266

CHAP.

VI.

Edict ofCaracalla,

THE DECLINE AND FALL

diverted him from the execution of a design,, which would have dissolved the strength andresources of the republic/ Had it indeed beenpossible to realize this dream of fancy, suchprinces as Trajan and the Antonines wouldsurely have embraced with ardour the gloriousopportunity of conferring so signal an obliga-tion on mankind. Satisfied, however, with al-leviating the public burden, they attempted notto remove it. The mildness and precision oftheir laws ascertained the rule and measure oftaxation, and protected the subject of everyrank against arbitrary interpretations, antiquat-ed claims, and the insolent vexation of the far-mers of the revenue . 3 For it is somewhat sin-gular that, in every age, the best and wisest ofthe Roman governors persevered in this perni-cious method of collecting the principal branchesat least of the excise and customs/

The sentiments, and, indeed, the situation ofCaracalla , were very different from those of theAntonines. Inattentive, or rather averse to thewelfare of his people, he found himself under thenecessity of gratifying the insatiate avarice,which he had excited in the army. Of the seve-ral impositions introduced by Augustus , thetwentieth on inheritances and legacies was themost fruitful, as well as the most coinprehen-

r Tacit. Anna), xiii, 50. Esprit des Loix, 1 xii, c. 10.

8 See Pliny’s Panegyric , the Augustan history, and Burman de Vec-tigal. passim.

*’ The tributes (properly so called) were not farmed, since the goodprinces often remitted many millions of arrears.