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The meaning of faenus in Juvenal's ninth Satire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2013

Richard Saller
Richard Saller
Affiliation:
Darwin College, Cambridge
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Extract

At the end of Juvenal's Ninth Satire the pathetic debased Naevolus describes what he hopes for in order to live as a ‘pauper’ (147).

      viginti milia faenus
      pignoribus positis, argenti vascula puri,
      sed quae Fabricius censor notet, et duo fortes
      de grege Moesorum, qui me cervice locata
      securum iubeant clamoso insistere circo;
      sit mihi praeterea curvus caelator, et alter
      qui multas facies pingit cito. (140–46)

The first item on the list, viginti milia faenus pignoribus positis, has been understood by commentators to mean 20,000 sesterces in annual interest and has been connected with Martial, Epigram 3.10 in discussions of the significance of the capital sum implied. I wish to argue that there is no warrant for understanding faenus as annual interest and to suggest on various grounds that in this context it is more likely to mean capital out in interest-bearing loans.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society (Second Series) , Volume 29 , 1983 , pp. 72 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s). Published online by Cambridge University Press 1983

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References

NOTES

1. Friedlaender, L., D. Iunii Iuvenalis Saturarum Libri V (1895) on 140fGoogle Scholar. and Courtney, E., A commentary on the Satires of Juvenal (1980)Google Scholar. Mayor and Duff refuse to comment on this satire.

2. The difficulty with this passage initially became apparent to me in considering the use made of it by White, P., ‘Amicitia and the profession of poetry in early Imperial Rome’, JRS 68 (1978) 89Google Scholar.

3. See references in n. 1.

4. For ‘money-lending at interest’ see Suetonius, Vesp. 1.3; Tacitus, , Germ. 26Google Scholar; Quintilian, , Decl. 311, p. 224Google Scholar; Seneca, Ben. 4.3.3; Apuleius, Met. 1.21. For ‘profit’, Petronius, 83.1; Ovid, Fasti 1.694; Seneca, Epist. ad Luc. 96.1.

5. ‘Interest’: Horace, Epist. 1.1.80; Livy 42.5.9; Pliny, Paneg. 32.4; Petronius 119 v. 52; Propertius 3.1.22; Suetonius, , Aug. 39 and 41.1Google Scholar; Tacitus, Ann. 6.16 (twice), 11.13, 13.42; Nepos, Att. 9.5. ‘Money out in interest-bearing loans’: Horace, Serm. 1.2.13; Livy 5.10.9; Seneca, Tranq. Animi 8.5; Tacitus, Hist. 1.20, Ann. 6.17, 14.53 and 55; Valerius Maximus 4.8.3; Juvenal, Sat. 11.40 and 48; Varro, r.r. 3.5.8; Apuleius, , Apol. 20Google Scholar; Persius 6.67. In compiling these references, I used the citations in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and the concordances for Apuleius, Columella, Florus, Horace, Livy, Lucan, Martial, Ovid, Persius, Petronius, the younger Pliny, Propertius, Seneca, Suetonius, Tacitus, Tibullus, Valerius Maximus and Virgil.

6. Hist. 1.20; Ann. 6.17, 14.53 and 55.

7. ‘Interest’: Ann. 6.16 (twice), 11.13, 13.42. ‘Usury’: Germ. 26. The meaning of faenus in Ann. 3.40 is unclear.

8. ‘Money out in loans’: Sat. 11.40 and 48. Ambiguous: Sat. 11.185.

9. R.–E. VI 2195Google Scholarff. (Klingmüller). For literary examples, see Cicero, Att. 4.15.7, 5.21.13, 6.1.16, 6.2.9; Verr. 2.3.167ff; S.H.A., Ant. Pius 2.8. The rate given in Ann. 6.16 reflects early Republican rather than contemporary usage.

10. Monthly interest payment: Cicero, Att. 6.1.3f. Capital: Valerius Maximus 4.8.3; Varro, r.r. 3.5.8.

11. R.–E. X. 1564ff. (Oehler, J.)Google Scholar.

12. Columella 3.3.9.

13. CIL II.4511, 4514, VI.9254, VIII.1845, X.5853Google Scholar. In XII.4393 the donor of 16,000 sesterces promises that ‘on my birthday I will bring to your treasury and pay in full on this day usuras totius anni computatas asse octono’. The phrasing suggests that the benefactor presented the city with the interest of a whole year collected on a monthly basis.

14. Monthly and ten monthly: CIL VIII.9052Google Scholar; six monthly: IX. 1455.

15. Valerius Maximus 4.8.3. The grammatical construction is not parallel to that in Juvenal, but in other passages the nominative of faenus does appear in lists of assets (Tacitus, Ann. 14.55; Hist. 1.20; Seneca, Tranq. Animi 8.5). Varro, r.r. 3.5.8, offers a different construction: sexaginta milia quae vis statim in fenus des licebit multum.

16. In addition to the passages cited in the previous note, see Apuleius, , Apol. 20Google Scholar; Horace, Serm. 1.2.13; Tacitus, Ann. 14.53.

17. Commentators have noted the humble nature of other items, but then supposed that the considerable income in interest shows Naevolus to be disingenuous. I prefer to think that Juvenal is indicating that the degenerate, despicable Naevolus has sunk so low that he now aspires only to a humble existence. (See Courtney on 142–44; Ferguson, J., Juvenal: the Satires (London, 1979) on 141Google Scholar; Macleane, A. J., Juvenalis et Persii Satirae (London, 1857) on 140Google Scholar.)

18. Duncan-Jones, R., The economy of the Roman Empire2 (Cambridge, 1982)Google Scholar, App. 10.

19. Retirement pay under Augustus was 20,000 sesterces for praetorians and 12,000 for legionaries. How much these figures changed by the second century is uncertain (Watson, G. R., The Roman soldier (1969) 147.Google Scholar)

20. Interest rates varied between 5 and 12%; see Duncan-Jones, 133–36.

21. I should like to thank Professor John Crook, Sir Moses Finley, Dr. Peter Garnsey, Dr. Brent Shaw and Professor Peter Stein for reading this paper and suggesting improvements.