Lucius Caecilius Iucundus was a banker who lived in the Roman town of Pompeii 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 AD. This house is known for its beauty, along with some material found about bank book-keeping and wax tablets, which were receipts. He is well known for being the main character in the Cambridge Latin Course series.
Life
Bust of L. Caecilius Iucundus. The Pompeian banker Iucundus was born around the end of Augustus’s reign (c. 14 AD) to a freedman named Felix, who was also a banker.[1] In his mid-fifties he was probably well-established as a successful banker who dealt with a wide variety of Pompeians.[2] 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 senior centurion Publius Alfenus Varus resell some slaves that he had purchased in an auction.[3]
He had at least two sons, Caecilius Iucundus Metellus (after his wife) and Quintus Caecilius Iucundus. 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.[4]
The tablets that Caecilius left behind suggest that he died in the earthquake on 5 February 62, since his records stop a few days before that date.[5]
Banking in Pompei 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.[6]
The argentarius would receive interest on the loan, as well as a commission known as a merces.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] Seventeen of these tablets record loans that he advanced to buyers of auction items.[10]
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.[11]
The tablets themselves are triptychs, which means that they have three wooden leaves tied together to make six pages.[12] 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.[13]
Inscription from a tablet The following is the translation of a 56 AD 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.[14]
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,[15] 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 Jupiter during the 62 AD earthquake.[16] 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.”[17] The tablinum, or study, in Iucundus’s house contains some beautiful wall paintings, and an amphora given by one of his sons to the other was also found in the house.[4]
Left: The famous banker of Pompeii, Jucundus, who lived circa 20–62 AD. Identified as a Jew by the German anthropologist, Hans F.K. Günther, in his book “Racial Elements of European History” (Fig, 240a and b, chapter VIII). Alongside, the Ashkenazi Jew, Abe Foxman of the ADL. The similarity between Jucundus and Foxman is clear, and serves a further indication of the physical continuity of the Jewish type over centuries—something that would be impossible if the “Khazar theory” was true.
Mena: Ex KKK member David Duke controversial conspiracy theory about Jewish people.
quote:Originally posted by Lawaya: what's the point of this? how does this prove khazar theory false
quote: The famous banker of Pompeii, Jucundus, who lived circa 20–62 AD. Identified as a Jew by the German anthropologist, Hans F.K. Günther, in his book “Racial Elements of European History” (Fig, 240a and b, chapter VIII). Alongside, the Ashkenazi Jew, Abe Foxman of the ADL. The similarity between Jucundus and Foxman is clear
Ex KKK member David Duke controversial conspiracy theory about Jewish people.
Kingdom of Khazaria
650?–1048?
The attempt is being made that the modern Jew Abe Foxman has features common to The famous banker of Pompeii, Lucius Caecilius Iucundus , who lived circa 20–62 AD who lived hundreds of year prior to The Khazar empire (although I have not seen any solid proof Iucundus was Jewish) but anyway ... What is going on now is that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke who had been a strong proponent of the theory that modern Jews are really Khazarians who lived in Southern Russia and were converts has changed his tune. He still thinks Jews are as evil as ever but his new concept is that the original semitic Jews, the original Hebrews were evil from the start he thinks and that the modern Jew is not primarily white European, that they are indeed a different evil Middle Eastern race. To support this he says while there is one somewhat recent article supporting the Khazar theory all the other genetics articles do not support this ancient connection and instead show a connection between the original Jews who he believes were evil and the modern Jews he also believes are evil.
My understanding is that if you look at these more up to date genetics articles most modern Jews in American and Europe are are primarily Eastern European but their male line does have some connections to ancient Hebrews via the Cohen Modal Haplotype and they also have a small about of Khazar ancestry but they are not primarily of Khazar ancestry. There were also the Hellenistic diaspora. The Egyptian diaspora is the most well-known of these. So all of this is in the mix
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How the one per cent lived 2,000 years ago: 3D video tour reveals the luxurious villa of a wealthy banker in ancient Pompeii The city district was scanned during field work in 2011-2012 3D models show what life was like before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius A full model now shows the detailed reconstruction of a large house, belonging to the wealthy man, Caecilius Iucundus
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posted
Mena:The Roman Empire slavery was more human then the later Christian European chattel slavery find in the American Continents because it wasnt base on skin color and race. Jucundus father who was a free slave could become a banker and Jucundus became a banker. If one of Jucundus son who took the mother last name of Metelli survived the volcanic eruption the Metelli banking family could have existed through the Renaissance era to today. Jucundus was either a Brown, White or Black man in a majority Brown and Black race Rome. Compare to Ancient Rome slavery how many Black descendants of European chattel slavery in the American continents are independant bank owners or have created a banking family?
Since a devastating volcanic eruption swept through Pompeii in AD 79, it has been difficult to imagine how the houses in the area looked in their original state. But researchers have used 3D technology to reconstruct an entire house to its former glory
The city district was scanned during the field work in 2011-2012 and the first 3D models of the ruin city have now been completed. Pictured left is a painting of the house, and pictured right is the 3D reconstruction
The researchers performed detailed studies of the building development through history, cleaned and documented three large wealthy estates, a tavern, a laundry, a bakery and several gardens
Two examples (left to right) appearance show what the house could have looked like, based on photographs and 3D scanning
The 3D reconstructions includes many intricate details, including a mosaic tiled floor surrounding a large pool of water
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