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Saiko M. M.

Bankers collectors in ancient Rome

Lending operations in ancient Rome involved two main categories of 

entrepreneurs: the first one, represented by riders, professionally engaged in

lending operations («feneratores»), the second - by professional money changers:

argentarios («argentarii»), mensarios («mensarii») and nummularios (nummularii

»)! "owever, we can also find other titles - «ban#er collector» («argentarius-

coactor») or simply «collector» («coactor»)! $hese definitions apply to the

 ban#ers, who were involved in the auction!

%any researchers mentioned auctions ban#ers in their wor#s! &n particular,

'ean ndre, ! %aselli, *! +icyporu#, ! *etrucci, ! .erboven and ! /mirnov

gave a general characteristic of this category of entrepreneurs! %! rnolds, 0!

"olleran, '$ /chirmer and $$ $erpstra wrote on how auctions in the ncient Rome

were conducted! &n the wor#s of &! 1ab23#, .! 1oruchovich, &! 4ihman, '!

%ar5uardt the appearance and content of the documents, which were used during

the auction operations, is described! 4inally, a number of researchers have devoted

their wor# to studying the most important archives of the Roman ban#ers! &n

 particular, the documents of the ban#ing house of /ulpicius *uteoli were studied

 by 'ean ndreau, ! 0amodeca and ! .erboven! &n turn, "! 6rman, $! %ommsen

and %!6! /yarheen#a described archive of the ban#er Lucius 0aecilius 7u#unda

found in *ompeii!

$o further e8amine the activity of ban#ers-collectors we have to deepen our 

sources! &n particular, they were mentioned by 'ulius 0aesar, %arcus *orcius 0ato,

/e8tus 'ulius 4rontinus, "orace, 'uvenal, Livy, %artial, 9vid, *erseus, *lautus,

*liny, /eneca, /uetonius, 0icero, and also in the Lives of the ugusti! uy (in

&nstitutions) and the authors of igests mention them too! 0orpus &nscriptionum

Latinarum as well as the collection of 0aspar 9relli are great sources also!

nalysis of the sources and historiography defines the main tas#s of the

article: to e8amine the nature of the activities of ban#ers-coactors, to understand

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68amples of such auctions have been given by: *lautus in «%enaechmi»

(Plaut. Men., %, , 115"1161), *etronius in A/atyricon» (Petron. Sat. 8, 16),

0icero in the speech A9n uties» (or A9n 9bligationsB) (+ic. 'e o((., &&&, 1, 55;

&&&, 16, 66), in the speeches &n efence of /e8tus Roscius of meria» (+ic. $ro

Roscio *mer. %&&&, 2), &n efense of Cuinctius» (+ic. $ro uinct., &%, 15), in

the first speech A9n grarian Law» (+ic. 'e ee *r., &, , /)!

n important wor# is %arcus $ullius 0icero>s speech &n efense of 0ecina!

0ecenia, Dife of 0icero;s fiduciary (ulus 0ecina), left after her death property

divided among three personas! 0ecina got EFG=H of the entire property, freedman of 

her first husband husband %ar# 4ulcinii got HG=H and /! 6bucii got

auction had to be held to sell the heritance, while the proceeds had to be distributed

among the heirs!

%any references to the auctions selling the inheritance and ban#ers, who held

the auctions can be found in 0icero;s letters! 4irst of all, we should note the letters

to $itus *omponia ttica J the closest friend, relative and personal ban#er of 

0icero, who, among other duties was responsible for the organiation of auctions!

&n a letter dated %ay

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estate, which %arcus $ullius inherited from ban#er %arcus 0luvius (+ic. * *tt.

)3&&, !6, , &%, 9, 1)!

.estorius also participated in the auction selling the inheritance of a 1ryn, of 

which 0icero had a fair share & received a letter from .estorius concerning the

 property of 1reen» («de 1rinniana auctione accepi a .estorio litteras») (+ic. *

*tt. &&& , 12, !)! %arcus $ullius also mentioned an auction in the letter to his wife

$erentia on 9ctober ?, ? 10! &n this case, auction was conducted by ban#er 

.alery *ublius (+ic. * (am. &%, 2, 2)!

uctions were held as well when selling an incorrigible debtor;s mortgage!

$he main types of real estate collateral in Rome were conditional sale («fiducia

cum creditore») and mortgage! &n accordance with the terms of fiducia borrower 

sold his landed property to lender for a credit, while lender had to return the

 property after the loan repayment! ctually, the property remained in the use of the

 borrower, because the lender gave the property to the borrower as a precarium (a

form of land tenure in which a petitioner (grantee) receives a property for a

specific amount of time without any change of ownership)! fter the payout was

made, the property was transferred bac# to the borrower (as a result of 

remancipation - remancipare)! "owever, if the debt was not repayed by the

deadline, the lender too# possession of the property, despite the fact that its cost

could significantly e8ceed the amount of the debt! $o regulate such a problem an

establishment was made in the near future! $he mortgage had to be sold to the third

 person! 4irst, the right to sell the mortgaged property was caused by an agreement

of the parties, and then such a condition has become so fre5uent that it became a

matter of course! Ilpian wrote: although there was no agreement on the sale of 

collateral, we apply a rule that allows the sale of the pledge unless the contrary was

stated by the the parties» (« 6tsi non convenerit de distrahendo pignore, hoc tamen

iure utimur, ut liceat distrahere, si modo non convenit, ne liceat ») ('i., &&&, %&&,

!)!

$he same rule was applied in the cases of mortgage agreements, becoming

widely used in Rome in &&&-&& centuries 10 and gradually replacing the fiduciary

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contracts! $he same way as the fiduciary contract, if the debt was repayed the

 property became unpledged! &n the case of nonpayment of the debt, the lender got

the right to sell the mortgaged property («2us distrahendi»)! $he sale itself too# 

 place through the organiation of the auction!

uctions in ancient Rome were also carried out and the sale of goods, and

could be sold as real estate and movable property!

/everal times a message for the sale of estates find in Libya! /o, in the si8th

 boo#, he tells of the sale by auction of the estate under .eyyami (4undum in

.eienti) famous %ar# %anlius (%arcus %anlius 0apitolinus) (Liv! .&,

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(*laut!, %en!, ., M,

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crops, but also all the e8cess («uctionem uti faciat: vendat oleum, si pretium

habeat@ vinum, frumentum 5uod supersit, vendat@ boves vetulos, armenta delicula,

oves deliculas, lanam, pelles, plostrum vetus, ferramenta vetera, servum senem,

servum morbosum, et si 5uid aliud supersit, vendat ») (0ato! e agr! &&, =)!

$hese auctions are conducted ban#ers, builders» («argentarius-coactor») or 

simply collectors» («coactor») ("or! /at! &, E, E, /en! e 1enef! &&, HO, &&&,

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pril

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/everal inscriptions mention #oa#tory conducting the auctions in the wine

mar#et of Rome («4orum vinarium»), in particular *ublius autsily 6ros, wine

 ban#er auctioneer in the wine mar#et («*! 0aucilius /alvi L! 6ros coactor vinarius

de foro vinario»), and also several #oa#torov wor#ed at the gates of the wine

mar#et («coactoris a porta vinario»), («coactor de portu vinario»), («C! 4ulvio

argentar! coactor de portu vinario»)!

*reserved as several inscriptions mentioning the #oa#torov wor#ing outside

of Rome: the Roman harbor of 9stia, $usculum («coactor»), *raeneste (L! omitio

gathemero *aridis lib !!!! 0aesaris coactori »), 5uileia (« coactor argentarius »),

in orduba 1aetica («L! *ersius iphilus coactor»), as well as a certain Lucius

%unius (or %ummius) of Reate in Latium! Relative to the latter in the literature,

there are different interpretations! $he fact that in the original inscription in the

name of this #oa#tora lost two letters (%u !!! ius)! 0ompilers 0orps of Latin

inscriptions, reconstructed his name as «Lucius %ummius», while a number of 

researchers give version «Lucius %unius»!

mong #oa#torov could be found not only individuals, but also to the

auctioneers, staying in the imperial service, and is an agent 4is#: «.i viro avg!

coactori argentario »@ «L! omitio gathemero *aridis lib !!!! 0aesaris coactori »!

.ery interesting inscription «%! Ilpio ug! Lib! %artiali coactori argentario

caesaris n G ostrum G !!! »! 'udging by this line, upomyanutyyt %ar# Ilpius %artial

was freedman of $ra2an and wor#ed auctioneer auctions 4is# («caesaris nostrum»)!

1an#ers, collectors often were freedmen as imperial as the aforementioned

%artial or $itus 0laudius seconds («$i 0laudio vg! Lib! /ecundo *hilippiano

coactor argentarius», and freedmen individuals, such as *ublius 4abius *hilo#rates,

freedman of *ublius, #oa#tor («*! 4abius *L *hilocrat coactor»), the above-

mentioned *ublius autsily 6ros freedman /alvia («*! 0aucilius /alvi L! 6ros

coactor»)! %et and free representatives of the plebs, however, and in most cases

they were the descendants of freedmen! e8ample, in above inscriptions on

#oa#torah $itus /taberii seconds $its 0laudia /ecunda there is no indication that

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they were freedmen, but the cognomen «/ecundus» - «second», indicates that their 

ancestors were once slaves!

$he sources also mention the location of the auction! ccording to 0icero,

auctions were held in a #ind of atrium Licinius» («atriis Liciniis») (0ic! *ro

Cuinct! &.,

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were part of the archive, ban#-owned home /ulpicii! rchive dated time of HE (or 

HF) in >E

/ulpice conducted ban#ing operations, which included the auction sale!

"owever, because they were acting in the largest port of *uteoli &talic, of course,

that their main occupation was to provide maritime loans («pecuniae traiecticiae»)!

ocuments related to the auction business in the archive have saved a little and

study the sub2ect of many wor#s, among which we mention the study by '! ndre,

iuseppe amode#i onraada and willow!

%uch more important for the disclosure of our theme is the second group of 

documents - the so-called archive 7u#unda! &t documents the ban#er Lucius

0aecilius 7u#unda found at *ompeii in

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seals! "enry 6hrman, however, claimed that this #ind of printing documents

usually put all the witnesses, but it is clear that the lac# of the re5uired number of 

 prints can be attributed to the ine8orable time! fifth page, covered with wa8, and

 placed it on the te8t, writing on behalf of the cler# (which obviously served as a

notary) ecima .oltsiusa $allusah («! .olcius $hallus »), who confirmed that

Imbritsiya ennaro received from Lucius 0aecilius 7u#unda

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he named #oa#torom-rgentario («$i 0laudio vg! Lib! /ecundo *hilippiano

coactor argentarius», and the inscription on the stone, which is set /econd wife on

his behalf, he simply called #oa#torom («$i 0laudio vg! lib! /ecundo *hilippiano

coactori»)!

&n conclusion the most important moments of the proposed research! uctions

were held in Rome in the sale of a mortgage faulty debtor, in the distribution of the

deceased>s estate among the heirs, the sale of large 5uantities of goods, as well as

selling the right to collect ta8es from the provincial ta8-farming companies! &n the

first three cases, the auction was conducted ban#ers collectors! &nvolvement of 

 ban#ers to the auction business was due to the fact that, in accordance with the

rules of the Roman auctions, the buyer could pay for the purchase in cash and on

credit, the seller also had to get the money immediately after the sale of the

 property! +ecessary to conduct such an auction wor#ing capital could have only

 ban#er!

uctions, which e8hibited significant values conducted large ban#ers,

 belonging to the order of riders! /maller auctions and auction sale of all sorts of 

goods carried small ban#ers collectors representing the plebs and freedmen! s for 

the auction premises used various public buildings!

&n the implementation of credit transactions with buyers ban#ers collectors

used a special auction boo# sellers also paid cash, the receipt of which is done with

a receipt! %ore than a hundred of these receipts were found during e8cavations of 

*ompeii in the archives of the ban#er-collector Lucie 0ecilia 7u#unda!

$he study of activities of ban#ers-pic#ers and documents used by these ban#ers provides important information needed for further study of credit relations

in ancient Rome, and will contribute to further research the history of ancient

Rome!

Bi4liora$hndreau 'ean! Tconomie romaine! Roma!

KOH V!

ndre 'ean!

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rnolds %! HNN?: 4un#tionen republi#anischer und frXh#aisereitlicher 4orumsbasili#en in

&talien! "eidelberg! H=H V!

1ab23# &! HNN

 +icyporu# *! HN

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.erboven ! HNN: Reflections on the Roman papers GG .erboven !, .andorpe !,

0han#ows#i .! *istoi dia tn technn: ban#ers, loans and archives in the ncient Dorld: studies

in honour of Raymond 1ogaert! *eeters! *p! O=-K!

.erboven ! HNNN: L>organisation des affaires financires des 0! /ulpicii de *ouoles

($abulae *ompeianae /ulpiciorum) GG0ahiers du 0entre ustave lot! HNNN! ! W{ ! ! HNN: |VzqV}~, V}~, •V}~!!! (}V qjz [ } ~}

} V}~)! €q! qVx! } Vx}j! }q!, V! { q•z! ‚ƒ! ! V! H (HE)!

 „V}}! W! K=J?F!

WVz ! …!