ARGENTĀRĬI

bankers or money changers. (1) Greek . The bankers at Athens were called Trapezitae ( τραπεζίται ), from their tables ( τραπεζαι ) at which they sat, while carrying on their busine , and which were in the market place. Their principal occupation was that of changing money; but they frequently took money, at a moderate premium, from persons who did not like to occupy themselves with the management of their own affairs, and placed it out at interest. Their usual interest was 36 per cent.; a rate that at present scarcely occurs except in cases of money lent on bottomry. The only instance of a bank recognized and conducted on behalf of the state occurs at Byzantium, where at one time it was let by the republic to capitalists to farm. Yet the state probably exercised some kind of superintendence over the private bankers, since it is hardly po ible otherwise to account for the unlimited confidence which they enjoyed.—(2) Roman. The Argentarii at Rome must be distinguished from the mensarii and nummular i i , or public bankers. [ Mensarii . ] The argentarii were private persons, who carried on busine on their own responsibility, and were not in the service of the republic; but the shops or tabernae about the forum, which they occupied, and in which they transacted their busine , were state property. The busine of the argentarii may be divided into the following branches. 1. Permutatio , or the exchange of foreign coin for Roman, and in later times the giving of bills of exchange payable in foreign towns. 2. The keeping of sums of money for other persons. Such money might be deposited by the owner merely to save himself the trouble of keeping it and making payments, and in this case it was called depositum ; the argentarius then paid no interest, and the money was called vacua pecunia . Or the money was deposited on condition of the argentarius paying interest; in this case the money was called creditum . A payment made through a banker was called per mens am , de mensa , or per mensae scripturam , while a payment made by the debtor in person was a payment ex arc a or de domo . An argentarius never paid away any person’s money without being either authorised by him in person or receiving a cheque which was called perscriptio . The argentarii kept accurate accounts in books called codices , tabulae , or rationes , and there is every reason for believing that they were acquainted with what is called in book-keeping double entry. When a party found to be in debt paid what he owed, he had his name effaced ( nomen expedire or expungere ) from the banker’s books. 3. Their connection with commerce and public auctions. In private sales and purchases, they sometimes acted as agents for either party ( inter pre tes ), and sometimes they undertook to sell the whole estate of a person, as an inheritance. At public auctions they were almost invariably present, registering the articles sold, their prices, and purchasers, and receiving the payment from the purchasers. 4. The testing of the genuinene of coins ( probatio nummorum ). This, however, seems originally to have been a part of the duty of public officers, the mensarii or nummular i i, until in the course of time the opinion of an argentarius also came to be looked upon as decisive. 5. The solidorum venditio , that is, the obligation of purchasing from the mint the newly coined money, and circulating it among the people. This branch of their functions occurs only under the empire. The argentarii formed a collegium, divided into societates or corporations, which alone had the right to admit new members of their guild. None but freemen could become members of such a corporation. It has already been observed that the argentarii had their shops round the forum: hence to become bankrupt was expre ed by foro cedere , or abire , or foro mergi .