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5.3

5.3.1 Pompeian Prices
5.3.3 L. Caecilius Iucundus
5.3.2 Patronage

5.3.1 Pompeian Prices

Historical background

The Romans began producing their own coins in the late 4th century BC, and continued to do so for about eight centuries across the Empire. Although denominations and values changed a lot, Roman coinage still represented a guaranteed and widely recognised value which allowed people to feel confident when saving or spending their coins, even when the numbers involved were large. This was very good for trade and commerce, and created opportunties for roles such as money-lenders and bankers. The Roman monetary system was a model for other later states, and the names of the coins can even be identified in some modern currencies; for example the Arabic dinar derives its name from the denarius coin.

Like today, Roman coins had different values in relation to each other. The as was the smallest unit and functioned a bit like the modern UK penny. Two as were worth one dupondius; four as were worth one sestertius; and sixteen as were equal to one denarius. In turn this meant that one denarius was worth four sestertius or eight dupondius. 

Like many currencies in the modern world, Roman money was subject to inflation (meaning over time you can buy less with the same amount of money). At the time of the Roman Republic, you might be able to buy a loaf of bread for half an as. Graffiti in Pompeii from the 1st century AD lists bread at eight as. A year's pay for a commander in the Roman army in the late 2nd Century BC was about ten as, by the turn of the 1st Century AD seventy-four denarii, and by the 2nd Century AD it had risen to one thousand five hundred denarii. We can assume this reflects that prices were rising in step with these wages, rather than the commanders of the 2nd Century AD being a lot richer than those of a few centuries earlier!

Evidence

Long lists of products and prices were found scrawled on the walls of Pompeian houses and businesses. These may have been advertising or records of individuals' bills or shops' stock. Regardless of their original intention, these lists are incredibly useful for historians who want to know what everyday items cost for people in Pompeii and what sort of things people were spending their money on.

The long list of products shown here was found in the atrium of a house in Region 9 Insula 7 of Pompeii. This house was connected to a bar with a serving counter. The list is in three columns divided up into days (with reference to the ides of the month, a day shortly before the middle), and records food either bought or sold (we can't tell which). The prices are probably in asses except where a different value coin is indicated (such as a denarius). Notice that there seems to be different – probably lower quality – bread for slaves, showing their lower status and poorer conditions.

The shorter graffito about wine was found written to the left of an entrance to a bar in Region 7 Insula 2. This was probably intended as an advert for the bar, possibly to encourage people to buy the better quality (more expensive) wine!

Products and services other than food and drink are also mentioned in graffiti around Pompeii. Two found in a shop in Region 9 Insula 7 relating to the trade of textiles give us a sense of how much it might have cost to have a new tunic made. We can also see that people may have been spending their money on renting their shops or homes, as there are also advertisements from landlords such as Julia Felix.

5.3.2 Patronage

Historical background

Patronage (clientela) was the relationship in Roman society between the patron (patronus) and their client (cliens). A patron supported, protected and aided his clients, and in return clients offered their services to their patron as needed. This was a formal relationship, not to be confused with the political friendships or alliances referred to by the term amicitia. Roman society was a network of such relationships; a patronus might be the cliens of someone of even higher status, and a cliens might have more than one patronus. 

A patron and client might hold the same social rank, but the former would have some kind of greater power – perhaps good family connections or a great deal of wealth – that meant they were able to offer help to their clients. This help might include legal representation, influencing business deals or marriages, loans of money, and supporting a client if he was standing in an election. Patrons were expected to ensure a basic level of material security for their client; allowing your clients to become poor and desperate reflected badly on the patron and would damage their reputation. Clients and patrons were not supposed to cause each other any harm, for example they were not allowed to sue each other or act as a witness against one another. This could of course become very complicated if a client had more than one patron and their needs were in conflict! 

When an enslaved man was freed, he would become the client of his former master, and so despite being 'free' would still be obliged to undertake tasks and errands as requested, for example campaigning on behalf of their patron in elections.

Evidence

Evidence of the patronage system can be found all over the Roman world, including of course Pompeii. These relationships were central to the lives of many Romans at all levels of the social hierarchy, and were an important mechanism by which people would have got things done in Pompeii.

There are over 100 benches on the street outside houses in Pompeii, many outside of grander houses. Historians have suggested that these benches formed part of the salutatio, the formal greeting offered by clients to their patrons every morning. The benches, it has been argued, were placed outside on the street so that other people could see the clients waiting to see their patrons, emphasising how important the patron was. The image here shows the benches outside the House of Julia Felix.

We also see examples of patronage in the programmata (electoral graffiti). In the graffito on this page we see Thalamus supporting his patron for the office of duumvir. Of course, we cannot know if Thalamus wrote this purely out of obligation or because he actually thought his patron would do a good job!

Inscriptions on tombs can also reflect these important relationships. The example given on this page is of a former-master with a clear affection for his freedman and client. The inscription he has erected praises the skills and character of the young man, including the way in which he always acted in accordance with his patron's wishes. This shows the degree to which a formerly enslaved person might still be connected to and influenced by their former master, even after they were officially freed.

5.3.3 L. Caecilius Iucundus

Historical background

The Romans began producing their own coins in the late 4th century BC, and continued to do so for about eight centuries across the Empire. Although denominations and values changed a lot, Roman coinage still represented a guaranteed and widely recognised value which allowed people to feel confident when saving or spending their coins, even when the numbers involved were large. This was very good for trade and commerce, and created opportunties for roles such as money-lenders and bankers. The Roman monetary system was a model for other later states, and the names of the coins can even be identified in some modern currencies; for example the Arabic dinar derives its name from the denarius coin.

Like today, Roman coins had different values in relation to each other. The as was the smallest unit and functioned a bit like the modern UK penny. Two as were worth one dupondius; four as were worth one sestertius; and sixteen as were equal to one denarius. In turn this meant that one denarius was worth four sestertius or eight dupondius. 

Like many currencies in the modern world, Roman money was subject to inflation (meaning over time you can buy less with the same amount of money). At the time of the Roman Republic, you might be able to buy a loaf of bread for half an as. Graffiti in Pompeii from the 1st century AD lists bread at eight as. A year's pay for a commander in the Roman army in the late 2nd Century BC was about ten as, by the turn of the 1st Century AD seventy-four denarii, and by the 2nd Century AD it had risen to one thousand five hundred denarii. We can assume this reflects that prices were rising in step with these wages, rather than the commanders of the 2nd Century AD being a lot richer than those of a few centuries earlier!

Evidence

As well as housing the courts, the basilica in the forum acted as an exchange where businessmen and their clients could make deals and contracts. Someone who would have been there often was Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, the son of a freedman who amassed great wealth as a banker or money lender. We know a great deal about L. Caecilius Iucundus' business dealings as archaeologists found over a hundred and fifty partially legible documents on wax tablets stored in a wooden chest in his house. A bust was also found in the atrium of the House of Caecilius, with an inscription below which read 'To the genius of our Lucius. Felix, freedman (set this up).' This bust may have been of Iucundus' father, or of Iucundus himself.

The deals in these documents are worth between 342 and 38,079 sesterces, although only three transactions are worth more than 30,000 sesterces. The records include the name of the seller, that of Caecilius or a slave acting on his behalf, the date, the sum paid, any commission agreed for Caecilius, and a list of witnesses. People 'signed' the document by pressing the engraved stone of a ring into the wax to leave a mark or 'seal'. 

The oldest document is from 15AD. It is a transaction by Caecilius Felix, perhaps Iucundus' father, and is for the sale of a mule. You might spot where Caroline Lawrence got some inspiration for our story!

A total of 137 of the documents relate to auction sales. Caecilius acted as a 'middle man' between buyers and sellers, paying a sum to the seller at auction and granting the buyer a set amount of time in which to repay him. He would receive interest and/or commission on the loans. Most of the documents are official records of sellers acknowledging that Caecilius had paid the promised sum and therefore releasing him from the contract as agreed.

Sixteen documents detail agreements between Caecilius and the city itself. These relate to payment of tax on a fullery, leasing a farm from the city, tax collected on land used for grazing animals and on the market (perhaps paid for setting up a stall). Caecilius might have been renting the fullery and farm himself, or he may have been collecting rental payments on behalf of someone else.

Despite some of the records being about deals done by women, none of the records are written by women. This is not, however, because they could not write. A woman could own property and take part in business deals but it was a legal requirement that such deals be authorised by a male guardian or tutor. Therefore a woman would not write in the first person 'I release the banker from this contract...' as she would not have the authority to do so. The example receipts shown include a woman, Umbricia Antiochis, making use of Caecilius' services when selling the contents of a house at auction, and a slave named Trophimus. Her records, like those of other women in these documents, are written by others on her behalf.

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