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On this page: Telos – Temenos

TELOS.

prevent smuggling, or unlawful and clandestine sales; brought a tydffis or other legal process against those whom he suspected of defrauding the revenue; or even seized their persons on some oc­casions, and took them before the magistrate. To enable him to perform these duties, he was ex­empted from military service. Collectors (eKoyeis) wore sometimes employed by the farmers ; but frequently the farmer and the collector were the same person. (Bockh, Publ. Econ. of Athens, p. 335, &c., 2d ed.)

The taxes were let by the .Commissioners, acting under the authority of the Senate. [poletae.]

The payments (Kara€oal reAofs) were made by the farmer on stated Prytaneias in the Senate- house. There was usually one payment made in advance, Trpo/caragoATj, and one or more afterwards, called TrpocrKaTagATf/ua. Upon any default of pay­ ment, the farmer became an/nos, if a citizen, and he yas liable to be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, upon an information laid against him. If the debt was not paid by the expiration of the ninth Prytaneia, it was doubled ; and if not then paid, his property became forfeited to the state, and proceedings to confiscation might be taken forthwith. Upon this subject the reader should consult the speech of Demosthenes against Timo- crates. (Schomann, Ant. Jm publ. Gr.. p. 317.) [C.R.K.]

TELOS (reAos), a tax. The taxes imposed by the Athenians and collected at home .were either or­dinary or extraordinary. The former constituted a regular or permanent source of income ; the latter were only raised in time of war or other .emer­gency. The ordinary taxes were laid mostly upon property, and upon citizens indirectly in the shape of toll or customs ; though the, resident aliens paid a poll-tax, called ^roiiaov, for the liberty of re­siding at Athens under protection of the state. [metoeci.] As to the customs and harbour dues, see pentecoste. An excise was paid on all sales in the market, called eVwi/ia, though we know not what the amount was. (Harpoc. s. v. *E7r<wi«.) And a duty was imposed on aliens for permission to sell their goods there. Slave-owners paid a duty of three obols for every slave they kept ; and slaves who had been emancipated paid the same. This was a very productive tax before the fortifi­cation of Deceleia by the Lacedaemonians. (Xe-noph. de Vectig. iv. 25.) There was also a iropviKov TeAos, and some others of minor importance, as to which the reader is referred to Bockh (Publ. Econ. of Athens, p. 333, 2d ed.). The justice fees (UpvraveM, Hapdcrraffis, &c.) were a lucrative tax in time of peace. (Thucyd. vi. 91 ; Bockh, Id. p. 345, &c.)

The extraordinary taxes were the property tax (elff<popcL), and tho compulsory services called Aet-rovpyiat. Some of these last were regular, and recurred annually ; the most important, the rpiy-papxia, was a war-service, and performed as occasion required. As these services were all performed, wholly or partly, at the expense of the individual, they may be regarded as a species of tax. [Eis-phora ; leitourgia ; trier archia.] ‘. The tribute (<jf>opo:) paid by the allied states to the Athenians formed, in the nourishing period of the republic, a regular and most important source of revenue. In b. c. 415 the Athenians sub­stituted for the tribute a duty of five per cent, on all commodities exported or imported

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TEMENOS.

by the subject states, thinking to raise by this means a larger income than by direct taxation.

[ElCOSTE.]

A duty of ten per cent. (SeKarTj) on merchan­dise passing into and from the Euxine Sea was established for a time by Alcibiades and other Athenian generals. [decumae.] This may be regarded as an isolated case. In general, where /carcu are mentioned among the Greeks, they denote the tithes of land ; such as the Persian Satraps collected from conquered countries, or such as tyrants exacted of their subjects for the use of land held under them as lords of the whole country. For instance, Peisistratus took a tithe of this kind, which was reduced by his sons to a twentieth. The state of Athens held the tithe of some lands ; other tithes were assigned to the temples or service of the Gods, having been dedicated by pious indi­viduals, or by reason of some conquest or vow, such as that recorded by Herodotus (vii. 132).

Other sources of revenue were derived by the Athenians from their mines and public lands, fines, and confiscations. The public demesne lands, whether pasture or arable, houses or other buildings, were usually let by auction to private persons. The conditions of the lease were engraven on stone. The rent was payable by Prytaneias. If not paid at the stipulated time, the lessee, if a citizen, be­came arifj.os, and subject to the same consequences as any other state debtor. As to fines and confis­cations, see timema,

These various sources of revenue produced, ac­cording to Aristophanes, an annual income of two thousand talents in the most flourishing period of the Athenian empire. (Vesp. 660.) See the calcula­tions of Bockh, Id. p. 433, &c.

TeAe?z/ signifies " to settle, complete, or perfect," and hence " to settle an account," and generally " to pay." Thus TeAos comes to mean any pay­ ment in the nature of a tax or duty. The words are connected with zafilen in German, and the old sense of tale in English, and the modern word toll. (Arnold, ad Thuc. i. 58.) Though TeAos may signify any payment in the nature of a tax or duty, it is more commonly used of the ordinary taxes, as customs, &c. TeAos, reAe?? is used with, reference to the property-tax, in the sense of being rated in a certain proportion, or, which is the same thing, belonging to a particular class of rate-payers. Thus i-TTTraSa or tinriKov TeAeiV, or €is iV-TraSa reAe?j>, means, to belong to the class of knights. And the same expression is used metaphorically, without any immediate reference to the payment of a tax. Thus els avdpas reAe«>, is to be classed among adults. So es bojcotovs reAeetr’, Herod, vi. 108. ‘ItforeAeia signifies the right of being taxed on the same footing, and having other privileges., the same as the citizens a right sometimes granted to resident aliens. [metoeci.] ‘AreAeia signifies an exemption from taxes, or other duties and services ; an honour very rarely granted by the Athenians. [ateleia.] As to the farming of the taxes, see telones. For an epitome of the whole subject, see Schomann, Ant. Jur. publ. Gr. p. 314, &c. [C. R. K.]

TEMENOS (Tempos), a piece of land cut or marked off from other land. The name was parti­cularly applied to a piece of land cut off from the public land and appropriated to the support of % king in the heroic age (Horn. //. vi. 193, vii. 313, xx. 184, Od. vi. 293? xi. 183), and likewise to a