Tax exemption and Athenian imperial politics: The case of Chalkis

Abstract

This paper argues that the clause at IG I 3 40.52-57, which refers to taxation of aliens at Chalkis and has long puzzled scholars, stipulated that any non-Chalkidian who had been granted immunity from Athenian tele, conditional on residence at Athens or not, should enjoy the same immunity from Chalkidian tele at Chalkis; that the inscription belongs to 424/3 b.c.e, when Athenian law and honorifc practice were much concerned with taxation and immunities. Though long seen as fscal punishment by a newly imperial Athens, the action was connected to later debates about local honors and domestic taxation, and was rather mild.