05.27.09
Hire a Good Estate Planner
“When the king of Bithynia died he left his entire kingdom to the Roman Senate. The Bithynians had been loyal to Rome during the first revolt of Mithridates and they enjoyed tax immunity. The gift of the kingdom to Rome seemed like an appropriate way to show appreciation to the ever-so-generous Senate. The king did not realize the legal implications of this provision in his will. As a new Roman territory, Bithynia would no longer have tax immunity. It now had the same legal status as land that had been forfeited to Rome as punishment for rebellion. Bithynia was open for new taxation or rental in whatever form the Senate desired. This blunder by the king’s lawyer was probably history’s worst example of estate planning.”
Charles Adams, For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization (Madison Books, 2001), pp. 91-92.
