Publican

Publicani, publicans: General those in ancient Rome, who took over government contracts. In a narrower sense, the publicans - business is characterized by the fact that the interested party buys the order, so the execution of the order to advance payments. Mostly close for several publicans to a society, a " societas publicanorum " together.

In German unusual is the name of the " Publicani " as " Publikaner "; the term " Publikaner " is a term used to describe the Cathars or closely linked groups of the 12th century.

Background

The system of private economic activity on behalf of the State whose heyday is to be set from the second century BC to the first century AD, gave the Roman state the opportunity to act in a far -striding, without having to adapt the city state administration structures accordingly: Risk and organizational effort were quite with private persons. As a method of indirect state rule, the Publikanensystem therefore embedded in the typical just for the initial period of the Roman Great State of indirect rule, a procedure in relation to the conquered territories.

Be early examples publikanischer activity Obtaining eg on Roman construction projects, the publicans are not least in history, because they in some Roman dominions the right of tax collection in hands held (so-called tax farming ). Under favorable conditions, these lease offered excellent returns, ie, the capital invested could sometimes be recouped many times over again. During the Roman state thus had the pleasure of funds in the short term and relatively risk that publicans could reap big profits in the medium term. As the senators were allowed to exercise in the late republic no trade and ship more shops (especially after the Lex Claudia de nature Senatorum of 218 BC), the Roman practice of the State lease favored the economic advancement of the state of equites ( knights ) publikanisch their active members were also sometimes referred to almost as a separate stand ( ordo publicanorum ). The system of the publicans in the area of ​​tax or revenue collection brought but also great drawbacks that eventually led also to the fact that this system had to be overcome or changed:

A similar system with similar advantages and disadvantages can be found in modern times in the tax farmers in France.