. The grandeur that was Rome; a survey of Roman culture and civilisation:. incials. The truth is that thehigher magistrates of Rome never had received and did notfor a long time yet receive a salaiy. But they had alwaysclaimed an allowance for their travelling expenses technicallycalled mule and tent money, and this had been fixed on agenerous scale which really amounted in practice to a only change was that instead of allowing these fees tobe subject to contract on the regular contract system of therepublican treasury, the governors now received a fixed grantcalculated according to
. The grandeur that was Rome; a survey of Roman culture and civilisation:. incials. The truth is that thehigher magistrates of Rome never had received and did notfor a long time yet receive a salaiy. But they had alwaysclaimed an allowance for their travelling expenses technicallycalled mule and tent money, and this had been fixed on agenerous scale which really amounted in practice to a only change was that instead of allowing these fees tobe subject to contract on the regular contract system of therepublican treasury, the governors now received a fixed grantcalculated according to the necessary scale of expenses in thevarious provinces. For the provinces an immense saving waseffected in this manner but it must have been more expensiveto the central treasury. The finances of the provinces were gradually brought intoorder and arranged with consummate skill. The little informa-tion that we possess tends to show that nowhere was theAugustan reformation more beneficent or more brilliantlysuccessful. In Gaul the land-tax and property-tax were fixed190. Plate 43. ALTAR OF AlIEMPTUS (See p. 249) AUGUSTUS In 26 on a fairly high scale, it is true, but the development ofcommerce and agriculture fostered by the Romans made theirincidence a light burden in comparison with the rapidly in-creasing wealth of the province. By this time the state hadaccepted the theory of tribute which the Roman lawyers haddeveloped upon false principles. Tribute was now rega>ded,not as a commutation of the liability to military service, whichwas its real origin, but as a rent paid to Rome for the continuedenjoyment of lands which had passed to her by right of con-quest. The tribute was everywhere reassessed upon a newvaluation systematically conducted. Generally it representeda tithe of the corn harvest and 20 per cent, of liquid products,such as oil and wine. In the senatorial provinces the oldsystem of tax-farming by contractors survived for a time, butin his own provinces Augustus
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