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Suetonius reports a urine tax and the pecunia non olet anecdote, stored with source criticism

Suetonius Vespasian 23 reports that when Titus criticised a tax on public toilets, Vespasian held a coin from the first payment to his son’s nose and said pecunia non olet. It is stored with source criticism: a joke-life is not a lex. In the causal graph this event strengthens Institutional Corruption, a driver that strengthens Political corruption index — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

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Suetonius Vespasian 23 reports that when Titus criticised a tax on public toilets, Vespasian held a coin from the first payment to his son’s nose and said pecunia non olet. It is stored with source criticism: a joke-life is not a lex.

Context

LacusCurtius Suetonius and the Fordham sourcebook independently carry the same anecdote. Later ‘vespasiani’ as a word for urinals is reception.

Vespasian’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.

Conventional years are 9–79 CE. Surviving public files are later Suetonius, Tacitus, Josephus, coins, and encyclopedia pages. Vespasian did not typeset those later English pages. Dates here are received historical years.

Why it matters

Small extraction path with medium confidence. Source criticism is the honest type.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Vespasian

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

    Later Suetonius tells a toilet-tax joke. Unique fiscal yield is not in the anecdote. Complex; the story is evidence of a tax heading, not a recovered ledger.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSuetonius reports a urine tax and the pecunia non olet anecdote, stored with source criticism
    2. strengthensDriverInstitutional Corruption
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Political corruption index
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 1 January 71 · verified

    A received tax on urine (fullones) is a small extraction heading. Confidence is medium because the public file is an anecdote, not a statute bronze.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Fordham Sourcebook — Suetonius on VespasianFordham University · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.LacusCurtius — Suetonius, Life of VespasianUniversity of Chicago / LacusCurtius · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

LacusCurtius Suetonius and Fordham’s Suetonius extract independently print the urine-tax anecdote.

Established: Suetonius reports a urine tax and the nose-joke. Not established: a unique yield series or that the Latin proverb is a 71 stenograph.

Vespasian did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorVespasian
  2. contributed toFactSuetonius reports a urine tax and the pecunia non olet anecdote, stored with source criticism
  3. strengthensDriverInstitutional Corruption
  4. strengthensIndicatorPolitical corruption index

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Suetonius reports a urine tax and the pecunia non olet anecdote, stored with source criticism. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ves-urine-tax-anecdote

https://factrail.ai/facts/ves-urine-tax-anecdote

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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