Penal Sanctions Applicable to a Slave Engaged in Banking Activities
Penal Sanctions Applicable to a Slave Engaged in Banking Activities

Summary/Abstract: Gaius Suetonius in Vitae Galbae, as part of his Vita divi Augusti, described the case of a banker (nummularius) and the penal sanction applied to him by the later emperor Galba. The governor of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis ordered to cut off the hands of a banker who was unfairly changing money. In order to show even greater severity of the punishment, he ordered the cut off hands to be nailed to the table where the banker was performing the dishonest acts. Undoubtedly, nummularius punished by Galba conducted operations within mensa nummularia. The owners of the cantors used qualified people recruited from among the lower social strata, mainly slaves, to perform mint operations. The professional examination of the quality of a coin required a great deal of specialist work. The convict participated in the banking activity as a support technical personnel. The minting and testing operations ended with sealing the purse with tesserae nummulariae. Such specialized operations were not performed by Roman citizens. The content of tesserae nummulariae may be an indication that the testing operations were performed by slaves. Servi had actual knowledge of the contents of the controlled purses and the control process could be an opportunity for abuse or even punishable acts. The slave would therefore suffer a well-deserved and adequate punishment in the form of chopping off his hands and nailing them to the table at which he dishonestly carried out minting and testing activities.

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