Actually, the entire quotation from Cicero shown above is bogus. It was invented by the novelist, Taylor Caldwell, for a novel she wrote about ancient Rome, Pillar of Iron.. The fact is, at that particular time, the citizens of Rome were not taxed at all. Only the provinces were taxed. The quotation is repeated on numerous websites as a quotation, and has taken on a kind of life of its own, but it does not exist in Cicero's own works.