A. D. 14. 145 



of Juvenal. l^Sat. ili,] The rent of an i/ifi/la or houfe fo divided, was in 

 the age of Auguftus forty thoufand feflerccs, or/?322 : 18 : 4 fterling. 



An inquiry, whether the antlents poflelfed the mod ul'eful art of 

 BOOK-KEEPING as now pra6lifed, may be properly connected with the 

 general view of the trade of the antient world. Upon this occafion we 

 muft again regret the total lofs of the literary monuments of all the 

 antient mercantile communities, which obliges us to feek our informa- 

 tion from the writings of one of the mod uncommercial nations of an- 

 tiquity. 



It is plain from the works of Cicero and fome other authors, that the 

 Romans kept their accounts {rationes) in a book, which they called Co- 

 dex accept! et expenfi (the book of received and paid away), which ap- 

 pears to me to have contained the various accounts titled with each per- 

 fon's name, called tabula accepti et expcnfi, into which were polled (rela- 

 ta) from the culvejjaria, at lead once a month, the various tranfadions 

 of debit and credit, which it was incumbent on every upright account- 

 ant to date fxirly and pundtually, for ' as it was bale to charge what was 

 ' not judly due, fo was it villainous to omit entering what was owing to 

 ' others.' It was alfo a fufpicious circumdance, if any article was al- 

 lowed to lie in the adverjaria unpoded beyond a proper time. The Codex 

 (book) containing, as I think, the various tabula or rationes (accounts) 

 with their proper names or titles, was carefully prepared, and accurate- 

 ly written ; and every tranfadion was duely transferred (or poded) in 

 it for perpetual prefervation, that it might be produced upon occafions 

 of dif]5ute ; and it was admitted as evidence in courts of judice, where 

 the accounts (tabula) were publicly read. In each tabula there were 

 apparently two columns or pages ; one for the acceptuui (debit), and the 

 other for the cxpenjum (credit), as in our modern ledgers. 



The Adverjaria were only temporary notes, hadily written, with al- 

 terations or blottings ; and they were thrown away or dedroyed, and 

 new ones were begun every month. They were not admitted as evi- 

 dence in the courts *. 



* ' QuemadiTiodum turpe eft fcribere, quod non ' omnes, qui tabulas conficiunt, menflruas peiie 



• dcbeatur ; iic improbum eft non referre quod de- ' rationes in tabulas transferant, tu hoc nomcn 



• beas : xquc enim tabula: coiidemnantur tjus, qui ' triennium amplius in adverfariis jacere paten's ? 



• verum non rctulitjCt ejus, qui faliumpcrlcriplit.' — ' Utrum cetera nomina in codiccm accepti ct ex- 

 ' Q_iiid eft quod negligenter fcribamus adverfatia ? ' penli digefta babes, ?.n non ? Si non, qnomodo 

 ' quid eft, quod diligcnter conSciamus tabulas ? ' tabulas conficis ? fi ttiam, quamobicm, cum ce- 

 ' qua de ciufa ? Quia bxc funt menftrua ; illtt funt ' tera nomina in ordinem refercbas, hoc nomen 

 ' xterna; : lixc delentur ftacim ; iilae fervantur ' triennio amplius, quod erat iiiprimis magnum, in 



• fandl^ : h;EC parvi temporis memoriam ; il!.e per- ' adverfariis relinquebas ?' \_Cuironis Ornt. iii, cc. 

 ' petua; exiftimationis iidem et rcligionem amplcc- i, z, 3.] The whofe of the oration ought to be 



• tuntur : bxc funt dejciTtje ; ilia: iii ordinem con- peruled, being in defence of Rofcius, (the cele- 



• feftx. Itaque adverfaria in judicium protulit brated aClor) for money claimed by Fannius, for 

 ' nemo : codicem protulit ; tabulas recitavit.' — which he had not even raifed an account in his co- 

 ' Cur tamdiu jacet hoc nomen in adverfariis ? Quid aVx rtccf^/i f/ fx/'cn/?, but pretended, that he ought 

 ' fi tandem amplius triennium eft ? Q_uomodo, cum to recover it upon the authority of a note in his 



adverfaria ; 



Vol. I. T 



