Séminaire Ausonius du 3 mars 2016 : The Birth of the Tax State? Greek Fiscal Thought and the Hellenistic Kingdoms

Par : Andrew Monson,  Associate Professor of Classics, New York University

Salle Pierre Paris - Maison de l'archéologie - Université Bordeaux Montaigne

This paper examines the institutions and ideology of taxation in the Greek world of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Starting from ideas of European historians about the birth of the modern « tax state », it asks whether we can speak of 4th century Athens or Macedonia as « tax states » and examines how Greek fiscal thought developed after the conquest of the Persia empire. The fiscality of the Hellensitic kingdoms arguably marks a shift from both classical Greek and Persian traditions.