[War & Business] The Origin of the Word 'Proletariat'

A statue of Emperor Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire who ascended to power in 27 BC. After taking power, he established a bachelor tax targeting unmarried men and women. [Image source= Vatican Museums official website]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The word ‘proletariat,’ which nowadays means the working class, originally comes from the ancient Roman term ‘proletarius,’ used in the 3rd century BCE to describe people whose only declared property was their children. At that time in Rome, the wealthy paid taxes, but those without property had to serve in the military instead of paying taxes. As a result, not only themselves but also their children, who could serve in their place, were counted as property, giving rise to the term proletarius.

However, after the Roman Empire rose to become a great empire unifying the Mediterranean region around the 1st century CE, the meaning of proletarius shifted from referring to the proletariat to symbolizing the wealthy. As Rome transformed from an agricultural economy to a commercial empire with colonies in various regions, prices and land values soared. The high costs of raising children led many citizens to forgo childbirth, causing a sharp decline in birth rates.

In the 3rd century BCE, the average number of children per household in the Roman Empire was around 10, but by the 1st century CE, it had plummeted to 2 or 3. The empire faced a severe shortage of troops to guard its vast borders stretching from Europe to the Middle East, and the number of taxpayers also sharply decreased. Consequently, the Roman Empire implemented extreme anti-low birthrate regulations.

One of the most notable low birthrate regulations enacted by the Roman Empire was the ‘bachelor tax.’ Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, passed a law imposing a 1% tax on the annual income of unmarried men aged 25 to 60 and unmarried women aged 20 to 50. Additionally, citizens over 50 without children were stripped of inheritance rights and barred from holding public office through a public office restriction law. Despite these measures, birth rates did not increase significantly, and many citizens circumvented the laws through sham marriages and adoption.

During the same period, not only the Roman Empire but also the Han Dynasty in China imposed bachelor taxes. Families with unmarried children over 30 were subjected to a poll tax five times the normal rate, forcing the state to compel marriage and childbirth. In Korea, records show that during the reign of King Seongjong in the Joseon Dynasty, government officials with children past marriageable age were severely punished.

Despite such stringent low birthrate regulations, avoidance of marriage and childbirth persisted in every country. Ironically, as societies developed, the economic conditions for having and raising children became increasingly difficult. At that time, advancements in agriculture and handicraft technologies, as well as the expansion of colonies, led to the importation of cheap foreign slaves, causing many simple labor jobs to disappear. Most Roman citizens had to live on basic income distributed by the government, known as ‘bread and circuses.’ Whether 2,000 years ago or today, the root cause of low birthrate problems ultimately lay in the economy and employment.