Joel Lai (Mr)

Proposed Thesis Title: The Greek Census Inscriptions and Taxation in the Later Roman Empire
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Jew

The reign of Diocletian from 284CE marked the end of the half-century of assassinations, plague, and invasions in the Roman Empire. Despite the relative stability that had been achieved, this time also marked important religious, political, and fiscal changes for the region. Working with papyrus and literary evidence, I intend to create a model with values and confidence intervals for Diocletian’s tax reforms. If truly “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, starting with a clearer sense of the latter certainty will allow us to talk about the other forces in Diocletian’s rule.

I started my undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond as a business major, taking a Latin course to fulfil my language requirements. Graduating with a triple major in Ancient Greek, Latin, and Economics, I am interested in the intersection of history with other fields of study.

My retirement plan is to live on a boat in the Mediterranean, so you can probably find me boating, or reading Latin poetry in my free time.