Exorbitant taxes, rising bankruptcy and angry protesters. No, not central London today but the ancient Greek city of Rhodiapolis, some 1,700 years ago. A new excavation of the coastal settlement, located in the Kumluca district of the modern Turkish city of Antalya, has revealed much about the previously little-known maritime hub. Yet the most fascinating artefact thrown up by the project is a large stone tablet, on which the city’s inhabitants had etched their dismay at rising taxes to the then-Roman Emperor Septimius Severus.
Assistant Professor Isa Kizgut has led the excavations by Akdeniz University’s science and literature faculty. He tells the Anatolia News Agency the discovery allows experts a unique glimpse of the everyday issues facing Rhodiapolis’ citizens: “In addition to many historical artifacts, we uncovered some relics concerning the social life of the people during the excavation of the ancient city of Rhodiopolis. The most interesting among these relics was a tablet written by a messenger describing that the public was complaining of high taxes, that he was sent to the emperor to request a discount and that he was promised that taxes would be lowered.
We have an inscription written on a stone and erected as a stele in the agora,” Prof. Kigut continues. “When we consider that people wanted sales tax and income tax rates to be lowered, we can infer that toward the A.D. third century the people of Rhodiapolis could not pay their taxes.” What happened next is not what you’d expect from a Roman ruler: “The emperor gave the green light and promised the messenger that taxes would be lowered,” says Kizgut. “Upon his return to Rhodiapolis, the messenger informed the leader with great joy, and in honor of the messenger, an inscribed stele was erected in the agora.” Right then, I’ve got my stone tablet – Dear Mr
