Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

FENUS. FEN'T S. b2.
the'rrlos tha30os =the ExLt paX/qp nearly. rower to the lender [CH11niGRrsAHUI]; or a,KO, xoS =, 7' OCTCt eoXoos,, regular instrument (cvyypp4iJ), executed by both,,, EtreTixrT0os=,, E7r' p'epvea 3o os,, parties and attested by witnesses, was deposited,,,, sripsros,, = I 7rptt-lapaXIas,,, wih a third party, usually a banker. (Dem. c.
These nearly corresponding expressions are not Lacr. p. 927, c. P]/orsm. p. 908. 22.) Witnesses,
to be considered as identical, however closely the as we might expect., were also present at the payrates indicated by them may approach each other ment of the money borrowed. (Id. c. Phiortn. p. 915.
in value; although in the age of Justinian, as 27.) The security for a loan was either a x7ero&('/j
Salmasius (de ll. U.) observes, the Tdlcos E'rdyaoor or an eve'Xvpoe: the latter was put into the posor 124 per cent. was confounded with the cen- session of the lender, the former was merely assured
lesimae, which is exactly equal to the interest at a to him, and generally, though not always, condrachina or 12 per cent. sisted of real or immovable property. T'he eeThe rates, above explained, frequently occur in Xvpa, on the contrary, generally consisted of
the orators; the lowest in ordinary use at Athens movable property, such as goods or slaves.
being the TdKOS lrlTiTcaeros or 10 per cent., the (B1ickh, lbicl. p. 128.) At Athens, when land
highest the r'ricos E7rfTpT0os or 33- per cenIt. The was given as security, or mortgaged (ohcra ulroj.
latter, however, was chiefly confined to cases of Xpews), pillars (ipote or o01' 7At) were set upon
bottomry, and denotes more than it appears to do, it, with the debt and the mortgagee's name inas the time of a ship's voyage was generally less scribed. 1-ence an uninculbered estate wasr
than a year. Its near equivalent, the Erx TpTel called an o'rurci-ov XcspLeov. (Harpocratt. s. v.)
paXyeuas or 36 per cent., was sometimes exacted In the rest of Greece there were public books of
by bankers at Athens. (Lys. Fracg. as.) The debt, like the German and Scotcll registers of.srl 8paXytfi, or rate of 12 per cent., was common mortgages; but they are not mentioned as having
in the time of Demosthenes (c. Aph. p. 820. 16), existed at Athens.
bhlt appears to have been thought low. The interest Bottomry (o' VaIurTcLK s, T'dlost YaVTWlOi, or
of eight oboli or 16 per cent. occurs in that orator i'caoLes) was considered a matter of so much im(c. JNicos. p. 1250. 18); anld even in the age of portance at Athens, that fraud or breach of contract
Lysias (B. c. 440) and Isaeus (B. c. 400), nine in transactions connected with it was sometimes
oboli for the mina, or 18 per cent., appears to have punished with death. (Dem. c. P/zorm. p. 922. 3.)
been a common rate. (Isaeus, de ITc-gyn. Isered. In these cases the loans were generally made upon
p. 293.) Aeschines also (c. Tieeasrc/. p. 15) speaks the cargo shipped, sometimes on the vessel itself;
of money being borrowed ois the same terms; so and sometimes oil the money received or due for
thlat on the whole we may conclude, that the usual passengers and freiglhtage (exrl av raeA: ). The
rates of interest at Athens about the time of De- principal (eKc3ots, oOleEI 1Eo salrs, Harpocrat.) as
mostlienes varied from 12 to 18 per cent. That well as the interest, could only be recovered in case
they were nearly the same in range, and similarly the ship met with ino disaster in her voyage (uatexpressed, throughout the rest of Greece, ap- O|ELo-ss'r s Yess, Dem. c. Zezoth. p. 883. 16); aclause
pears from the authorities quoted by Bickh. No to this effect being generally inserted in all agreeconlclusions on the subject of the general rate of I ments of bottomnry or Vaurttlcal couyyptpat. The
interest can be drawn from what we are told of additional risk incurred in loans of this description
the exorbitant rates exacted by common usurers was compensated for by a high rate of interest,
(o0K'oyA(PSot, tocultiones, r LcEpo~aeveaTira). Some and the lenders took every precaution against
of these (Theophr. Clesract. 6) exacted as much as negligence or deception on the part of the horan oboius and a half per day for each drachma; roowers; the latter also were careful to have witand moneylenders Idl bhanklers in general, from ilesses present when the cargo was put on board,
the high profits which they realised, and the se- for the purpose of deposing, if necessary, to a
verity with which thev exacted their dues, seem bona.fide shipping of the required amount of goods.
to have been as unpopular amongst their fellow- (Dem. c. Plzorsz. p. 915. 13). The loanl itself
citizens as Jews asnd usurers in more modern was either a Bcauserpya i'(p07rXou, i. e. for a voyage
timn-es. Demosthenes (c. P-ant. p. 981), indeed, out, or it was a adesrto'ea AlqeCorepd7rAovs', i. C. for
intimates that the fact of a man being a money- a voyage out and home. Ill the former case the
lender was enouogh to prejudice him, even in a principal and interest were paid at the place of
court of law, amongst the Athenians. (MsoO~F- destination, either to the creditor himself, if he
o-l' oh'AO'aea'otv roeN 6aleviSo'as.) It is cull'ioUS sailed isn the ship, or to all authorised age:et. (Dem.
also to observe that Aristotle (Pol. i. 3..~ 23) c. P/esor2. p. 909. 24, and p. 914. 28.) In the
objects, on principle, to putting nloney out at latter case the payment was made on the return of
interest (esVoeyc6a'a te'ETaL L57 oGAooTra':cT!i7), the ship, and it was specially provided in the
as being a perversion of it from its proper use, as agreement between the contracting parties, that
a medium of exchange, to an unnatural purpose, she should sail to some specified places only. A
riz. the reproduction or increase of itself; whence, deviation from the terms of the agreement, in this
lie adds, comes the name of interest or'rovcoe, as or other respects, was, according to a clause usually
being the offspring (Tb'ylyr'duesvo,) of a parent inserted in the agreement, punishable by a fine of
like itself. twice the amount of the money lent. (Dem. c.
The arrangement of a loan would of course de- Diomys. p. 1294.) Moreover, if the goods which
pend upon the relation betweenl the borrower and formed the original security were sold, fresh
the lender, and the confidence placed by one in the articles of the same value were to be shipped in
other. Sometimes money was lent, e. g. by the their place. (Dem. c. Phsorm. p. 909. 26.) Somelanker Pasion at Athens, without a security, or times also the trader (6 /xe'opos) was himself the
written bond, or witnesses. (Dem. c. Timsoth. owner of the vessel (56,avtckAlpos), which in that
p. 1185.) But generally either a simple acknow- case might serve as a security for the money barledgnel-lt (Xsftpdypaeov ) was given by the bor-, rowed. (Id. c. Diossys. p. 1284. 11.)