A-dictionary-of-greek-and-roman-antiquities-william-smith

ARGENTAR1I.
tiiaes. (See the comment, an Cic pro Qtamct. 4.)
2. The keeping of sums of money for other per*
ions. Such money might he deposited by the
owner merely to are himself the trouble of keep
ing it and making payments, and in this ewe it
was called dtpomitmm ; the argentariui then paid
no interest, and the money was called vaema peani
When a payment was to be made, the
owner either told the argentarhu personally or he
drew a cheque. (PlmuL ('ureal ii. 3. 66, etc, iii.
66, it. 3. 3, &c) Or the money was deposited on
condition of the argentarins paying interest ; in
this case the money was called cmtfinsss, and the
argenarias might of coarse employ the money
himself in any lucrative manner. (Suet Aug. 39.)
The argentarins thus did almost the same sort of
business as a modern banker. Many persons en
trusted all their capital to them (Cic p. Gate. 6),
and instances in which the argentarii made pay
ments in the name of those whose money they had
in hand, are mentioned very frequently. A pay
ment made through a banker was called per ssea-
■sam, lit see&so, or per msmsoe scrtpraram, while a
payment made by the debtor in person was a pay
ment a area or da dome. (Plant. Curat/, v. 3.
T, Ac, 43, Captn. ii. 3. 89 ; Cic ad AU. i. 9,
Tap. 3 ; Scboi. ad HoraL Sat. ii. 3. 69 ; Senec
EpuL 26 ; Gains, iii. 131.) An argentarins
never paid away any person's money without
being either authorised by him in person or re
ceiving a cheque which was called perweriptio,
and the payment was then made either in cash,
or, if the person who was to receive it, kept an
account with the same banker, he had it added
m the banker's book to his own deposit This was
likewise called peneribere or simply tcribrrt. (Plant
An. ii. 4. 30, Ac, Curad. v. 2. 20 ; Donat ad
TeremL Pkorm. v. 7. 23, Ac, ad Adelpk. ii. 4. 13 ;
Cic ad Alt iv. 18, ix. 12, xii. 5), Philip, v. 4,
m Yerr. v. 19 ; Horat SaL ii. 3. 76.) It also oc
curs that argentarii made payments for persons who
had not deposited any money with them ; this
was equivalent to lending money, which in met
they often did for a certain per centage of interest
(Plant Care, iv. 1. 19, 2. 22, True. i. 1. 51, Ac,
Epid. i. 2. 40 ; Toe. Ann. vi 17.) Of all this
business, of the receipts as well as of the expen
diture, the argentarii kept accurate accounts in
books caQed codices, tabmiae or ratumet (Plin. //. A*,
ii. 7), and there is every reason for believing that
they were acquainted with what is called in book
keeping double entry. When an argentarius set
tled his accounts with persons with whom he did
business, it was done either in writing or orally,
both parties meeting for the purpose (Dig. 2.
tit 14. s-47. §1, 14. tit 3. s.20; Plant Au-
U. iii. 5. 53, Ac), and the party found to be in
debt paid what be owed, and then bad his name
effaced (nomen erpedire or e*7xa»ff£re) from the
bankers books. (Phut. Cist. L 8. 41 ; Cic ad
AU, xvL 6.) As the books of the argentarii were
generally kept with great accuracy, and particu
larly in regard to dates, they were looked upon as
documents of high authority, and were appealed
to in the courts of justice as unexceptionable evi
dence. (Cic p. Caec. 6 ; Gellina, xiv. 2.) Hence
tie an/entam were often concerned in civil cases,
a» money transactions were rarely concluded with
out their inSaenoe or co-operation. Their codices
or abuse amid not be withheld from a person
who a court referred, to than for the purpose of
ARGKN'TARII.
I.H
maintaining his cause, and to produce them was
called edert (Dig. 2. tit 13. s. 1. g I), or proferre
codieem (2. tit 13. a 6. g§ 7, 8). 3. Their con
nection with commerce and public auctions. This
branch of their business seems to have been one of
the most ancient In private sales and purchases,
they sometimes acted as agents for either party
(imltrpntu. Phut Cure, iii. 1. 61), and sometimes
they undertook to sell the whole estate of a person,
as an inheritance. (Dig. A. tit 3, s. 18, 46. tit
3 a 88.) At public auctions they were almost
invariably present, registering the articles sold,
their prices, and purchasers, and receiving the pay
ment from the purchasers. (Cic p. Cbee 4, 6 •
Quinctil. xL 2 ; Suet A'er. 6 ; Gams, iv. 126 ;
Capitotin. Aniom. 9.) At auctions, however, the
argentarii might transact business through their
clerks or sen-ants, who were called eoactoret from
their collecting the money. 4. The testing of the
genuineness of coins (probatio nummorum ). The
frequent cases of forgery, as wall as the frequent
occurrence of foreign coins, rendered it necessary
to have persons to decide upon their value, and the
argentarii, from the nature of their occupation, were
best qualified to act as probatores ; hence they
were present in this capacity at all payments of
any large amount This, however, seems originally
to have been a part of the duty of public officers,
the mensarii or nummnlarii, until in the course of
time the opinion of an argentarius also came to be
looked upon as decisive ; and this custom was
sanctioned by a law of Marius Oratidianua. (Plin.
//. A", xxiii. 9 ; com p. Cic ad AU. xii. 5 ; Dig.
46. tit 3. s. 39.) 5. The wUdorum rWioo, 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. (Symroach. Epiet. iz. 49 ;
Procop. Anted. 26 ; com p. Salmasius, LH (/nr. c
17. p. 504.)
Although the argentarii were not in the service
of the state, they existed only in a limited number,
and formed a collegium, which was divided into
Kcutatet or corporations, which alone had the right
to admit new members of their guild. (Orelli,
IntcripU n. 913, 995.) It appears that no one
but free men could become members of such a cor
poration, and whenever slaves are mentioned as
argentarii, they must be conceived as acting only
as servants, and in the name of their masters, who
remained the responsible parties even if slaves had
transacted business with their own peeulium. (Dig.
2. tit 13. s. 4. § 3, 14. tit 3. a. 19.) With regard
to the legal relation among the members of the
corporations, there existed various regulations ; one
member (socius), for example, was responsible for
the other. (Auct ad Herem. ii. 13 ; Dig. 2. tit
14. ss. 9, 25, 27.) They also enjoyed several
privileges in the time of the empire, and Justinian,
a particular patron of the argentarii, greatly in
creased these privileges (Justin. Aror. 136) ; but
dishonest argentarii were always severely punished
(Suet Galli. 10 ; Auson. Epiffr. 15), and in the
time of the emperors, they were under the super
intendence of the praefectus urbi. (Dig. 1. tit 12.
a. 1. | 9.)
As regards the respectability of the argentarii,
the passages of the ancients seem to contradict one
another, for some writers speak of their occupation
as respectable and honourable (Cic p. Caec. 4 ;
Aurcl. Vict 72 j Suet Veep. 1 j Acron. ad Horat
k 2