Lucius Caecilius Iucundus
Encyclopedia
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
town of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
around 20 - 62 AD. His house still stands and can be seen in the ruins of the city Pompeii. It was partially destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79. This house is known for its beauty, along with some material found about bank book-keeping and wax tablets, which were receipts.
Life
The Pompeian banker Iucundus was born around the end of Augustus’sAugustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
reign (c. 14) to a freedman
Freedman
A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
named Felix, who was also a banker. In his mid-fifties he was probably well-established as a successful banker who dealt with a wide variety of Pompeians.
Freedmen and slaves performed many small business tasks for Iucundus, such as signing receipts as witnesses and collecting payments from clients. Many names of elite Pompeian citizens occur frequently in his transaction records, suggesting that Iucundus also had dealings with the upper class of his town. In fact, he even traveled to nearby Nuceria to help the wealthy Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...
senior centurion Publius Alfenus Varus resell some slaves that he had purchased in an auction..
He had at least two sons, Sextus
Sextus
Sextus is a common ancient Roman praenomen. It probably means "sixth" . Parallel praenomina are Secundus, Tertius, Quintus, Septimus, Octavius and Decimus...
Caecilius Iucundus Metellus (after his wife) and Quintus Caecilius Iucundus
Quintus Caecilius Iucundus
Quintus Caecilius Iucundus is the star of the Cambridge Latin Course series of books, set in the Ancient Roman Empire. He was the son of wealthy banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus and his wife Metella, all of whom were real people and who lived in Pompeii before AD79.In Book One, the reader finds...
. Iucundus departed from the traditional naming system, giving each of his sons a name that implied a relationship with the illustrious family of the Caecilii Metelli
Caecilii Metelli
The Caecilii Metelli were one of the most important and wealthiest families in the Roman Republic. They were nobles, although of plebeian, not of patrician stock...
.
The tablets that Iucundus left behind suggest that he died in the earthquake on 5 February 62
62 Pompeii earthquake
The 62 Pompeii earthquake occurred on 5 February. It had an estimated magnitude of between 5 and 6 and a maximum intensity of XI or X on the Mercalli intensity scale. The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were severely damaged. The earthquake may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount...
, since his records stop a few days before that date.
Banking in Pompeii
Iucundus was a type of banker called an argentarius, which meant that he acted as a middleman in auctions. The Pompeian argentarius would pay the vendor for the purchased item and then grant the buyer a time frame in which to repay him. According to the records of Iucundus, mostly dating from the 50s, the buyers had between a few months and a year to repay the loan to the argentarius.The argentarius would receive interest on the loan, as well as a commission known as a merces. Some argentarii, called coactores argentarii, collected debt money in addition to making arrangements in the auctions, while other argentarii were assisted by coactores who collected the debts for them. It is uncertain whether Iucundus was a coactor argentarius or simply an argentarius.
Wax tablets
Iucundus kept many private records of his business transactions on wax tablets, many of which were found in his house in 1875. Of the 153 tablets discovered, 16 document contracts between Iucundus and the city of Pompeii; the remaining 137 are receipts from auctions on behalf of third parties.The Cambridge Ancient History, 884. 17 of these tablets record loans that he advanced to buyers of auction items.Andreau, Banking and Business in the Roman World, 44.In addition to the transaction information, Iucundus’s tablets record the names of vendors and witnesses to the arrangements. The lists of witnesses also give some insight into the social structure of Pompeii, since Iucundus had his witnesses sign in order of social status.The Cambridge Ancient History, 885.
The tablets themselves are triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
s, which means that they have three wooden leaves tied together to make six pages.Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, p.499. Wax was put on the inner four pages, and the receipt was written on these surfaces. The tablet was then closed and wrapped with a string, over which the witnesses placed their wax seals. This prevented the document itself from being altered, and there was a brief description of the receipt written on the outside for identification purposes.Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, p.500. To read about the tablets in greater detail and to view pictures of reconstructed tablets, see pp. 499-501. On-line version only has text, not images.
Inscription from a tablet
The following is the translation of a 56 receipt for the proceeds of an auction sale."Umbricia Ianuaria declared that she had received from L. Caecilius Iucundus 11,039 sesterces, which sum came into the hands of L. Caecilius Iucundus by agreement as the proceeds of an auction sale for Umbricia Ianuaria, the commission due him having been deducted.
Done at Pompeii on the twelfth day of December, in the consulship of Lucius Duvius and Publius Clodius.
Seal of Quintus Appuleius Severus, Marcus Lucretius Lerus, Tiberius Julius Abascantius, M. Julius Crescens, M. Terentius Primus, M. Epidius Hymenaeus, Q. Granius Lesbus, Titus Vesonius Le…., D. Volcius Thallus."
In this inscription, Iucundus was very exact in the details. He included the date and the list of witnesses, which were listed in descending order of social status. So by examining several of his tablets, it is possible to determine the relative social standings of clients with whom Iucundus arranged numerous transactions.
House
Part of Iucundus’s house still stands on Stabiae Street in Pompeii today,Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, p.352. and it provides many interesting pieces of information both about Iucundus and Pompeii. Archaeologists discovered the wax tablets there, and the lararium, or shrine, in his house features a relief depicting the Temple of JupiterTemple of Jupiter
The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, also known as the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was the most important temple in Ancient Rome, located on the Capitoline Hill.-First building:Much of what is known of the first Temple of Jupiter is from later Roman...
during the 62 earthquake. The atrium was once decorated with paintings. The floor is decorated with a black and white mosaic and at the entrance a reclining dog is depicted.
Several graffiti messages have been found on the walls of the house, including one that reads “May those who love prosper; let them perish who cannot love; let them perish twice over who veto love.” The tablinum
Tablinum
In Roman architecture, a tablinum was a room generally situated on one side of the atrium and opposite to the entrance; it opened in the rear on to the peristyle, with either a large window or only an anteroom or curtain...
, or study, in Iucundus’s house contains some beautiful wall paintings, and an amphora given from one of his sons to the other was found in the house as well.
Fictional
Book One of the Cambridge Latin CourseCambridge Latin Course
The Cambridge Latin Course is a series of textbooks published by Cambridge University Press, used to teach Latin to secondary school students. First published in 1970, the series is now in its fifth edition, and has sold over 3.5 million copies...
is a fictional account based on the life of Iucundus, who is referred to as Caecilius in the series. In the book he has a wife, Metella, whose name means "little basket of stones", and a son, Quintus
Quintus Caecilius Iucundus
Quintus Caecilius Iucundus is the star of the Cambridge Latin Course series of books, set in the Ancient Roman Empire. He was the son of wealthy banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus and his wife Metella, all of whom were real people and who lived in Pompeii before AD79.In Book One, the reader finds...
, about whom the other books in the series are based. In the book, Caecilius dies in the 79 eruption of Vesuvius. However, as stated earlier, it is now believed that he actually perished in the 62 earthquake that preceded the eruption, since the records of his negotiated contracts cease shortly before the earthquake.
Caecilius, along with his banking profession, also has a minor role in Robert Harris
Robert Harris (novelist)
Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
's 2003 novel, Pompeii
Pompeii (novel)
Pompeii is a novel by author and journalist Robert Harris published by Random House in 2003. It is a blend of fictional characters with the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 that overwhelmed Pompeii and its surrounding towns. Pompeii is especially notable for the author's...
.
A 2008 episode of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, entitled "The Fires of Pompeii
The Fires of Pompeii
"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....
" , features Peter Capaldi
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi is an Academy Award and BAFTA award winning Scottish actor and film director. In 1995, his short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...
as Caecilius (a marble merchant in this iteration of events). Tracey Childs
Tracey Childs
Tracey Childs is an English actress, best known for playing Lynne Howard in the 1980s drama series Howards' Way. More recently, she has appeared in Born and Bred as Linda Cosgrove and as Patty Cornwell in Hollyoaks....
plays his wife Metella, Francois Pandolfo plays his son Quintus, and Francesca Fowler
Francesca Fowler
Francesca Fowler is a British actress, best known for her appearance in the 2007 thriller movie Straightheads alongside Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer; she is also recognised for her appearances in Rome HBO, and various BBC TV series.-Career:Fowler made her acting debut in the British TV movie,...
plays Evelina, his prophet daughter (a character created for the episode). In this version, he and his family survive thanks to the Doctor and Donna Noble transporting them to safety in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, and start a new life in Rome.Overseas filming for ambitious episode, BBC, 25 September 2007.
