Rome's One of the Most Cruel Exploitation: Roman Tax Collectors in Asia Minor.
The Province of Asia was a crucial region that Rome had acquired and exploited. The famous Roman reformer Gaius Gracchus introduced a revolutionary tax collection system in this province to achieve his political goals. He entrusted the task of tax collection in Asia Minor to the publicani , contractors who served as intermediaries between the state and the private sector. In theory, the publicani could not act freely because they were subordinate to provincial governors. But Gracchus gave the equestrian class, who largely constituted publicani , a potent tool against governors: Jury duty in courts, which means the authority to judge provincial governors in Rome after their terms ended. These two "reforms" led to one of the most horrific exploitations ever witnessed. This article will examine the role of the publicani in the Province of Asia within the Roman Empire, the functioning of their tax systems, and the impacts of these systems on the provincial populati
