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

132- ARGENTUM. ARGENTUM.
Sat. i. 6. 86), while others speak of them with from the East, the Romans no doubt obtained most
contempt (Plant Cure, iv. 2. 20, damn. Prol. 25, of their silver aB an article of commerce. But
&c. ; Trueul. i. 1. 47) ; but this contradiction may when first Spain and then Greece, Asia Minor,
be easily reconciled by distinguishing between a and Syria, were brought beneath the Roman
lower and a higher class of argentarii. A wealthy power, they obtained that abundant supply both
argentarius who carried on business on a large of silver and gold which formed the instrument of
scale, was undoubtedly as much a person of re the extravagance and luxury of the later republic
spectability as a banker in modern times ; but and the empire. " The value' of the precious
others who did business only on a small scale, metals did not, however, fall in proportion to their
or degraded their calling by acting as usurers, can-" increase, as large quantities, wrought for works of
not have been held in any esteem. It has already art, were taken out of circulation." (Bockh.)
been observed that the argentarii had their shops
round the forum (Liv. ix. 40, xxvi. 11, 27 ; Plaut
True. i. 1. 61 ; Terent Pliorm. v. 8. 28, Adelph.
it 4. 13); hence to become bankrupt, was expressed
by foro cedere, or abire, or foro mergi. (Plaut
Kpid. i. 2. 16 ; Dig. 16. tit 3. s. 7. § 2.) The
shops or booths were public property, and built by
the censors, who sold the use of them to the argen
tarii (Liv. xxxix. 44, xl. 51, xli. 27, xliv. 16;
comp. J. G. Sicber, Dissertat. de Argentariis, Lipsiae,
1737 ; H. Hubert, Disput. juridical III. de
Argentaria velerum, Trajcct. 1739; W. T. Kraut,
De Argentariis et Nummularis, Gottingen,
1826.) [L.8.]
ARGENTUM (ipyupos), silver, one of the two
metals which, on account of their beauty, their du
rability, their density, and their rarity, have been
esteemed in all civilised countries, and in all ages, as
precious, and which have, on account of the above
qualities and the facility of working them, been used
for money. The ancients were acquainted with silver
from the earliest known periods. (Pliny ascribes its
discovery to Erichthonius or to Aeacus, //. A'', vii.
56. s. 57.) It is constantly mentioned in Homer ;
but in a manner which proves that it was com
paratively scarce. It was much more abundant in
Asia than in Greece Proper, where there were not
many silver mines. The accounts we have of the
revenues of the early Lydian and Persian kings,
and of the presents of some of them, such as Gyges
and Croesus, to Pytho and other shrines, prove
the great abundance of both the precious metals in
"Western Asia. Of this wealth, however, a very
large proportion was laid up in the royal and
sacred treasuries, both in Asia and in Greece. But
in time, and chiefly by the effects of wars, these
accumulations were dispersed, and the precious
metals became commoner and cheaper throughout
Greece. Thus, the spoils of the Asiatics in the
Persian wars, and the payment of Greek inercennri
's by the Persian kings, the expenditure of
Pericles on war and works of art, the plunder of
the temple of Delphi by the Phocians, the military
expenses and wholesale bribery of Philip, and,
above all, the conquests of Alexander, caused a
vast increase in the amount of silver and gold in
actual circulation. The accounts we have of the
treasures possessed by the successors of Alexander
would be almost incredible if they were not per
fectly well attested.
It was about this time also that the riches of
the East began to be familiar to the Romans,
among whom the precious metals were, in early
times, extremely rare. Very little of them was
found in Italy ; and though Cisalpine Gaul fur
nished some gold, which was carried down by the
Alpine torrents, it contained but a very small pro
portion of silver. The silver mines of Spain had
been wrought by the Carthaginians at a very
early period ; and from this source, as well as
The relative value of gold and silver differed
considerably at different periods in Greek and
Roman history. Herodotus mentions it (iii. 95)
as 1 3 to 1 ; Plato (Hipp. c. 6. p. 231 ), as 12 to 1 ;
Menander (ap. Palluc. ix. 76), as 10 to 1 ; and
Livy (xxxviii. 11), as 10 to 1, about B.C. 189.
According to Suetonius (Jul. Caet. 54), Julius
Caesar, on one occasion, exchanged silver for gold
in the proportion of 9 to 1 ; but the most usual
proportion under the early Roman emperors was
about 12 to 1 ; and from Constantine to Justinian
about 14 to 1, or 15 to I. The proportion in mo
dern times, since the discovery of the American
mines, has varied between 17 to 1 and 14 to 1.
Silver Mines and Ores. — In the earliest times
the Greeks obtained their silver chiefly as an
article of commerce from the Phocaeans and the
Saniians ; but they soon began to work the rich mines
of their own country and its islands. The chief
mines were in Siphnos, Thessaly, and Attica. In
the last-named country, the silver mines of I.anrum
furnished a most abundant supply, and were generally
regarded as the chief source of the wealth of
Athens. We learn from Xcnophon (Yectig. iv.
2 ), that these mines had been worked in remote
antiquity ; and Xcnophon speaks of them ns if he
considered them inexhaustible. In the time of
Demosthenes, however, the profit arising from
them had greatly diminished ; and in the second
century of the Christian era they were no longer
worked. (Pans. i. 1. § 1.) The Romans obtained
most of their silver from the very rich mines of
Spain, which had been previously worked by the
Phoenicians and Carthaginians, and which, though
abandoned for those of Mexico, are still not ex
hausted. The ore from which the silver was ob
tained was called silver earth (apyvptris frj, or
simply apyvpiris, Xen. Vectig. i. 5, iv. 2). The
same term (terra) was also applied to the ore by
the Romans.
A full account of all that is known respecting
the ores of silver known to the ancients, their
mining operations, and their processes for the re
duction of the ores, is given by Bockh. (Disserta
tion on the Silver Mines of Laurion, §§ 3, 4, 5.)
Uses ofSilver.—By far the most important use
of silver among the Greeks was for money. It
was originally the universal currency in Greece.
Mr. Knight, however, maintains (Prol. Horn.) that
gold was coined first because it was the more
readily found, and the more easily worked ; but
there are sufficient reasons for believing that, un
til some time after the end of the Peloponnesian
war, the Athenians had no gold currency. [Aubum.J
It may be remarked here that all the
words connected with money are derived from
ipyvpos, and not from xpwr6t, as Karapyvp6a>,
" to bribe wi th money ; " ipyvpapoiG6s, " a money
changer," &c ; and apyvpos is itself not unfrequently
used to signify money in general (Soph,