United States or Wallis and Futuna ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
This prevention is procured by the heightening of slave prices at such a rate as to keep the cost of freedom always greater than the generality of the slaves can pay with their own accumulated savings or peculia. Slave prices in fact, whether in ancient Rome or in modern America, advanced disproportionately to the advantage which the owners could derive from the ownership.
Estates that technically belonged to a single man, and were therefore subject to the operation of the law, had practically ceased to confer any benefit on the owner, and were pledged to other purposes. They had been divided as the peculia of his sons, they had been promised as the dowry of his daughters.
For the use of money was then infrequent amongst the Romans, but their wealth in cattle great; even now pieces of property are called peculia, from pecus, cattle; and they had stamped upon their most ancient money an ox, a sheep, or a hog; and surnamed their sons Suillii, Bubulci, Caprarii, and Porcii, from caprae, goats, and porci, hogs.
Now the value of a sheep was ten obols, and that of an ox a hundred, for at this period the Romans did not make much use of coined money, but possessed abundance of cattle. For this reason at this day they call property peculia, from pecus, a sheep, and on their oldest coins they marked the figure of an ox, a sheep, or a pig.
Word Of The Day