~A Loan of Money with Interest 4
49
the recto merely stating that the total sum to be repaid included both the principal and an unstated amount of interest.
As noted by Worp, the interest rates on nearly all short-term loans in the
fourth-century exceeded the legal limit of 12% per annum, perhaps reflecting an attempt by lenders to limit risk during a time of inflation. In the case
of those one-month loans for which he was able to make calculations, Worp
discovered that the rates of interest all exceeded 40%.8 Moreover, in the two
cases where the loan was extended "without interest," the concealed fixed rate
likely exceeded 50%.9 The present text, therefore, is unique not for the fact that
its interest rate exceeded the 12% legal limit, but for having a rate significantly
closer to that limit than similar loans from the same period.
P.Col. inv. 185 H. x W = 24.7 x 7.5 cm Oxyrhynchus, 29 August 345 CE
naTciaq (D~aoui~wv [Aiiavxiou Kai A2Aivou]
vacat TWOV [XcqlTor~wVe0A. ]
Avp1'X~oq AL&U[1oqHI[ ca. 18 ]
5 Atoyaroq ano TT q [Xai(npdq) Kai[ Xa i(jcpoxa~q)ri)P) '~pYXLTC]
Tc6XcWq XaiP~WV. 6i[oAoyc X]KCVQ[ papa]
Grov cv XPq, UL6bra XLPoq C~OTKOD QPYUP[OU IF3au-]
TCOV Vo[1VY61cToq Tc4XQVTa Tp~(KoVTc(]
Kai[ 6pcaX[1ct TpLcX[X[[cq, Y(ivc-rc) (T~aaVxa) X Kai (6paX~cd) 'F',
crbv &L-]
10 pcpPou, &accp -cvcY [KC~ ctnobLGW LTqlTp~c(-]
Y[ T-o00 O-of [V~GC0Tb-Oq (~-rouq) KP3 (~-rouq) LY (~rou)]
QVCI) TntcY1 U7T~cp~t[Co.0q Kai cuPq(LXYioyct
~li6& lq KTtcGa) LiUhc~p Lroi VncpnccOV-oq]
XPOVOU [Tr]6Of Kov -ra o[aO~v-ra cp6q XXXouq]
15 iicvovvTx6 aoL O[Xyo[u cpoq ~ npi dv]
a,,XXWV roi XPC.GGTC0KctO F-Tcpa ypc Ta1Lt-]
7PKellis 1, pp. 115-120. For this 12% legal rate, see H.E. Finckh, Das Zinsrecht der
grdko-dgyptischen Papyri (Erlangen 1962) 27-42. For the differences between rates of
interest levied in cash and those levied in kind, see D. Foraboschi and A. Gara, "Sulla
differenza tra tassi di interesse in natura e in moneta nell'Egitto greco-romano," Proceedings of the XVIth International Congress of Papyrology (Ann Arbor 1981) 335-343.
'Acrdn to Worp's calculations in PKellis 1, pp. 117-119, the rate of PStras 4.278
was 40%, P Oslo 2.41 approximately 80%, PSakaon 96 greater than 96%, PSelect 7100%,
and PSakaon 64 between 60% and 200%.
9 o POxy. 61.4124 and PNYU 2.23, the editors calculated concealed rates of 50%
and 60% respectively.
0
