Bogumił Brzeziński
Anna Pikulska-Radomska, Fiscus non erubescit. On some Italian taxes of the Roman principate, Łódz 2013
Summary
The subject of the review is a book written by Anna Pikulska - Radomska, 'Fiscus non erubescit', which is considered to be the first monograph on Roman taxes in Polish literature. The author of the review draws attention to the fact that the author of the book attempts to reconstruct the meaning of the terms for public contributions while emphasizing the weaknesses of currently used terms: vectigal, tributum and stipendium. The author points out that some of them were ambiguous, and their meaning changed over time.
Attention was paid to the tribute and to who paid it. Thus, tributum (cicium Romanorum, ex censu) paid by patres familias on the basis of their census, vectigalia - understood as state revenues and stipendium - as a first military salary are all described in the review.
The author draws attention to an interesting social background and moral taxation in the period examined by the author of the book, and expresses appreciation for the scientific value of the work itself.