(derived from Lat. viginti, 'twenty'; literally, 'the twentieth part'). In Rome, V. was the term referring to five-per-cent taxes [IV]; esp. important were the V . manumissionum or libertatis (manumission tax) and the V. hereditatium (inheritance tax).
According to the annalistic tradition (Liv. 7,16,7; on this [3]), the V. manumissionum or libertatis was already decided upon in 357 BC by the Roman army through a vote according to tribus near Sutrium and was afterwards approved by the Senate. Probably from the beginning, it was paid in gold by the freedmen themselves…