of property than of freedom. Their indignant
murmurs were received by Augustus with his usual temper. He candidly
referred the whole business to the senate, and exhorted them to provide
for the public service by some other expedient of a less odious nature.
They were divided and perplexed. He insinuated to them, that their
obstinacy would oblige him to propose a general land tax and c