From The Inheritance of Rome by Chris Wickham, p. 35:
But given the weight of tax, and the endemic injustice that marked the Roman system, it is not surprising that corruption should focus on it. Social critics, more numerous as the empire went Christian and and a radical fringe of moralists gained a voice, very frequently stress fiscal oppression in their invective; only judicial corruption and sexual behaviour were as prominent. This would last as long as the empire.
Something to think about if you were wondering how long certain current conservative concerns, mixed with Christian religion, have been and will be with us.
Interesting to note the cycles in history.
Edward Gibbon emphasized the loss of civic virtue and moral decay, including the decline in marriage and the acceptance of homosexuality, but he also saw a large central government and high taxation as causes of Rome’s decline.
Rostovtzeff and Mises attributed the decline to the debasement of currency and inflation which led to price controls and then to shortages.
Toynbee saw the waste of resources, and a “plunder economy” (extracting tribute from conquered lands) as causes of the decline, when there were no lands to plunder. He also thought the prevalence of slave labor precluded the development of a middle class with sufficient purchasing power to sustain the Empire.
How many of these causes do we see in our country today?