Estates and the Land in Late Roman Asia Minor

Abstract

This article offers a re-assessment of the Diocletianic fiscal system in the light of several fragmentary tax- and land-registers of the early fourth century AD from the dioecesis Asiana. The surviving fragment of the tax-register of Tralles is re-edited with full commentary. The landed property of the decurial class at Tralles is studied in detail. The evidence of the Theran land-register is used to propose a schedule of conversion from raw land-assessments to units of taxation. This schedule is used as the basis for a quantitative study of land tenure and the large private estate in western Asia Minor and the Aegean islands in the fourth century AD. In an Appendix, the author offers a new edition of the tax-register of Astypalaia.