THE DECLINE AND FALL

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chap. India .' There is still extant a long but im-perfect catalogue of eastern commodities, whichabout the time of Alexander Severus were sub-ject to the payment of duties; cinnamon, myrrh,pepper, ginger, and the whole tribe of aromatics,a great variety of precious stones, among whichthe diamond was the most remarkable for itsprice, and the emerald for its beauty/ Parthianand Babylonian leather, cottons, silks, both rawand manufactured, ebony, ivory, and eunuchs. 8We may observe that the use and value of thoseeffeminate slaves gradually rose with the declineof the empire.

The excise ii. The excise, introduced by Augustus afterthe civil wars, was extremely moderate, but ifwas general. It seldom exceeded one per cent.but it comprehended whatever was sold in themarkets or by public auction, from the most con-siderable purchase of lands and houses, to thoseminute objects which can only derive a valuefrom their infinite multitude, and daily consump-tion. Such a tax, as it affects the body of thepeople, has ever been the occasion of clamourand discontent. An emperor well acquainted

e See Pliny (Hist. Natur. I. vi, c. 23, 1. xii, c.. 18). His observation,that tile Indian commodities were sold at Rome at a hundred timestheir original price, may give us some notion of the produce of thecustoms, since that original price amounted to more than eight hundredthousand pounds.

f The ancients were unacquainted with the art of cutting dia-monds.

s M. Bouehaud, in his treatise de 1’Impot chez les Rornains, hastranscribed this catalogue from the Digest, and attempts to illustrate itby a very prolix commentary.