[Footnote 114: Cicero, in his defence of Rabirius Postumus, 2.4, says that Rabirius' father magnas _partes_ habuit publicorum. One Aufidius (Val. Max. vi. 9. 7) "Asiatici publici exiguam admodum _particulam_ habuit." Cp. Cic _in Vat._ 12. 29] [Footnote 115: This is the view of Deloume, _Les Manieurs d'argent à Rome_, p. 119 foll.] [Footnote 116: Marq. _Staatsverwaltung_, ii. p.291] [Footnote 117: Deloume, _Manieurs d'argent_, p. 317 foll.] [Footnote 118: _pro lege Manilia_, 7. 18.] [Footnote 119: _Ib._ 7. 19.] [Footnote 120: _ad Att._ i. 17. 9. Crassus, no doubt a large shareholder, urged them on.] [Footnote 121: In a letter to his brother, then governor of this province, Cicero contemplates the possibility of contracts being taken at a loss (_ad Q.F._ i. 1. 33), "publicis male redemptis." And in a letter of introduction in 46, he alludes to heavy losses suffered in this way, _ad Fam._ xiii. 10.] [Footnote 122: _ad Att._ v. 16. 2.] [Footnote 123: _Ib._ vi. 1. 16.] [Footnote 124: _ad Familiares_, xiii. 65.] [Footnote 125: _Ib._ xiii. 9. I have not adhered quite closely to his translation.] [Footnote 126: "Qui est in operis ejus societatis," i.e. engaged as a subordinate agent.--Marquardt, _Staatsverwaltung_, ii. p. 291.] [Footnote 127: Marq. ii. p. 35 foll.] [Footnote 128: See his article in _Dict. of Antiq._ ed. 2, s.v. argentarii.] [Footnote 129: Augustus' grandfather was an argentarius (Suet. _Aug._ 2), yet his son could marry a Julia, and be elected to the consulship, which, however, he was prevented by death from filling.] [Footnote 130: The word for this cheque is _perscriptio_. Cp. Cic. _ad Att_. ix. 12. 3 viri boni usuras perscribunt, i.e. draw the interest on their deposits.] [Footnote 131: Cic. _ad Att_. xii. 24 and 27.] [Footnote 132: Cic. _ad Fam_. xvi. 4 and 9] [Footnote 133: Cic. _ad Att_. xiii. contains many letters of interest in this connexion.] [Footnote 134: Cic. _ad Att._ xiii. 2. 3. Cp. xii. 25. In xii. 12 Cicero's divorced wife Terentia wishes to pay a debt by transferring to her creditor a debt of Cicero's to herself. Another way in which actual payment could be avoided was by paying interest on purchase-money instead of the lump sum. Cp. xii. 22.] [Footnote 135: A good example of this in Velleius ii. 10 (house-rent).] [Footnote 136: Cic. _de Officiis_, ii. 24, 84.] [Footnote 137: Caesar, _de Bell. Civ._ iii. 1 and 20 foll.] [Footnote 138: Deloume in his _Manieurs d'argent_ has a chapter on this (p. 58 foll.), but his details are not wholly to be relied on. Boissier's sketch in _Cicéron et ses amis_, 83 foll., is quite accurate.] [Footnote 139: _ad Fam_. v. 20 fin.] [Footnote 140: _Ib_. v. 9.] [Footnote 141: Deloume's attempt to prove that Cicero speculated with enormous profits seems to me to miss the mark.] [Footnote 142: _ad Q. Fratr._ ii. 4. 3. Cp. _ad Att._ iv. 2.] [Footnote 143: _ad Q. Fratr._ ii. 14. 3.]