"The Triclinium". By Roberto Bompiani. 1875 • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Whatever the era, becoming a millionaire is a destiny reserved for a minority. Rome is no exception to the rule and is even an example for those who subsequently aspired to experience the same fortune. There were several ways to get rich in ancient Rome. The war was surely the fastest, since the victorious generals seized priceless spoils. Obtaining the government of a conquered province was equally profitable, as a proconsul or propraetor could shamelessly exploit it to increase his personal fortune. Others became rich by appropriating rural estates, by signing large contracts with the State, by being bankers or pawnbrokers. Between looting, abuse of power, corruption and loans to usury, many Romans became disproportionately rich. If the petty crooks, unable to manage their heritage, lost capital and dignity, the most astute multiplied their goods and their fortune tenfold by loans, real estate investments and the purchase of houses and landed estates. The reign of greed At the end of the Republic, in the I st century BC. J.-C., we observe several cases of dazzling personal enrichment. For many contemporaries, the era was dominated by an excessive love of money, as noted by the historian Livy:"Lately, wealth has introduced greed, and the excess of pleasures has created the need for get lost and lose everything in luxury and debauchery. In those years, the wealthiest man in Rome was Marcus Licinius Crassus (115-53 BC), aptly nicknamed "the Rich" (Dives ). According to Plutarch, his patrimony amounted to 300 talents at the start of his career and reached 7,100 talents shortly before his death. Pliny asserted that Crassus owned land worth 200 million sesterces. Crassus maintained that only he could consider himself rich who was able to maintain an army at his own expense. When we know that the maintenance of two consular legions cost about 2.5 million sesterces a year, it is clear that this potentate could easily meet the expense. In fact, during the political quarrels which broke out in Rome, Crassus did not hesitate to raise a private army and to place his fortune and his power at the disposal of third parties, Julius Caesar in particular, a member like him of the triumvirate which governed Rome from 60 to 53 BC. AD Also read Crassus, the richest man in Rome Already heir to an immense family fortune, Crassus increases it considerably by using various means. He thus appropriates for a symbolic amount the property confiscated by the dictator Sylla during the proscriptions of 81 BC. Then he created a real estate company, in order to acquire at a derisory price the collective buildings of low-cost housing which had been destroyed by fires or collapses, frequent in Rome. He buys up to 500 slaves, who work as architects and project managers to rehabilitate these buildings, which allows him to collect rents. Most of the buildings in Rome having passed through his hands, Crassus becomes the largest real estate owner in the city. But the rich triumvir died a victim of his rapacity in 53 BC. AD, during the risky offensive launched by Rome against the Parthian Empire. Defeated at Carrhes (now Harran, Turkey), Crassus is taken prisoner. According to legend, the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat, a metaphor for the greed that characterized his entire life. Caesar goes into debt… to get rich The trajectory of Julius Caesar also underlines the intertwining existing in ancient Rome between money and politics. Caesar comes from a Roman family of old lineage, but not very wealthy, which forces him to go into debt to finance his political career. According to Appian, before reaching his 40th birthday, Caesar would have accumulated debts amounting to 25 million sesterces. When he was elected propraetor of later Hispania, his creditors threatened to seize the funds granted by the state if he did not repay his loans. Crassus intervenes and acts as guarantor for the usurers, allowing Caesar to go to Hispania and use the income from his office to settle his debts. The spoils of the Gallic Wars, between 58 and 51 BC. J.-C., will then make him the millionaire he has always dreamed of being. Military glory and personal enrichment were essential conditions for Rome to succeed in politics and obtain an institutional office, and Caesar is probably the statesman who best knew how to gauge and use money, an essential means of come to power. Historian and supporter of Caesar, Caius Sallustius Crispus (86-34 BC) — Sallust — grew rich for his part thanks to extortions during his propreture in the province of Africa Nova. With the spoils of the pillage, he had an admirable complex built in Rome, the Horti sallustiani , or "Gardens of Sallust", a sumptuous suburban villa embellished with gardens, temples, porticoed pavilions, cryptoporticoes, statues, fountains and nymphaeums. The villa occupied a very large area ranging from the hills of the Viminal and the Quirinal to the Champ de Mars, which corresponded to land that had belonged to Caesar and which, a few years later, would become the property of the emperors. Cicero buys his house on credit In the typology of wealthy men of ancient Rome, we must not forget the bankers. Argentarius or nummularius in Latin, the Roman banker exercised several functions:exchange, deposit of funds, brokerage at auctions and, of course, pawnbroking. The interest rates charged were very high. Although a law enacted in the middle of the I st century BC. limited them to 12%, lenders often demanded more, a practice that the courts could not eradicate and indulged in by notables, members of the Senate, large landowners and anyone who grabbed land. of the State. It is thanks to the orator and politician Cicero that we can measure the power of pawnbrokers in the Rome of the I st century BC. At the peak of his career, Cicero decided to move to the Palatine, the district reserved for the ruling classes. But without nobility or family fortune, he had to resort to legal subterfuge and loans for usury. In 62 BC. J.-C., he receives the gift of a client to buy the Palatine house that belonged to Crassus, which raises criticism, since the law prohibits lawyers from receiving financial compensation from their clients. To buy the house, Cicero had to resort to a usury loan. At the end of that same year, he wrote to the friend who had advised him to buy it, lamenting:“[…] It was only after receiving your compliment that I bought it for 3.5 million sesterces. Also, I now see myself crippled with debts, to the point that I seek to enter into some conspiracy, if they deign to receive me. A few days later, Cicero admitted to his friend Atticus that he was still looking for loans from loan sharking senators to try to obtain an interest rate that was no higher than the legal maximum of 12%... The very wealthy freedmen Many lenders, who did very profitable business thanks to the money needs of personalities like Cicero, belonged to a social category with great financial power:the former freed slaves. Many prospered at the court of Augustus and his successors. Competent administrators, they took advantage of their privileged position to amass colossal fortunes which were, according to Pliny, far superior to that of Crassus the Rich. This was the case of Calixtus, freed from Caligula, of Narcissus, freed from Claudius and in charge of imperial correspondence before being condemned to death by Nero, and Pallas, who, with Agrippina, Claudius's wife, directed during the Roman Empire for a while, before ending up poisoned, also by order of Nero. Outside the court, the freedmen were a very dynamic class in the Roman economy and distinguished themselves in the role of bankers. This is particularly the case with Trimalcion, one of the characters in Petronius' novel, the Satyricon . This freedman organizes a splendid banquet at home, where he behaves with the vulgarity and excess of a nouveau riche. The story tells how Trimalcion became rich, thanks to an investment that brought him a profit of 10 million sesterces, which then allowed him to devote himself to the activity of lender. But you don't need to have been a slave to work as a pawnbroker. In the middle of the I st century AD. J.-C., the wealthiest citizen of Rome is the philosopher Seneca, trusted man of Claudius and Nero, who amassed a capital of more than 300 million sesterces thanks to the pawnbroking... Find out more Banking and business in the Roman world (IV e century BC. - III th century AD. AD), J. Andreau, Seuil, 2001. Timeline 290-202 BC. AD After the Samnite wars, the Roman economy developed and Roman coins replaced the Greek drachma. After the victory of Zama, Rome advances towards the East.168 BC. AD Triumph of General Paul Émile over Perseus of Macedonia at the Battle of Pydna. Wealth then flowed into Rome, thanks to booty and conquered territories.133-123 BC. AD Tiberius and Caius Sempronius Gracchus attempt to rebalance the inequitable distribution of profits from territorial expansion between the rulers and the people, but the Senate opposes these reforms.31 BC . AD Octavian's victory at the battle of Actium marks the end of the oligarchic Republic and the beginning of another political and economic regime, where the new millionaires are courtiers.I er century AD. AD Great fortunes increase at the rate of legacies. The wealthy owners took refuge in sumptuous villas. Multiple ways to earn more The most important heritages of ancient Rome belonged to two privileged classes:the nobility and the equestrian order. The first constituted the traditional senatorial aristocracy. Taking care of governing the state through the Senate, she drew her resources from her immense agricultural properties, because any other lucrative activity was forbidden to her. Conversely, knights, freed from these constraints, could devote themselves to more profitable sectors of the Roman economy, such as wholesale trade, banking and tax collection. This last activity was particularly appreciated. The knights grouped together in societies and advanced the governor of a province a fixed sum of money, in exchange for which they could collect taxes (the publicum , from which comes the name of publicans given to tax collectors). They then sent officers, often slaves, to the territories concerned, in order to collect without hesitation tributes, the amount of which was generally higher than the sum advanced. The Vettii, freedmen in sight of Pompeii One of the most beautiful houses in Pompeii belonged to two freed brothers, Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus, who became rich through trade. They show off their new social status by lavishly decorating their home. One of the most important rooms was the triclinium (dining room) open to the peristyle serving as a garden. Much of the splendid wall frescoes have been preserved, as well as the floor mosaics, but not the furniture, which was probably similar to that seen in the Roman houses of wealthy families. The guests lay on a bed, a simple wooden frame with leather straps on which was placed a box spring covered with cushions and blankets. These beds were most often provided with a backrest to lean on. A wooden table, where the dishes and dishes were placed, was arranged in the center. Chairs, heat-diffusing braziers and oil lamps suspended from tall candelabras usually completed the ensemble. Famous and wealthy sportsmen Gaius Appuleius Diocles left his name in history by becoming one of the most famous charioteers (chariot drivers) in Rome. But in addition to being famous, he was also a rich man. Adored by the people, this sportsman born in Mérida retired at the age of 42, after a triumphant career of 24 years, during which he won 1,462 races out of the 4,257 in which he took part. Diocles seems to have specialized in driving the quadrigae (four-horse chariots) of three factions:the Whites, the Greens and the Reds. A commemorative stele, erected in Rome near the Circus of Nero on the Vatican hill, gives an idea of his wealth and his victories. When he retired in 146 AD. J.-C., Diocles has a fortune estimated at 35,863,120 sesterces.
