[Paul C. Jesup]

Well heavy taxation and regulation is what cause the Roman Empire to erode, split and collapse.

[Restorer]

I'm not sure the Roman Empire of Jesus' day attempted to tax the Jews particularly heavily. If I remember correctly, Jesus had to pay his taxes one day and the amount was a denarius, approximately one day's wages for a laborer. What the extremist Jews objected to was paying any taxes at all to a pagan ruler.

I would personally be thrilled if I could pay a year's taxes with one day's wages!

Of course, local governors often extorted money from their charges, but this was not normally the imperial policy.

Later in the Empire, taxation and regulation became increasingly oppressive.