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no land-tax in Italy itself, but a tax was payable on any land that remained the property of
a provincial.
In B.C.129 Attalus bequeathed his kingdom of Pergamos to Rome, and this became
the province of Asia. "The Province" was the name given to Transalpine Gaul, and this
is still retained in the name "Provence". In the days of Julius Cæsar there were fourteen
provinces, seven in Europe, five in Asia, and two in Africa; and by B.C.27, when
Augustus partitioned the empire between himself and the Senate, there were twenty-four.
The provinciae Caesarae were controlled by governors representing the Emperor,
bearing the title legate or propraetor, while the provinciae Senatoriae were administered
by representatives of the Senate, called proconsuls. Augustus himself retained control of
frontier provinces, partly because many of them were wealthy. It is interesting to note, in
passing, that the only fresh province acquired by Rome during the first century of the
Christian era, was the province of Britain.
Josephus uses the title "President" when speaking of the propraetors, while Luke
often uses the more general title hegemon--which he applies to the legate Cyrenius, to
the procurator Felix, and to the Emperor himself (Luke 2: 2 and 3: 1; Acts 23: 33).
The procurators, as for instance Pilate and Felix, were appointed by the Emperor over
subordinate districts--Judæa, for example, being a dependency of the larger province of
Syria. Luke never makes a mistake in his choice of terms. Cyprus, Achaia and Asia, for
example, were senatorial provinces, under the jurisdiction of proconsuls. The A.V.
translates the word used by Luke "deputy", but the R.V. more correctly renders it in some
of its occurrences as "proconsul".
With regard to finance, the revenue from the imperial provinces was called tributum,
while that from the senatorial provinces was called stipendium. The Emperor, moreover,
received additional revenue by virtue of taxes levied on legacies and inheritances, excise
duty on goods for sale, a "bachelor's tax", etc. The regulations introduced by Augustus
were most beneficial for the provinces, for before his time, the collector of taxes was
little less than a robber.
"It is attested by Cicero that the arrival of a governor, even in a peaceful province, was
little different from the entrance of a victorious army into the country of a vanquished
enemy. Even men who were of good repute for their humanity, returned to Rome with
almost incredible sums of money after they had been in a province for some years. What
the governors left undone was completed by usurers and the farmers of the public
revenue" (Schmitz).
The reader will remember that Felix expected to get money from Paul and his friends,
and Zacchæus, the tax-gatherer, speaks, after his conversion, of refunding with interest
if he had taken more than his due. The words of the Pharisee in the parable: "I am not
. . . . . an extortioner . . . . . or even as this publican", and the advice of John the Baptist
to the publicans to "exact no more than is appointed you" go to show how prevalent this
evil had become.