The local tax collectors, who obtained the
concession by bidding for it, and had to exact for the chief tax collector
as much
as possible in indirect taxes — e.g., tolls on imported goods — were indeed Jews, but because of their dishonorable practices, and no doubt also because of their subservience to an alien government, they were so hated and despised that they were not
counted as members of the Jewish community, and all intercourse with them was avoided.