... he Baltic and exchanging it for Roman artifacts. Hoever, fe Romans actually took part in foreign commerce. They did not trade directly ith Arabia, Africa, India, and China, but received incense, ivory, pepper, and silk from these countries through intermediaries. Asian caravans crossed the steppe to China, and Parthians controlled the caravan route to India. From the 1st century ad, Egyptian sailors from Alexandria learned ho to use the monsoon, a ind that changed direction ith the seasons, to enable them to make frequent trips to India. A guidebook from ancient times for captains sailing through the Red Sea still survives. C4 Coinage and Taxes The deficit spending of later emperors nearly halved the silver value of the coinage. Merchants throughout the empire and as far aay as India used Roman coins, but the monetary system primarily served as a ay for the emperors to pay their troops, because the soldiers expected cash. hen an emperor had insufficient income, he as forced to raise taxes, seize property, or, as a final measure, melt don existing coins and mint ne ones that eighed less or contained smaller amounts of precious metals. Silver coins ere a basic medium of exchange during the empire, and one of the major Roman coins, a denarius plural, denarii, equaled four of the smaller silver coins called sesterces. During the reign of Augustus, a silver denarius eighed 5.7 gm .20 oz and as 99 percent pure. By ad 193 it had dropped to 4.3 gm .15 oz and as only 70 percent pure. The deficit spending of later emperors nearly halved the silver value of the coinage. The Roman Empire taxed the people under its control, and the taxes fell most heavily on conquered peoples in the empire. Roman citizens did not have to pay the individual or head tax required of each subject of the empire, and the empire exempted Italian land from tribute. Hoever Roman citizens did have to pay the 5 percent inheritance tax, a 1 percent sales tax, a customs or import duty, and a tax on freed slaves. Local magistrates, imperial officials, and professional tax collectors ere all employed to gather taxes, and the imperial census became an important tool to identify potential taxpayers. Total taxes amounted to about 10 percent of the empires gross national product. That percentage of tax may seem lo by modern standards, but the imperial government provided minimal services. For provincials ho could barely make a living, paying 10 percent of their income to the government as a considerable burden. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2002. 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. iijMOMhrCJ0OJaQJaaJ0hrhrCJ0OJaQJaaJ0hrhrCJ aJ hrhrhrCJaJiLMZiij!fggdr ... Download