{"id":105112,"date":"2022-05-08T17:31:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T15:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/?page_id=105112"},"modified":"2022-05-08T17:31:29","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T15:31:29","slug":"roman-banking","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman banking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_87 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Chapters<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/#associations-of-roman-bankers\" >Associations of Roman bankers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/#argentarii-%e2%80%93-roman-bankers\" >Argentarii &#8211; Roman bankers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/#mensaria\" >Mensaria<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/#nummularii\" >Nummularii<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/#the-crisis-and-fall-of-the-roman-economy\" >The crisis and fall of the Roman economy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-economy\/roman-banking\/#types-of-vaults\" >Types of vaults<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>The activities of Roman banks are not documented in such detail as, for example, Greek ones, because no important Latin positions have been preserved. From <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/ustroj\/prawo-rzymskie\/\">Roman law<\/a>, however, we know that banking and cash deposit were highly developed. Roman bankers appeared in the 3rd century BCE Initially, they were called <em>trapezitai<\/em> from the Greek (from the word <em>trapezoid,<\/em> meaning &#8220;abacus&#8221;), but then the Latin name <em><a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/curiosities\/argentarii-roman-bankers\/\">argentarii<\/a><\/em> came into use.<\/p>\n<p>A turning point in Rome&#8217;s opening up to the great Mediterranean <a title=\"Trade in Ancient Rome\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/gospodarka\/handel-rzymski\/\">trade<\/a> and, consequently, the development of credit and banking, was the opening of <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/geografia\/miasta-rzymskie\/ostia\/\">the port of Ostia<\/a> in 179 BCE In <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-geography\/roman-cities\/rome-eternal-city\/\">Rome<\/a>, the highest social groups performed the function of bankers since the conduct of banking activities was not contempt. At first, they were ordinary senators and their families. However, with the release of the law <em>lex Claudia de senatoribus<\/em> of 218 BCE which forbade senators and their sons to engage in trade and <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/gospodarka\/pieniadze-rzymskie\/\">money transactions<\/a>, this privilege fell on equites who had a wide earning potential. Later it happened that <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/spoleczenstwo\/warstwy-spoleczne-starozytnego-rzymu\/ekwici\/\">equites<\/a> exceeded the senators in wealth and thus achieved high positions in the state.<\/p>\n<p>The equites were in the hands of particularly profitable government <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-republic\/roman-offices\/\">offices<\/a>, from which recruited <em>publicani<\/em> &#8211; officials responsible for collecting taxes in the provinces. <em>Publicani<\/em> often pooled their capital into companies (<em>solitates<\/em>).<br \/>\n<a title=\"Roman Senate\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/ustroj\/republika-rzymska\/urzedy-rzymskie\/senat-rzymski\/\">Roman Senators<\/a>, concerned about the rapid enrichment of equities and strengthening their influence, tried to limit their financial arbitrariness in the provinces. To this end, they introduced new laws designed to hinder the endeavours of the more agile <a title=\"The social strata of ancient Rome\" href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/spoleczenstwo\/warstwy-spoleczne-starozytnego-rzymu\/\">social class<\/a>.<\/p>\n    <div class=\"ramka_ze_zdjeciem float-center \"\n         style=\"\">\n\n        <div class=\"zdjecie\">\n            <img\n                class=\"ramka-ze-zdjeciem\"\n                src=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/50_ancient_roman_premium_coins_180221688886.jpg\"\n                                alt=\"Roman coins\"\n                width=\"600\"\n                height=\"450\"\n               \n               \n            \/>\n\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/50_ancient_roman_premium_coins_180221688886.jpg\"\n               rel=\"fancybox\"\n               title=\"During archaeological excavations in the former Roman Empire, a large number of coins were found in various places, which indicates commercial relations between Roman centres or other countries.\">\n                <div class=\"iover\">\n                    <div class=\"zicon\">\n                        <i class=\"fa fa-search-plus\"><\/i>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"opis\">\n                                During archaeological excavations in the former <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-empire\/\">Roman Empire<\/a>, a large number of coins were found in various places, which <b>indicates commercial relations<\/b> between Roman centres or other countries.            <\/div>\n        \n                    <div class=\"chmurka\">\n                Creative Commons Attribution license - On the same terms 3.0.            <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n    \n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"associations-of-roman-bankers\"><\/span>Associations of Roman bankers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Bankers&#8217; associations, or <em>societates argentariae<\/em>, were <b>a banking peculiarity<\/b> in the Roman world. The capital for their creation came from financial membership fees and was released to pay off debts. As banks were of particular public interest, <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-law\/\">Roman law<\/a> required members of <em>societates argentariae<\/em> to be responsible for deposits with all their property. The joint, unlimited liability of the members of the associations was a general principle of Roman law, which served to minimize the effects of fraud and abuse by bankers and to protect the right of depositors to recover money at any request.<\/p>\n<p>Their books recorded crediting and debiting of customer accounts. The Roman bankers&#8217; books were treated as evidence in court, so they had to be kept in accordance with <em>editio rationum<\/em> for the dating and management of accounts. The <em>Mensa<\/em> (the type of counter that originally dealt with exchanging money), much like today&#8217;s banking licenses, was portable.<\/p>\n<p>As in Rome, it was the state that owned the premises where banking activities were carried out, and the right to operate (granted by the state) was in the process of being handed over. Such a transfer could include all <em>taverna<\/em> furniture and equipment, as well as financial assets and liabilities. The bankers also formed a guild to defend common interests and obtained important privileges from the <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-empire\/roman-emperors\/\">emperors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Originally, the banks were located in temples, in the basements of which funds were collected. Where exactly did you get the idea that these temples would be places to store money? This is due to the fact that this holy place was constantly visited by priests, and patrols passed under the building. In this way, wealthy Romans were sure that their money was well secured. Money was often placed in various temples to avoid losing funds in the event of a robbery or fire.<\/p>\n<p>In temples, money was exchanged, placed or borrowed. Some also had mints where new coins were minted &#8211; incl. in the Temple of <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-religion\/gods-of-ancient-rome\/list-of-roman-gods\/juno\/\">Juno<\/a> Moneta.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"argentarii-%e2%80%93-roman-bankers\"><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/ciekawostka\/argentarii-rzymscy-bankierzy\/\"><em>Argentarii<\/em> &#8211; Roman bankers<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The gradual development of trade in the Mediterranean in the 3rd century BCE led to the <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-army\/military-formations-of-ancient-romans\/battle-and-marching-formations-of-ancient-romans\/\">formation<\/a> of private bankers (<em>argentarii<\/em> also called a <em>rgenteae mensae exercitores, argenti distractores<\/em> or <em>negotiatores stipis argentariae<\/em>), who had business in taverns (<em>taverna<\/em>) in Forum, near the temple of Castor and Pollux<sup class=\"footnote_empty\">2<\/sup>. In addition to <em>argentarii<\/em>, there were <em>mensarii<\/em> and <em>nummularii<\/em>, which will be discussed in the following subsections.<\/p>\n<p>Bad business could end up in bankruptcy for the bankers. Bankruptcy was known as <em>foro cedere<\/em>, <em>foro abire<\/em>, or <em>a foro fugare<\/em>, meaning &#8220;fleeing the forum&#8221;. Such a strange combination of words resulted from the fact that the presence on the forum was the duty of a person doing business. In this way, he proved his solvency. Leaving the square led to the obvious thesis that the banker was running an unclear business.<\/p>\n<p>Bankers accepted deposits, made loans, exchanged <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/gospodarka\/pieniadze-rzymskie\/\">money<\/a> (<em>permutatio<\/em>), and sometimes auctioned for a 1% commission. <em>Permutatio<\/em> was performed for a small fee (<em>collybus<\/em>). A specific operation was the contract <em>presum argentarii<\/em>, in which the banker guaranteed his client&#8217;s loan from a third party, becoming, in the event of the client&#8217;s insolvency, the debtor of the latter. With time, this operation was replaced by <em>constitutum debiti alieni<\/em>, i.e. an informal obligation to pay someone else&#8217;s debt. Such solutions allowed for the development of new credit operations.<\/p>\n<p>Each banker was required to keep two kinds of books: <em>adversarium<\/em> and <em>codex rationae mensae<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><em>Adversarium<\/em><\/b> was a pop-up log where the locker logged operations in chronological order.<\/li>\n<li><b><em>Codex rationae mensae<\/em><\/b> was a set of customer accounts broken down into debit (<em>expensum ferre<\/em>) and credit (<em>acceptum ferre<\/em>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As previously mentioned, a citizen could apply for a loan. Roman law knew two types of loans:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><em>Nexum<\/em><\/b> was taken in a solemn manner &#8220;with bronze and weight&#8221; (<em>per aedes et libram<\/em>). The creditor may have sold the debtor in <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/spoleczenstwo\/warstwy-spoleczne-starozytnego-rzymu\/niewolnictwo-w-starozytnym-rzymie\/\">slavery<\/a> (<em>legis actio per manus iniectionem<\/em>).<\/li>\n<li><b><em>Mutuum<\/em><\/b> was an informal loan that succeeded in supplanting the older <em>nexum<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Interest (<em>foenus<\/em> or <em>usuriae<\/em>) was treated as remuneration for using someone else&#8217;s capital. They were an interest-bearing loan as opposed to <em>mutuum<\/em>, an interest-free friend loan. The loan contract itself did not usually result in interest, but a separate agreement was concluded, often in the form of a solemn oral promise (<em>stipulatio<\/em>). Sometimes the existence of interest was assumed by the operation of law, especially in proceedings based on the so-called in good faith (<em>bona fides<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Money lending was very common in Rome. This was done by professional moneylenders (<em>feneratores<\/em>) and by equites. Debt enforcement was facilitated by a strict enforcement procedure, <em>actio certae creditae pecuniae<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"mensaria\"><\/span>Mensaria<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><em>Mensarii<\/em> (from the word <em>mensa<\/em> meaning &#8220;cantor&#8221; &#8211; the kind of counter at which money was exchanged) were widely respected state bankers who were appointed to the office on exceptional occasions &#8211; mostly in poverty (especially during the war). Their aim was to help those <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/spoleczenstwo\/warstwy-spoleczne-starozytnego-rzymu\/plebejusze\/\">plebeians<\/a> who had particularly severe financial problems, and indirectly calm rebellious moods in the lower strata of society. As previously mentioned, a Roman commoner who did not pay his debt (<em>nexum<\/em>) could become a slave.<\/p>\n<p>This position appears for the first time in history in 352 BCE. <em>Mensarii<\/em> formed the &#8220;commission of five&#8221; (<em>Quinqueviri mensarii<\/em>) and the public bank for indebted citizens. In 216 BCE, under <em>Lex Minucia De Triumviris Mensariis<\/em>, a &#8220;commission of three&#8221; began to operate &#8211; with the same powers as its predecessor. It operated until 210 BCE.<\/p>\n<p><em>Mensarii<\/em> largely served the same functions as <em>argentarii<\/em>, and in ancient times people had difficulty distinguishing between the two types of bankers. Nevertheless, in Roman times, several <em>mensarii<\/em> surnames were popular: <em>Gaius Duilius, Publius <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/biographies\/decius\/\">Decius<\/a> Mus, Marcus Papirius, Quintus Publius<\/em> and <em>Titus Emilius<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"nummularii\"><\/span>Nummularii<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><em>Nummularii<\/em> were officials whose main task was to look after and check the quality of the newly minted coins. They ran their own bank in which they put new money into circulation. They checked new coins especially when they were involved in a big deal. Much of the rest of the <em>n<\/em><em>ummularii<\/em> functions differed little from <em>argentarii<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-crisis-and-fall-of-the-roman-economy\"><\/span>The crisis and fall of the Roman economy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The economic and social collapse of the Roman Empire was the result of the government&#8217;s inflationary policies that devalued the currency<sup class=\"footnote\" data-qtip=\"Roman power gradually lowered the value of money by increasing the base metals in coins.\" data-footid=\"1\">1<\/sup> and the establishment of maximum prices for the most important commodities, which in turn led to a general scarcity of these commodities, the financial ruin of merchants, and the disappearance of trade between the various areas of the empire. It was <b>the end of banking as well<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Most banks collapsed in the course of successive economic crises in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. The empire, in an attempt to contain social and economic decay, took additional coercive interventionist measures, which only hastened the disintegration process and enabled the barbarians (for years defeated and held in check by Roman legions) to destroy and conquer the remnants of the ancient, thriving Roman Empire. The fall of the ancient world began a long period of the Middle Ages, and it wasn&#8217;t until almost eight hundred years later that banking was rediscovered in Italian cities.<\/p>\n    <div class=\"ramka_ze_zdjeciem float-center \"\n         style=\"\">\n\n        <div class=\"zdjecie\">\n            <img\n                class=\"ramka-ze-zdjeciem\"\n                src=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/display-4744-640x475.jpg\"\n                srcset=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/display-4744-640x475.jpg 640w, https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/display-4744-400x297.jpg 400w, https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/display-4744.jpg 1200w\"                alt=\"Roman balancing weights\"\n                width=\"500\"\n                height=\"371\"\n               \n               \n            \/>\n\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/display-4744.jpg\"\n               rel=\"fancybox\"\n               title=\"Roman balancing weights\">\n                <div class=\"iover\">\n                    <div class=\"zicon\">\n                        <i class=\"fa fa-search-plus\"><\/i>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"opis\">\n                                Roman balancing weights            <\/div>\n        \n        \n    <\/div>\n    \n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"types-of-vaults\"><\/span>Types of vaults<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Roman treasury was termed <em><b>aerarium<\/b><\/em> and had <span class=\"underlined\">three forms<\/span>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><b>Aerarium populi Romani<\/b><\/em> &#8211; the state treasury located in the Temple of <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-religion\/gods-of-ancient-rome\/list-of-roman-gods\/saturn-roman-god\/\">Saturn<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-art-and-culture\/roman-architecture\/roman-buildings\/forum-romanum\/\">Forum Romanum<\/a>. He was looked after by a <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-republic\/roman-offices\/quaestor\/\">quaestor<\/a> urbanus, supervised by the <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/roman-constitution\/roman-republic\/roman-offices\/roman-senate\/\">senate<\/a>. The source of his income was the tributum (from 406 BCE to 168 CE), funds from extraordinary taxes, taxes from the provinces, as well as a 4% fee paid for the sale of a slave.<\/li>\n<li><em><b>Aerarium sanctius populi Romani<\/b><\/em> &#8211; it was a special purpose register. The source of her income was the proceeds from the 5% fee for the liberation of the slave, as well as part of the spoils of war.<\/li>\n<li><em><b>Aerarium militare<\/b><\/em> &#8211; the fund was established by <a href=\"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/biographies\/augustus\/\">Augustus<\/a> in 6 CE. Its purpose was to provide payments to retired soldiers. He was looked after by three prefects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The activities of Roman banks are not documented in such detail as, for example, Greek ones, because no important Latin positions have been preserved. From Roman law, however, we know that banking and cash deposit were highly developed. Roman bankers appeared in the 3rd century BCE Initially, they were called trapezitai from the Greek (from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":37075,"parent":35892,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-105112","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/105112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/105112\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imperiumromanum.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}