PTOLMAIS, SYRIA 2 JANUARY 67 AD
“But Titus Flavius, why not? Your legionaries are just sitting here. Why not put them to use?”
The broad-shouldered man behind the malachite desk did not sigh or roll his eyes. He simply gazed back out of that over-large head, frowning at the group of petitioners standing before him. They did not like standing, but Titus Flavius Vespasianus was not a man to care. “Soldiers are for soldiering. They need to train for war, not become tax collectors.”
“Rome needs taxes, Titus Flavius,” pointed out the deputation"s leader. “Especially in time of war.”
“True,” agreed Vespasian. “And you"ve got the contract. So it"s up to you to collect them.”
Publicani, they were called. The publicans, men who purchased the rights to collect Rome"s taxes. As Rome owned no tax
