and their provincia. representatives; the lucrative functions
were claimed by a crowd of subordinate officers, some of whom depended
on the treasurer, others on the governor of the province; and who,
in the inevitable conflicts of a perplexed jurisdiction, had frequent
opportunities of disputing with each other the spoils of the people. The
laborious offices, which could be productive only of envy and reproach,
of expense and danger, were imposed on the Decurions, who formed the
corporations of the cities, and whom the severity of the Imperial laws
had condemned to sustain the burdens of civil society. [172] The whole
landed property of the empire (without excepting the patrimonial estates
of the monarch) was the object of ordinary taxation; and every new
purchaser contracted the obligations of the former proprietor. An
accurate census, [173] or survey, was the only equitable mode of
ascertaining the proportion which every citizen should be obliged to
contribute for the public service; and from the well-known period of the
indictions, there is reason to believe that this difficult and expensive
operation was repeated at the regular distance of fifteen years. The
lands were measured by surveyors, who were sent into the provinces;
their nature, whether arable or pasture, or vineyards or woods, was
distinctly reported; and an estimate was made of their common value from
the average produce of five years. The numbers of slaves and of cattle
constituted an essential part of the report; an oath was administered
to the proprietors, which bound them to disclose the true state of their
affairs; and their attempts to prevaricate, or elude the intention of
the legislator, were severely watched, and punished as a capital crime,
which included the double guilt of treason and sacrilege. [174] A large
portion of the tribute was paid in money; and of the current coin of the
empire, gold alone could be legally accepted. [175] The remainder of the
taxes, according to the proportions determined by the annual indiction,
was furnished in a manner still more direct, and still more oppressive.
According to the different nature of lands, their real produce in the
various articles of wine or oil, corn or barley, wood or iron, was
transported by the labor or at the expense of the provincials [175a] to
the Imperial magazines, from whence they were occasionally distributed
for the use of the court, of the army, and of two capitals, Rome and
Constant