Part 67 (1/2)
Epaphroditus looked perplexed ”Your Majesty, that would take many days Has the most noble lord Antony the ti I should see,” Antony said quickly
”Just a short tour of the receiving stations in Alexandria, then,” I assured Epaphroditus
”Very well” He cleared his throat ”I cao, but I find it is even ined In one way it is si She owns the entire country--all the land, all the produce of the land, all that labor produces There is no private property--it is all the Queen's” He waited for a response fro, he went on, ”It was the way of the Pharaohs, and when the Ptolemies came, the system continued Of course the Queen does not literally own everything, but everything cohty as the Nile itself, flows froranary of Alexandria There are royal receiving granaries for other produce, too:--the beans, gourds, onions, olives, dates, figs, almonds The yearly tax on wheat, paid in kind, is twenty million bushels a year”
Antony stared at him ”What?” he said
”Twenty uratively, of course--of Queen Cleopatra”
”Ye Gods!” said Antony It sunk in what thisto import wheat, and lately sextus had disrupted the supply route, so that food riots had broken out in Rome ”Twenty million bushels a year ” He shook his head
”We will visit the granary,” I assured him I wanted him to see that mountain of food
”But there is also the royal monopoly on wool,” said Epaphroditus ”We have been quite successful in breeding sheep from Arabia and Miletus, and produce so much wool that we export it Of course the wool mills come under our control”
”Oh, did I tell you I have my oool mill?” I said innocently to Antony ”It sports reat des--I suppose because of Caesar” I laughed ”So everyone wants to own one”
”She has made a tidy bundle froo to help the needy”
”Yes, and I have an idea of diverting so had to be done about their state of despair
”And the oil,” I proreat royal monopoly, and each year we tell the farmers exactly how much land should be planted for the required yield Then the oil is pressed in state factories by the peasants, and sent here Letwarehouse We passed row after roine amphorae until we entered the oil warehouse, where the shapes quickly changed--these amphorae were squat and round They stretched on and on, lined up like an army, a silent arhest quality,” Epaphroditus was saying There must have been a thousand of them ”And here the croton oil”--another thousand ”And the linseed oil”--another mass of them ”And safflower, and colocynth”
”All yours?” said Antony faintly
”All mine,” I said ”Or rather, the profits of them are I certainly cannot use it all myself--even to feed the Incoh n oils by levying a fifty-percent ih, we also io up the Nile, another twelve percent That assures us that no one will bring in any foreign oil--except a very rich man, for his own use, and in liht of everything,” said Antony
”We have had generations to do so,” I said ”Epaphroditus, do you think we should also include the papyrus warehouse on the tour? It is a royal yptian than papyrus? Of course” Epaphroditus smiled
”Perhaps, before we depart, we should allow him to see a little of our tax books,” I said ”As for the cattle, the royal prerogative gives us e herds, and we have leather factories We also have a quarter share in all fisheries and honey”
Antony was shaking his head ”Is anything exempt?” he asked
”No, not really We have our own merchant fleet on the Nile We also have control of the mines, the quarries, the saltworks, and the natron pits,” I assured him ”No one can fish or keep bees or brew beer without a license from us And we receive one-sixth of the produce of vineyards, taken in kind To keep our wines coe a one-third import duty on fine Greek wines”
”But I notice you drink the”
”Well, of course,” I said ”We use the profits froe our taste for Greek wine We don't like to be deprived”
”Of course not” He walked up and down the corridors of a at them attentively
”Now let's take a look at the wine,” said Epaphroditus, returning to the first warehouse He gestured to one wall ”These are our best, wine from the Delta Of course, it can't compare with that of Lesbos or Chios, but”--he walked on, toward another grouping--”this is Mareotic, it's quite good, white and sweet They use a special seal on the a dazed ”Here's Taeniotic--usually pale yelloith an oily quality It has to be mixed with pure water”
”What is anization,” I told Antony ”After all, any ruler can decree that he is owed taxes--but collecting thehed ”I have hadeast was to collect taxes to pay for the last-fought war ”If you have the secret--”
”The secret lies in taking a census on a regular basis,” I said ”We try to conduct one every year, or, at the worst, every other year”
”Ye Gods!” Antony repeated ”How can you , we are not always at war Peace is needed for such close adood point,” Antony said ”And so it is a good thing that the civil wars of Rome are over”
That was not the point I wished to h for that discussion later, and in private ”Coranaries”
Outside, our chariot aiting, and Epaphroditus ordered his brought around He led the heeling around and skirting the wharves,the canal-fed inner harbor Most of the produce of the land arrived through Lake Mareotis and the Nile canal, and the shi+ps unloaded there, transferring their cargo onto the canal that ran through the city The granaries lay there, our own version of a line of pyraest one, built of limestone and fastened with heavy iron doors It was locked and bolted froave the signal for the ranary to open it for us After the sound of the bolt sliding out, the doors swung open slowly
A golden haze lay in the air inside, and the sunlight--coh s--broke into shafts and turned into a cloud It hit the dust fro in the air and gave a dry, sweet smell to the place
There was a pathway down the center of the building, but on both sides were thick plank half-walls holding back the grain--what looked like an ocean of wheat stretching back and back to the periphery I pictured the wood straining and breaking, and a wave of grain gushi+ng out and drowning us
Antony kept turning his head, looking on both sides, but he said little
”There are sis, dates, and almonds have their oarehouses Would you like to visit them?”
”No,” said Antony ”I am sure they are all the same, only the color and smell inside is different”
”Oh, but you must see my favorite--the spice warehouse!” I insisted ”When I was little, I used to make my father take me there The s restless, so I begged, ”Please If ever you want to knohat delightsthat delights you,” he said
Epaphroditus looked down at his shoes, eranary, and soon ere entering the square stone building that served as the repository for the precious iuard set over the doors and around the ventilation vents, for spices were teht and so expensive Three sets of locks had to be undone before we could enter
Inside, the h above, I could see the latticed air vents, but they let out only the excess heat It was di way to reach the floor It took a few moments for our eyes to adjust, and all the while ere assaulted with the smells It was as if our noses had ambushed our eyes and left us dependent on s into the aromatic cloud
”These are the spices that come from the east from the caravan routes,” said Epaphroditus ”We just double the prices we have paid before distributing the coo on to the Black Sea and others to Damascus--but we have most of the market That is because we are a seaport and can export easily, which Damascus can't”
”You seem to have world trade by the throat,” said Antony ”Poor Rome does not even have a harbor; we have to use Puteoli, but that's ales to being based in Alexandria,” I said pointedly I hoped he was paying attention ”Now let's do what I always loved doing--walking past the stores and guessing what they are by saave the other to Epaphroditus, and led Antony