Ancient Roman law
The Lex Hieronica was a unique system of regulations concerning the agricultural taxation of Sicily by the Roman Republic. The taxation system was named after King Hiero II of Syracuse. The basic provision requires that farmers pay ten percent of their produce in tax to Rome. It is likely that the "Lex Hieronica" was an appropriation of both Hiero II's taxation system of his Kingdom and the Carthaginian taxation system of western Sicily. The date of establishment of the law is uncertain. It was likely implemented sometime in between the first two Punic wars.
The sources.
Literary.
The main source for the provisions of the "Lex Hieronica" comes from Cicero's "In Verrem". Other primary sources, such as Appian, Polybius and Livy, claim that there was an agricultural tithe in Sicily. These authors contribute to the debate concerning when the "Lex Hieronica" was established. However, "In Verrem" is the only primary source which gives a detailed account of the provisions or refers to the "Lex Hieronica" directly. In some instances Cicero refers to a provision pertaining to tax collection to the edict of Verres. These include a praetor's edict setting forth the laws of the praetor's area of jurisdiction, the praetorship of Sicily being rotated annually. Each praetor introduced his own edict. However, it was customary for a praetor's edict to conform to previous edicts. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine whether or not a provision pertaining to tax collection from the edict of Verres is a continuation of the "Lex Hieronica" or a new regulation. This is due to the fact that one of Cicero's charges against Verres was that he interfered with the taxation practises. For this reason, further evidence must be sought if a provision from the edict of Verres is to be treated as a provision of the "Lex Hieronica".
Archaeological.
Archaeological excavations in the Sicilian town of Morgantina, a town within the Kingdom of Syracuse, have uncovered three buildings connected to the "Lex Hieronica:" two large granaries and a public office. The buildings date to the time of the rule of Hiero II. All three of the buildings have been found in the agora of Morgantina. For this reason, the buildings were most likely all public buildings. The two excavated granaries have been named the Eastern and Western Granaries. The Eastern Granary belongs to the architectural style which was prevalent in the rule of Hiero II. The Eastern Granary is estimated to have been 92.85 metres long and 7.60 metres wide. This space was subdivided into six rooms, with administrative offices located at the northern end and vast storage facilities consisting of the southern halls which measure ca. 20 and ca. 40 metres in length. The format of this building was deemed to be effective and successful to be continued on in use under Roman occupation. This is apparent as its style was used as a model for the building of other Roman granaries, such as that built by Scipio Aemilius in Numantia in 134 BCE. In comparison, the Western Granary lacked the same monumental scope that was evident in the Eastern Granary. The Western Granaries size is more difficult to determine as its southern end was completely destroyed in the 17th century by the construction of a farmhouse. However, excavations have landed on the conclusion it was likely 32.90 metres wide and 7.50 metres wide. This granary had a single door and a ramp leading up to it on its short, northern end.
Provisions.
The "Lex Hieronica" was an agricultural tax on all Sicilian farmers, except those in the territory of the cities of Centuripa, Halesa, Segesta, Halyciae, and Panormus, Tauromenium and Messana. The latter two cities were exempted from the tax due to their status as "civitas foederata". The other cities were exempted from the tithe due to their status as free states immune from tax but not with "foederata".
The "Lex Hieronica" required that each farmer pay ten percent of their produce as tax in the form of a tithe. An extra tithe could be imposed when necessary. This tithe applied to farmers who produced corn and barley. In addition, it is likely that the tithe also applied to wine, oil, and other minor agricultural products. The tithe could either be paid in kind or in cash. The number of farmers had to be annually logged in official records. Modern reconstruction suggests that these records took the form of a three columned table which logged the name of the farmer, the amount of crops sown, and the amount contributed to the tithe respectively. These public records were likely stored in a public building of the sort discovered at Morgantina.
The Roman senate sold the rights to collect the Sicilian tithe to contractors. The tithe collectors were known as "decumani." Usually, only Sicilians could purchase the rights to become "decumani". However, occasionally there were Italian "decumani" in Sicily. The rights to collect were sold annually at an auction. Prior to 75 BCE the auctions were held in Syracuse. In 75 BCE the consuls Lucius Octavius and Gaius Aurelius Cotta moved the site of the auctions to Rome, except those contracts concerning grain. The collection rights were specific to a crop and a region of Sicily. The rights to collect the tithe of a crop were paid for in kind. For example, the right to collect grain was paid for with grain. However, Cicero also claims that the contracts could be bought with a monetary equivalent. Finally, Cicero suggests that the collector received an additional 6 percent of the produce which he was responsible for collecting.
The price of the collection rights was determined based on records of previous harvest and the "professiones" of the farmers. A "professio" was a declaration concerning the amount of seed which had been sown. The collector and the farmer were required to come to an informal personal agreement, a "pactio", concerning the total produce and hence the amount of produce which the farmer had to pay. The edict of Verres required that this must take place on the threshing floor. It is likely that this edict did not differ from the requirements of the "Lex Hieronica" as Cicero charges Verres with only abusing this practise. The determination of the total produce would be too difficult in the field itself due to thickness of the crop. However, the true amount of produce could easily be hidden if assessment took place in the granary. Once collected, the grain tithe would have been stored in public grannies, like those uncovered at Morgantina.
The edict of Verres also required the tithe to be delivered to the waterside by a specific date, the first of August. The "Lex Hieronica" probably contained a similar requirement as harvests would have been gathered in early July. Furthermore, Cicero seems to suggest that Verres was not wrong to demand delivery by the first of August, rather his abuse of the farmers would have made such delivery impossible. It is unclear whether the collector or the farmer was responsible for delivering the tax to the waterside. On the one hand, Cicero never claims that the farmers were manipulated on the basis of such a responsibility. Furthermore, Cicero mentions no case of a farmer actually making a delivery. On the other hand, the language with which Cicero describes Septicus, a mistreated farmer in Sicily, suggests that the farmer was responsible. Once at the waterside the tithe would then be distributed to the army, to the garrison in Sicily or to Rome for private sale. Transport contractors were responsible for shipping. Whether or not transport contractors were the tax collectors is unclear.
Strict penalties applied to both the collectors and the farmers for violation. The "Lex Hieronica" established special courts in order to mediate disputes between the collectors and the farmers. The disputes that the court mediated likely concerned the failure of the two parties to come to an agreement on the threshing floor concerning the amount of tax owed. In the edict of Verres, the collector could be sued for eight times the amount wrongly exacted, whereas the farmer could be sued for no more than four times the amount wrongly withheld.
Cicero mentions that the edict of Verres had a provision referring to a public official known as the "magistratus siculus". It is likely that the "magistratus siculus" was also a provision of the "Lex Hieronica". This is due to the fact that Cicero charges Verres for using the magistrate as a tool for intimidating the farmer, not with implementing the magistracy itself. Cicero is ambiguous about the role of the "magistratus siculus". Cicero states each of the tax paying cities had a magistratus siculus who served as an arbiter between farmers and the collectors when they had to agree on the amount of grain due. Cicero also mentions magistrates, without the adjective siculus, who were responsible for: annually recording the names of the farmers who had sown seeds, the amount in seeds sown by each and, how much tithe each farmer had paid after the harvest. Modern scholars have argued that these magistrates are the "magistratus siculus". Furthermore, modern scholars have argued that that "magistratus siculus" occupied a public office like the one uncovered at Morgantina. This is due to the fact that the "magistratus siculus" was responsible for the public documents which were likely to have been stored in the public office.
Precedents.
When Rome annexed Sicily in 241 BCE, it became Rome's first overseas territory. As such, Rome had no precedents concerning overseas territorial management. The institutions which Rome developed in order to manage Sicily, as consistent with Roman practise elsewhere, grew out of the local governance structures which pre-dated Roman presence. The "Lex Hieronica" was no exception. Precedents for the "Lex Hieronica", as pictured in Cicero's "In Verrem", can be found in both Carthaginian Sicily and in the kingdom of Sicily, ruled by Hiero II.
The Carthaginians had taxed their subjects in Sicily for centuries with an agricultural tithe. Polybius reports that Rome was both physically and economically exhausted at the end of the first Punic war. For this reason, it seems reasonable that Romans would have sought to recuperate through the existing tax structures. Comparatively, after conquering the port city of Lilybaeum, the Romans left in place the existing Carthaginian tariffs. For this reason, it is plausible that the Romans left other taxes in place after their initial conquest.
King Hiero the II of Syracuse had a lucrative tax system in place over his subjects. Like in Carthaginian Sicily, Hiero II charged his subjects with an agricultural tithe. The tithe was likely stored in public granaries like those discovered at Morgantina. Roman appropriation of Hiero's taxation system is evident in archaeological remains at Morgantina which show that the public office continued to be utilised during Roman rule. Furthermore, Cicero tells us that the Romans had never changed local taxation systems of Sicily until Verres' corrupt praetorship. This is likely to be an exaggeration. However, it seems likely that if the Romans had removed any tax burdens then Cicero would have used this instance of Roman magnanimity to further demonstrate Verres' corruption. Given the presence of a tithe in Punic Sicily and the kingdom of Syracuse, it seems likely that the Sicilians had always paid a tithe. The primary change which the Romans made to the Sicilian taxation systems was that the tithe now was now paid to Rome, rather than Carthage or to Hiero.
Hiero II and Ptolemaic taxation.
It has been argued that Hiero II's taxation system was influenced by Ptolemy II Philadelphus' revenue laws as these systems bear many structural similarities. Like Hiero's taxation system, the Ptolemaic revenue laws also required an agricultural tithe and annually renewed tax collectors. Both systems placed emphasis on record keeping, with Cicero's "In Verrem" demonstrating documented taxation. It is further evident this occurred in Egypt as well, with signed copies of agreements being held by all parties to an exchange. Both systems employed a recognised area where taxation agreements were discussed and formed between the farmer and collector. In Egypt this took place around the wine press, a practice that is embodied in Syracuse, as discussions took place on the threshing room floor. Further, both systems employ a degree of civic regulation and had mechanisms of referring disputes to civic actors such as the city magistrates in Syracuse, and in Egypt