The Palmyrene Tax Tariff

This contribution provides an overview of the longest and arguably most significant of all the Palmyrene inscriptions, the Palmyrene municipal Tax Tariff (CIS II, 3913; PAT 0259), a bilingual text in Greek and Aramaic, dated AD 137 and concerned with local taxes rather than the caravan trade. A brief account of the discovery of the text, its original location, and its early study are presented, followed by an outline description of the text’s content, including a discussion of the role of Roman authorities from early in the first century AD. After clarifying the distinction between the major divisions of the text (New Law, Old Law, and the edict of the Roman governor Mucianus), and thus reconstructing the history of taxation in the city, the chapter discusses important specific details and comments on Palmyrene tax policy.