Hi Tom!
Briefly: I declared my sources in my previous post; at this time I have
nothing to add. I am hoping that Ward Powers will come to our aid with
something...
> Perhaps, but where is the evidence that tax collectors of client-kings
> were directly a part of the various tax collecting systems either of
> imperial or promagisterial provinces? I'm not claiming there is no such
> evidence; offhand I simply don't know what it is.
Alfred Edersheim, /The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah/, 10th impression,
London, New York & Bombay, 1900, vol 1 pp 514ff gives a fascinating account
of the duties of the Publicans in Judaea; and of Christ calling Matthew to be
an apostle and evangelist.
"Till the time of Caesar the taxes were farmed in Rome, at the highest
bidding, mostly by a joint-stock company of the knightly order, which
employed publicans under them.
"But by a decree of Caesar, the taxes of Judaea were no longer farmed, but
levied by publicans in Judaea, and paid directly to the Government, the
officials being appointed by the provincials themselves. This was indeed a
great alleviation, although it perhaps made the tax-gatherers only more
unpopular, as being the direct officials of the heathen power....
"...Levi-Matthew was not only a 'publican', but of the worst kind: a 'Mokhes'
or /douanier/; a 'little Mokhes', who himself stood at his custom-house; one
of the class to whom, as we are told, repentance offered special
difficulties...".
Matthew reported directly to Rome; not to or via the client- or vassal-king
(quarter-ruler) Herod Antipas the Tetrarch of Galilee. You will remember that
Herod the Great had come under suspicion towards the end of his reign, and
Octavian Augustus ordered a new census to be taken (Luke 2:1-2), enforcing
new tax laws. For the date of the census, see HW Hoehner, /Chronological
Aspects of the Life of Christ/, Grand Rapids, 1977.
Sorry, that's all I have to add...
-- Revd Ben Crick, BA CF <ben.crick@argonet.co.uk> 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK) http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm