In the Roman Empire, the provincial tax, (the tributes) was a distributive tax. It was divided into agreed sums divided among the provinces and, within these, between the different communities which basically were the cities. Now, the Roman state depended on the cooperation of these communities to establish the basis for the tax, to fix the individual contributions and to receive the sums due as tributes. Yet, it did not have at its disposal an administrative system that was sufficiently widespread to allow it to reach down as far as the individual taxpayer. The topic of the fiscal relationship between the imperial state and the cities was therefore of prime importance because the organisation, the functioning and the payment of the taxes depended on it. In fact, these systems needed to show a minimum of good will, based on a form of consent, and possibly discussing or negotiating certain points with the imperial authorities. Several paths are open to us for the study of these relationships. In this article, we begin with an inscription in Tarragona (CIL, II, 4248) in order to evoke the role played by great local nobles in the census. It is a homage from the province of Hispania Citerior to one Caius Valerius Arabinus, a worthy from Bergidium Flavium, a little town to the north of the province, for a mission he was sent on by the provincial assembly to the imperial census office. The exact nature of this mission is unknown to us but it is clear that it was to represent and to defend the interest of the province. Visibly, Valerius did this with great success. Other epigraphic documents concerning the links between the provincial assemblies and the census are presented. The whole file shows that these could be concerned with fiscal questions to the imperial civil service and even to the emperor and apparently were even associated with certain aspects of the setting up and the bases of the provincial tax.< Leer menos