That appears to have been the fate of a certain official or local dignitary around 480 CE, according to new findings from the European Research Council’s STONE-MASTERS project. New territories became sources of both resources and tax levies, while continued military campaigns were also funded by taxes. As a result, they were able to trace the text back to already known copies of the legal decision issued in 480 CE, according to the statement. Then in 480 CE, the praetorian prefect sent an envoy to resolve the matter, threatening him with confiscation of his own property if he failed to fix it within three months. “It may also have been a rhetorical device intended to emphasize the importance of the matter—Roman legal practice knows of cases of laws and penalties that were never enforced, only emphasizing the legislator’s intention.”