There are many legacies of the Roman Empire. People tend to think first of what has survived, the grand buildings, famous landmarks and cities, but the daily life of a Roman citizen is less prominent. Not very many tend to think about their taxes.
But Rome certainly needed many taxes in order to pay for the organization of its vast empire and the military machine which had won it. This public purse also paid for landmarks in Rome such as the Colosseum, more properly known as a Flavian amphitheater.
The Flavian emperors may have built it, but they did not pay for it: that cost was shouldered by the citizens they ruled. And in order to fund all these projects, taxation needed to get more and more creative.
One of the most peculiar of these taxes the Roman empire turned to in apparent desperation was the Urine Tax. But where did it come from, and what did it do for Rome?
