Letter 5031: VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 31

[1] Thomas, a most distinguished man, complains that within the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, a number of people owe a very large sum under the heading of the siliquaticum tax [a tax on commercial sales, typically at a rate of one siliqua per solidus] for the eighth, ninth, eleventh, first, second, and fifteenth indiction years, which he claims fall under his tax-farming contract. Since it is not acceptable for the public interest to be delayed by prolonged evasion, your Devotion is to receive this decree and summon Marcus the presbyter, Andreas, Simeonius, and the others listed in the schedule attached below, maintaining full civility in all proceedings. If they are found to be genuine debtors to the treasury -- not by slander, but by clear evidence -- they must pay the amount lawfully demanded, in full and without deduction. [2] We must take care that the defiant spirit of certain individuals does not cause harm to the public accounts. Those who deny the charges, however, are to be brought before the appropriate court under your supervision, so that whatever justice requires may be carried out after hearing both sides, in accordance with the law.