and his conclusions appear to be impregnable. We shall briefly consider each rate separately. Fenus Unciarium.-The Capital being regarded as the As or Unit, and the Interest being calculated by the year, then Fenus Unciarium, or Uncial Interest, would be one-twelfth part of the Capital, that is, 83 per cent. per annum. But if we suppose, with Niebuhr, that this rate was introduced while the year of ten months was still observed, then 8 per cent. for a year of ten months, will be exactly 10 per cent. for a year of twelve months. According to Tacitus (Ann. VI. 16.) the first legislative enactment on the subject of Interest was contained in the Laws of the XII Tables, which provided, (B.C. 451-449,) that the Fenus Unciarium should be maximum rate of Interest-Nam primo Duodecim Tabulis sanctum ne quis UNCIARIO FENORE amplius exerceret; but Livy seems (VII. 16.) to refer the introduction of this restriction to the Lex Duillia Maenia of B.C. 357, nearly a century later. The same historian records (VII. 27. comp. Tacit. 1.c.) that in B.C. 347, the legal rate of interest was reduced one-half-semunciarium tantum ex unciario fenus factum; and again we find (VII. 42. B.C. 342.)—Invenio apud quosdam L. Genucium, Tribunum plebis, tulisse ad populum ne fenerare liceret; and Tacitus (1.c.) declares that a law to that effect was actually passed,' but if this was really the case, it must, from its very nature, have been absolutely powerless. Usurae Centesimae.-Towards the close of the republic, we hear for the first time of Usurae Centesimae, which must signify Interest amounting to 100th part of the Capital, or 1 per cent. But this was probably introduced along with the Greek fashion of paying Interest monthly, so that Usurae Centesimae was 1 per cent. per month, or 12 per cent. per annum. Usurae Centesimae being 12 per cent., when a lower rate was charged the proportions were expressed by the divisions of the As. Thus Usurae Besses, U. Semisses, U. Trientes, U. Quadrantes, signify respectively, 8, 6, 4, and 3 per cent. On the other hand, when the security was bad, a higher rate was exacted, and we hear of Binae Centesimae, i.e. 24 per cent.; Quaternae Centesimae, i.e 48 per cent.; and when Horace uses the phrase Quinas hic Capiti mercedes exsecat, he must mean Quinae Centesimae, i.e. 60 per cent. (Cic. in Verr. III. 70. ad Att. VI. 2. Hor. S. I. ii. 14.) 1 His words are-Postremo vetita versura—where it must be observed that this is not the usual import of Versura, which is generally employed to express the conversion of the original Capital into a new Capital by the addition of Interest due upon it, according to the principle of Compound Interest, otherwise termed Centesimae renovatae or Anatocismus, Simple Interest being expressed by the phrase Centesimae perpetuae (Cic. ad Att. V. 21. VÍ. 2.) REFERENCES TO CHAPTER XIII. Roman Weights and Measures, Coins, &c.-Eckhel, Doctrina nummorum veterum, 1792. Borghesi, Oeuvres Complètes, vols. I. and II. (Decadi numismatiche). Riccio, Le monete delle famiglie romane, Napoli, 1843. Boeckh, Metrologische Untersuchungen. Hultsch, Griechische und Römische Metrologie, 2nd ed., Berlin, 1882. Mommsen, Geschichte des römischen Münzwesens, Berlin, 1860 (Trad. française Blacas, Paris, 1865). Marquardt-Mommsen, Handbuch, &c., Römische Staatsverwaltung, vol. II. p. 3, Münze und Maas. Cohen, Description des monnaies de la république romaine ou médailies consulaires, Paris, 1857, 1st ed.; Monnaies de l'Empire romain, Paris, 1880-1892, 8 vols. Lenormant, La monnaye dans l'antiquité, Paris, 1878-1879, 3 vols. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la Republique romaine, Paris, 1885, 2 vols. Garrucci, Le monete dell'Italia antica, Roma, 1885, 2 parts. CHAPTER XIV. PRIVATE LIFE OF THE ROMANS. I. CUSTOMS CONNECTED WITH PARTICULAR EPOCHS OF LIFE. Infancy. As soon as a child was born it was laid down at the feet of the father, who, if the babe was free from any serious deformity, and if he was prepared to acknowledge it (agnoscere) as his legitimate offspring, lifted it from the ground, (a terrâ levabat,) and thus declared that he was willing to rear it (alere) as his own. Hence the expressions Tollere s. Suscipere liberos signify to bring up or educate children. Infanticide, as we have seen above, was not prohibited by law, and, in the earlier ages of the state, was, probably, not uncommon.1 Boys on the ninth, and girls on the eighth day after birth underwent a religious purification termed lustratio, and on this day, which was called Dies lustricus, the former received their Praenomen (nomen accipiebant.) Boys, until they attained to manhood, and girls, until they were married, wore a Toga Praetexta, i.e. a cloak with a narrow scarlet border, and from the necks of boys was suspended a hollow disk called Bulla, made of gold, silver, or, in the case of the poor, of leather, containing a charm or amulet against the fascination of the Evil Eye. The Toga Praetexta and the Bulla were both of Etruscan origin, (hence the latter is called Etruscum aurum by Juvenal,) and were at first confined to the offspring of Patricians, but before the close of the republic were assumed by all Ingenui.2 Education.-Elementary schools (Ludus literarius-Ludi literarum) for both girls and boys, seem to have existed from a very early epoch, as may be seen from the story of Virginia, and these were originally situated in the immediate vicinity of the Forum. For several centuries the instruction communicated was confined to reading, writing, and arithmetic, but after a taste for Greek literature had been formed, the Greek language was eagerly cultivated. Before the close of the republic, a familiar knowledge of that tongue was considered indispensable to every one in the upper ranks, and Quintilian recommends (I. O. I i. 12) that a boy should study Greek before his mother tongue. In the age of Cicero, and for some centuries afterwards, a complete course of education for youths consisted of, at least, three parts, which followed each other in regular progression under different masters. 1. Reading, Writing, and 1 Plaut. Amph. I. iii. 3. Trucul. II. iv. 45. Terent. Andr. L. iii. 14. Heaut. IV. i. 15. Hor. 8. II. v. 45. Suet. Octav. 65. Ner. 5. Cic. Philipp. XIII. 10. de legg. III. 8. Senec. de Ira 1. 15. de Benef. III. 13. 2 Macrob. S. L. 6. 16. Liv. XXVI. 36. Cic. in Verr. L. 44. Philipp. II. 18. Propert. IV. i 181. Sueton. de clar. Rhet. 1. Plut. Q. R. 101. Vit. Rom. 25. Isidor. XIX. xxxi. 11 Arithmetic, taught by the Ludi Magister s. Literator. 2. A critical knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, taught by the Grammaticus s. Grammatistes. 3. Composition and Oratory, taught by the Rhetor Latinus, to which some added, 4. A course of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy; to obtain the last in perfection it was not unusual to resort to Athens, or to some other famous foreign seat of learning, although numerous Greek Professors of these sciences were to be found at Rome. Persons of easy fortune had frequently domestic tutors called Paedagogi, answering in many respects to what we now term Nursery Governesses, who taught children the first rudiments of literature, and afterwards attended them to school, while men of great wealth sometimes hired distinguished Grammatistae, Rhetores, and Philosophi, to superintend the training of their sons at home, and, as among ourselves, the comparative advantages of a public and a private education seem to have been a common subject of discussion.2 Holidays were given regularly on the Quinquatria and Saturnalia. The former festival was regarded as the commencement of the scholastic year, and at this time a gratuity termed Minerval, was presented by the pupil to his preceptor, but this was, apparently, distinct from the ordinary school fees.3 Mode of Teaching.-Children were tempted to learn their alphabet (elementa velint ut discere prima) by encouraging them to play with pieces of ivory on which the different letters were marked, (eburneae literarum formae ;) they were taught to write upon waxen tablets, (tabulae ceratae—cerae,) on which a copy had been previously traced, (puerile praescriptum-praeformatae literae;) a knowledge of arithmetic was communicated through the medium of a calculating board (abacus) and counters, (calculi,) while the memory was strengthened, and practice given in Writing and Orthography, by the master repeating aloud passages from some popular author, which were taken down and committed to memory. Such lessons were termed Dictata. The children of the rich were escorted to school not only by Paedagogi, but also by slaves called Capsarii, who carried in boxes (Capsae) the books, writing tables, bags with counters, (Loculi,) and other school utensils of their young masters. Entrance upon Manhood.-When the education of a youth was completed, and he was regarded as fit to enter upon the business of life, he threw off the Toga Praetexta and assumed a plain gown termed Toga Virilis s. Toga Pura s. Toga Liberior. This act, which was regarded as an important domestic ceremony, was usually performed on the Liberalia, in the presence of the relations and friends of the family, who afterwards attended the young man down to the Forum, (in Forum deducebant,) the formal introduction into public life being termed Tirocinium Fori. The event was always solemnised by holy rites, and, in the case of great personages, a public sacrifice was offered up in the Capitol. 5 The age at which the Toga Virilis was assumed is a matter of doubt. Some scholars have named the completion of the fourteenth year, others of the fifteenth, others of the sixteenth as the stated period, and all have been able to support 1 Dial. de C. C. E. 35 Plut. Q. R. 59. Suet. de cl. Rhet. 1. Aul. Gell. XV. 11. Appulei. Florid. 20 2 Plin. H. N. XXXV. 14. Plut. Cat. Mai. 20. Quintil. I. O. I. ii. 1. Varro R.R. III. 2. Hor. Epp. II. ii. 197. Ovid. Fast. III. 829. Juvenal 8. VIL 228. X. 114. Martial. V. 81. 4 Quintil. I. i. 26. 27. viii. 5. V. xiv. 31. Senec. Epp. 94. Hor. 8. L. i. 25. vi. 72. Epp. 11. 1. 16. ii. 42. Cic. de legg. II. 23. ad Q. F. III. 1. Suet. de Ill. Gramm. 16. de clar. Rhet. 1. 2. 5 Cic. ad. Fam. V. 8. XIII. 10. XV. 6. Brut. 88. Suet. Octav. 26. Tib. 15. 54. Calig. 10. Claud. 2. Ner. 7 Val. Max. V. iv. 4. their opinions by examples and plausible arguments. In reality, it would appear that the time was never fixed by any invariable custom. In the earlier ages the completion of the seventeenth year was undoubtedly the ordinary age, for the young man then became liable for military service, but in later times this period was generally anticipated, the decision depending entirely upon the wishes of the father (iudicium patris.) We may, however, lay it down as a general rule, that the completion of the fourteenth and of the seventeenth years were the two extremes, and that Praetextati rarely threw off the badges of boyhood until upon the verge of their fifteenth birth-day, and rarely retained them after their sixteenth was passed.1 Marriage Ceremonies.—We have already (p. 293) fully discussed marriage from a legal point of view: it only remains for us to notice those customs and ceremonies, which may be regarded as of a strictly domestic character, and which were commonly practised at all marriages, whether Cum Conventione in Manum, or Sine Conventione. 2 Betrothment. When a man had resolved to demand a woman in marriage, he communicated his wishes to her father or legal guardian, whose consent was indispensable, and if he found that this consent would not be refused, he then put the formal question Spondesne? to which the appropriate reply was Spondeo. After this the parties were considered as fully engaged to each other, and were called respectively Sponsus and Sponsa. The ceremonial of the betrothment was termed Sponsalia, and was usually celebrated by a festival, and on this occasion the Sponsus frequently presented a ring, the Annulus pronubus, to his Sponsa, who offered him some gift in return The proposal of marriage and the negotiations connected with it, were named Conditio, and hence this word is used in the general sense of a matrimonial alliance, as in the phrase Conditionem filiae quaerendam esse (Liv. III. 45. 3) Hence, also, when one of the parties wished to break off the engagement, (sponsalia dissolvere,) this might be done verbally by making use of the formal words Conditione tua non utor, but when the announcement was made through a third person, the same expressions were employed as in the case of a divorce, viz., Repudium renuntiare s. remittere, or simply Nuntium mittere. * Marriage Day.-Popular prejudice forbade any marriage to be solemnized in May-Mense malas Maio nubere vulgus ait (Ovid. Fast. V. 490.)—but we are quite ignorant of the origin of this superstition. The Kalends, Nones, and Ides of each month, and the day after the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, were also avoided, as well as those days on which sacrifices were offered to the spirits of the dead, and all Dies Atri. The period most propitious for the ceremony was probably decided by an Auspex, who was in attendance to avert the consequences of any evil omen. (See Cic. de Div. I. 16. pro Cluent. 5. 16. Iuv. S. X 336.) Dress of the Bride.-The Bride (Nova Nupta) was attired in an under garment named Regilla or Tunica Recta, woven after a peculiar fashion, and was fastened round the waist by a woollen girdle (cingulum factum ex lana ovis.) Her hair was divided into six locks, (senis crinibus nubentes ornantur,) 1 When Nero assumed the Toga Virilis at the age of fourteen, Tacitus remarks, Virilis Toga Neroni Maturata, (Tacit. Ann. XII. 41. comp. Suet. Claud. 43.) On the other hand, Caius was not permitted by Tiberius to throw off his Toga Praetexta until he was twenty, (Suet. Cal. 10.) but this was the result of jealous despotism. 2 Plaut. Aul. II. ii. Trin. IL iv. 98. Poen. V. iii. 36. Plin. H. N. XXXIII. 1. Juvenal. S. VI. 25. Dion Cass. XLVIII. 44. LIX. 12. LXIII 13. 3 See also Plaut. Aul. III. v. 2. Stich. I. ii. 81. 4 Digest. I. xvi. 101. XXIII. i. 110. Plaut. Suet. Caes. 21. Octav. 62. Tacit. Ann. XII. 3. Nep. Att. 12. Suet. Galb. 5. |