1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 3 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Let's talk taxes now. 7 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 2: Of course, you note the gist right. The government collects 8 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 2: taxes so that it can provide services to its citizens. 9 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 2: That's the idea, at least, But we all know that 10 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 2: it's not that simple. Taxes cause a lot of disgruntlement. 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 2: People can't agree on what tax money should go toward. 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 2: What they can agree that filing taxes is a pain. 13 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 2: And we also know that the founding of the United 14 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 2: States had a lot to do with tax But what 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 2: about before all of this, how did the concept of 16 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 2: taxation even come about? Well, as with most topics we 17 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 2: discuss on this show, we've got to go back to 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 2: ancient Egypt. Taxation in Egypt was as ingrained in the 19 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,919 Speaker 2: fabric of society as the Nile itself, shaping the course 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 2: of its civilization. At the heart of Egypt's tax system 21 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 2: was a levee on goods and services, in which officials 22 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 2: collected dues in the form of grain, textiles, cattle, or labor. 23 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 2: The amount someone owed was tied to their agricultural output. 24 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 2: Successful harvests were subjected to higher percentages. In other words, 25 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 2: a person's wealth determined their tax burden, just like today now, 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,559 Speaker 2: this harvest based tax served as a vital revenue stream. 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 2: A portion of each harvest went to state granaries or 28 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 2: storage centers. And yet the Egyptian state demanded more than 29 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 2: just goods. It required labor too, which further bolstered the 30 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 2: state's resources. 31 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: Some citizens might be required to do field work, quarrying, 32 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: or construction. The evolution of tax collection methods mirrored the 33 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: nation's governance structure too. Initially, during the Old Kingdom, taxes 34 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: were levied on communities collectively, and as the government became 35 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: more centralized, the pharaoh assumed a more direct role. He 36 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: would tour the kingdom to collect taxes himself and insure 37 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: accurate reporting. And then with the Middle Kingdom came a 38 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: shift to individual taxation. This period marked a departure from 39 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: those royal tours, replaced by bureaucratic oversights. This was caused 40 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: by a rise in literacy. As people's ability to read 41 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: and write increased, the government began employing scribes who meticulously 42 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: recorded tax obligations. Now, the zenith of Egypt's tax system 43 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: coincided with the new kingdom. At this point, tax collectors 44 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: and scribes shrewdly managed the royal treasury. In fact, we 45 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: know this today because the new kingdom also ushered in 46 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: a wealth of record keeping. But what's more important to 47 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: this story is the fact that taxes levied during this 48 00:02:55,480 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: era funded grandiose monuments and celebrations showcasing the way, health 49 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: and power of the Pharaohs. And for that reason, it's 50 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: no surprise that alongside these advancements arose familiar pitfalls of governance, 51 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: tax fraud, tax evasion, and corruption. Scribes and local officials 52 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: colluded to under report taxes. Meanwhile, taxpayers devised inventive methods 53 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: to avoid payment. State officials used scales to collect grain 54 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: from farmers, so some farmers would add small stones to 55 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: their grain to tamper with its weight. Outside forces further 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: complicated matters. Persian and Macedonian occupiers introduced metal coinage, then 57 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: imposed taxes on them, and this sparked discontent among the 58 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:43,279 Speaker 1: native population. Complaints about corruption and unfair taxation fueled rebellions 59 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: against Macedonian rule. In particular, in a bid to placate 60 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: influential groups such as high priests, Macedonian king Ptolemy the 61 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: Fifth exempted certain temples from taxation. As a result, these 62 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: temples became lucrative enterprises. But this only made things worse. 63 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: But here's the truly wild part. You see, the dubious 64 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: nature of this ancient tax system goes back to the 65 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: start of our story. It was influenced by a force 66 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: more powerful than any pharaoh or king. Because the true 67 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: roots of Egypt's taxation can be traced back to the 68 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: Nile River itself, where mechanisms known as nilometers were used 69 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: to gauge flood levels, which in turn signaled the success 70 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: or failure of the harvests. Nilometers were massive columns with 71 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: marked lines chiseled all up and down it. They were 72 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: surrounded by sprawling staircases so that rulers could identify water levels, 73 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: which they used to predict harvest conditions. If the water 74 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: rose above a certain point, that indicated flooding, If it 75 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: was below a certain point that meant drought. Studying ancient 76 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: civilizations always reveals enduring patterns. The world might have evolved 77 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: and grown, but some things never go away. The tax 78 00:04:52,839 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: man cometh, he always has and he always will. Everyone 79 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: has to start somewhere. Before he was Han Solo, Harrison 80 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: Ford was a carpenter working on film sets. Katy Perry 81 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: was a gospel singer before she ever recorded a pop album. 82 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: It may feel like some artists were born to do 83 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: what they do, but the truth is it often takes 84 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: a lot of trial and error before someone gets their 85 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: big break. And on top of that, many artists draw 86 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: from their experience working odd jobs before fame, and in 87 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: the case of Piero, being a jack of all trades 88 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: kind of became his calling card. From his earliest days, 89 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 1: Piero learned that he had to make his own opportunities. 90 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 1: He was born in fourteen fifty two, the product of 91 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: an affair between his father, a wealthy notary, and his mother, 92 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: a poor woman from town. Although his father took him 93 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: in to raise him, he wasn't treated the same as 94 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: other sons of nobles in Tuscany. They were tutored in 95 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: Greek and Latin and read the Great thinkers of the 96 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: ancient world and learned complex equations. Piero was lucky to 97 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,359 Speaker 1: learn to read and do basic math. He was a 98 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 1: smart kid, though, with a talent for fine arts and figures, 99 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: but he quickly saw that without the resources other wealthy 100 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: boys had, he to have to think outside the box 101 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: if he wanted to get by. So by the age 102 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: of fourteen in fourteen sixty six, Piero had become an 103 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 1: artist's apprentice. This gave him the opportunity to learn many skills, 104 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: from painting and sculpting to carpentry and metal work. Over 105 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: the years, he used those skills to fully embrace the 106 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: Renaissance system of patrons and commissions. It was a medieval 107 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: gig economy, and Piero was king of the side hustles. 108 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: Like many aspiring artists, Piero got a job at a 109 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: restaurant to make ends meet. In fourteen seventy two, at 110 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: the age of twenty, he worked at a tavern called 111 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: the Three Snails. His time in the kitchen inspired him 112 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: to sketch fantastical kitchen gadgets, from giant whisks to a 113 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: horsepowered nutcracker, and later on, when he redid the kitchen, menu. 114 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: It was something out of a modern fine dining dream, 115 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: with delicate card figures made of polenta and fresh vegetables. 116 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: But the patrons at these Three Snails weren't exactly the 117 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: Michelin Star type. They wanted big, hearty meals, not delicate portions, 118 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: and soon the Three Snails went under. Piero continued with 119 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: his art career into his twenties, painting things like an 120 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: altar for a chapel or frescoes for a church, but 121 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: his brain was always buzzing for new side hustles. Instead 122 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: of painting what he'd been commissioned for, he kept spending 123 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: time designing fantastical inventions and architecture. He would make engineering 124 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: sketches of war machines, which he sold to the many 125 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: powerful city states that made up Italy. He was so 126 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: into his passion projects that he often had trouble focusing 127 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: on one project at a time. That altar and fresco 128 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: he never finished them. Rather than doing his actual job, 129 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: he was building up yet another side business, master of 130 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: feasts and banquets for Milan, and here Piero let his 131 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: talent for extravagance really shine. One wedding he planned involved 132 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: a humongous diorama of the planets, in the middle of 133 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: which stood the happy couple. As the bride and groom 134 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: walked by, each planet opened to reveal an actor dressed 135 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: as the planet's namesake, delivering a poem. Other events didn't 136 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: go so swimmingly, though. In one Piero created a two 137 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: hundred foot long edible altar made of cake and polenta. 138 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: On the morning of the wedding, he discovered that rats 139 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: had already had their own wedding feast. Over the years, 140 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: Piero wore a lot of hats. When he wasn't planning 141 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: weddings and running restaurants into the ground, he was cutting 142 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: up cadavers to study anatomy I hope he washed his 143 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: hands in between, though, He designed machines far ahead of 144 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: their time, and he even found time to finish a 145 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: painting or two. One of them took direct inspiration from 146 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: his time as a wedding planner. For example, when he 147 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: was asked to paint a scene of Jesus and his 148 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: disciples during their final passover Satyr, he remembered a reception 149 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: that he had planned for the Duke of Milan back 150 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: then to make guests feel like equals. He had put 151 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: out one incredibly long table with all of the guests 152 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: seated on the same side, and so he decided to 153 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: do the same with this painting. Today you can see 154 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: the products of his brilliant, scattered mind in some of 155 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: the finest art institutions in the world. Just be sure 156 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: to look under his full name, Leonardo di ser Piero 157 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: da Vinci. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 158 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 159 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 160 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 161 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 162 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 163 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 164 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: over at the Worldolore dot com. And until next time, 165 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: stay curious.