Ancient Taxation

A collection of studies that explores the extractive systems of eleven ancient states and societies from across the ancient world

Ancient Taxation is a collection of studies that explores the extractive systems of eleven ancient states and societies from across the ancient world, ranging from Bronze Age China to Anglo-Saxon Britain. The contributors discuss the inherent challenges of taxation in predominantly agro-pastoral societies, including basic tax strategy (e.g., taxing goods vs. labor, in-kind vs. money taxes, etc.); the mechanics of assessment and collection; and the politics of negotiating the cooperation of social, economic, and political élites and other important social groups.

In assembling a broad range of studies, this book sheds new light on the commonalities and differences between ancient taxation systems, and so on the broader fiscal and institutional practices of antiquity. It also provides new impetus for further comparative research into extractive practices across ancient societies and between antiquity and recent historical periods.

The book will be of interest to those studying ancient social and economic history, the history of social organization, and the history of ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt, the Ancient Near East, or ancient China.

Jonathan Valk is University Lecturer in Assyriology at the University of Leiden.Marín Irene Soto :

Irene Soto Marín is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies and Assistant Curator in the Kelsey Museum at the University of Michigan.

Jonathan Valk is University Lecturer in Assyriology at the University of Leiden.

Irene Soto Marín is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies and Assistant Curator in the Kelsey Museum at the University of Michigan.

This is an impressive and very useful collection. It introduces non-specialists to a wide range of examples of pre-modern taxation practices. There are very few other volumes that have tried to do something similar, and most of what is included here is new in the sense that it cannot be found in any of these other surveys. This collection therefore performs a major service for historians of pre-modern state formation and socio-economic development.