Infrastructure Lessons from Venice

[Bengalzona]

(04-05-2017, 07:55 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: But, does that include medical, dental, vision, BAH, gym membership, yada, yada, yada?

Did they have to declare raping and pillaging on their taxes?

I know that is tongue-in-cheek, but they did have the ancient world equivalent of medical, dental, etc. Around the time of Trajan in the 2nd century AD, doctors known as medici were attached to legions. The medici were the top medical practitioners of the ancient world (partly because of advanced training and partly because of battlefield injury experience).

The housing they built themselves. When a legion set up in an area, they would build a temporary camp and eventually develop that into a stone fort with barracks, bakeries, theaters, brothels, etc. if they were in the area long enough (the longer they were there, the more they built). The legioneers doubled as part-time engineers as they were constantly required to build bridges, roads, aqueducts and fortifications when they were not fighting or trading (but they also had trained engineers attached to each legion to oversee). Those additional skills were one of the greatest strengths of the Roman Army.

The raping and pillaging was similar to how the pirates used to divy stuff up: the higher the rank, the higher the share. Of course, the Emperor was at the top of the pyramid and got his share first. So, I suppose that was sort of like a tax.