According to the early Byzantine writer Zosimus, Emperor Constantine I first initiated this tax, perhaps as early as 325, .
Zosimus |
Ammianus Marcellinus, Tyrannius Rufinus, and Zosimus report that Bacurius was "king of Iberians", but Gelasius of Caesarea does not call him king, but merely scion of the kings of Iberia.
Zosimus (1.68) reports them being defeated by the emperor Probus in 278 in Gaul.
Libanius, Zosimus and Evagrius list examples of the hardships caused by this tax, probably because it was collected in one lump sum every four years.