218 AMOUNT OF CHAP. IX. 



was not a fixed impost, but varied in amount ac- 

 cording to the wants or the will of the reigning 

 emperor. The general estimate of the supplies 

 was proportioned to the real and imaginary de- 

 mands of the state ; b'ut as often as the expense 

 exceeded the revenue, or the revenue fell short 

 of the computation, an additional tax was im- 

 posed on the people. A regular survey was 

 made of the value of the property every fifteen 

 years. The lands were measured by surveyors, 

 who were sent into the provinces ; their nature, 

 whether arable or pasture, or vineyards or 

 woods, was distinctly reported, and an estimate 

 made of their common value from the average 

 produce of five years. The numbers of slaves 

 and cattle constituted an essential part of the 

 report. An oath was administered to the pro- 

 v prietors, which bound them to disclose the true 

 state of their affairs ; and their attempts to pre- 

 varicate, or elude the intention of the legislator, 

 were severely watched, and punished as a capi- 

 tal offence, which included the double crime 

 of treason and sacrilege. 



The amount of this tax cannot now be known, 

 except as regarded the province of Gaul ; but 

 it was such as tended to devastate and depopu- 

 late many parts of the empire. According to 

 Gibbon (cap. xxvii.), " The rapacious ministers 

 of Constantius had exhausted the wealth of 



