It would be a major aspect of his money-collecting efforts.īut why would he want to tax urine? After all, what practical use could it have, that someone would want to buy it? And how did it lead to the phrase Pecunia non olet? Urine: A Most Useful Substance In Ancient RomeĪs it turns out, human piss had plenty of uses in Ancient Rome. One peculiar item Vespasian decided to tax was human urine collected from public toilets.Īlthough the previous emperor, Nero, was the first to implement this levy, he had rescinded it after a short period. So Vespasian started to introduce new - and novel, and perhaps unexpected - taxes. “In the first place, he collected large sums from them in various ways, overlooking no source, however trivial or however reprehensible it might be, but drawing upon every source, sacred and profane alike, from which money could be secured.”īut it was still not enough. Historian Cassius Dio noted that Vespasian even levied heavy duties on Alexandria, Egypt, despite its citizens’ support for his imperial bid.ĭaniel Mayer/Wikimedia Commons The remains of a Roman amphitheater in Alexandria, Egypt. So he increased taxes all over the empire. In a way, the solution for Vespasian’s money woes came naturally, since his own father was a tax collector. Instead, he entered military service and rose through the ranks largely on his own merit.Īccording to the ancient Roman historian Suetonius, Vespasian never forgot where he came from: at religious festivals, he would always drink from a little silver cup that belonged to his grandmother, and he refused to let anyone modify the small country home where he grew up.īut regardless of his humble beginnings, Vespasian had a big problem: the imperial treasury was all but depleted from war and Nero’s excessive expenditures. Unlike the emperors before him, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, better known as Vespasian, did not hail from a noble family. Emperor Vespasian Before Pecunia Non Olet Having defeated the forces of the last claimant, Vespasian took power and proclaimed a new Flavian dynasty, which would later include his sons Titus and Domitian.
This resulted in a civil war with four men ruling in short succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and finally Vespasian. saw four powerful Romans lay claim to the title of emperor. In what historians have come to call the Year of the Four Emperors, 68-69 A.D. Unsurprisingly, prominent Roman politicians and generals took advantage of the situation, fighting for the imperial throne. With no surviving children or designated heirs, Nero’s passing caused a power vacuum. brought an abrupt end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that had reigned since Augustus, the man who transformed Rome from a republic into an empire. Paris/Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo/Egisto Sani/Flickr Emperor Vespasian wearing the corona civica, or civic crown. 70: “ DIES PECVNIAE,” the day of payment, Inscr. 16, 38: “ pecunias auferre ab aliquo,” Cic. 10, 19.-So in plur.: “ pecunias exigere, capere, imperare,” Cic. 19, 6, 16: “ et pecuniae obediunt omnia,” Vulg. 8, 1: “ majore tormento possidetur quam quaeritur,” id. 2, 3, 96, § “ 224: plura mala nobis exhibet quam aliud quidquam,” Sen. 2, 3, 87, § 202: “ ab sociis maximam pecuniam auferre,” id. 2, 36, 88: “ exige pecuniam a civitatibus,” Cic. 7, 18: “ ex aerario exhaurire, ex vectigalibus redigere,” id. 23, 55: “ transferre in quaestum et fenerationem,” id. 2, 3, 77, § 180: alicui conferre in usum ejus, id. 5, 21, 10: “ pecunias conferre ad statuas,” Cic. 2, 3, 76, § “ 177: pecuniam alicui dissolvere,” id. 2, 3, 73, § “ 171: devorare pecuniam publicam,” id. 2, 3, 76, § “ 176: pecunias civitatibus distribuere. 2, 3, 76, § “ 177: pecuniam publicam domum suam convertere,” id. 2, 3, 73, § “ 171: pecuniam numerare alicui ab aerario,” id. 1, 52, 138: “ pecuniam cogere a civitatibus,” id. 2, 13, 33: “ permagnam ex illā re pecuniam confici posse,” Cic. 5, 14: “ potestas pecuniae conficiendae,” id. 13, 53: “ pecunia publica ex aerario erogata,” Cic. 2, 2, 8: “ omnia vaenibunt praesenti pecuniā,” id. 1, 122: “ praesenti pecuniā mercari aliquid,” Plaut. In partic., money (syn.: “ argentum, nummus): qui dabant olim pecuniam, non adnumerabant eam, sed appendebant,” Gai.