[Balgair]

Roman taxes varied a lot over the course of ~2000 years, so it is implicitly complicated. On big difference is that Roman tax collectors bought the right to collect taxes, the publicani.

Basically, some Roman lesser-noble (equite) goes to an auction. He buys the right to collect taxes in some village or port or something else. They even give him a special stick so that all the plebs know they gotta pay this guy. Usually, the cost of this stick was about the amount of taxes generated. The money that the guy gives Rome is treated as a loan, and it accrues interest. So the guy gets the money back at the end of his term as tax collector, plus a little bit more. Critically, if the guy just lies to the people and takes more in taxes than what he paid for the stick, he get to just keep that too. Totally legal. Usually, this guy doesn't have the cash up front, so he goes to other people to gin up the money for the auction. If the port gets hammered by a storm or the village burns down, tough cookies for the guy with the stick. He's still gonna owe the money to his creditors at the end of his term.

Jesus even talks about this in the Bible. He uses the Publican as a foil to the Pharisee (a super religious person) and talk about needing forgiveness and praying humbly. Basically, the publican is the most hated person that even Christ could think of. Not the legionaries, not the Emperors, but the tax man.

Again though, these tax systems changed a lot over time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisee_and_the_Publican

[smabie]

> Usually, the cost of this stick was about the amount of taxes generated.

Over what time period? And was the cashflow discounted at the "risk-free" rate?