The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-09-09
Business Life In Ancient Rome.

Even the Emperors did not disdain to
be interested in ventures of this kind.
M. Aurelius inherited from his mother
immense brick factories; and even now
bricks are found bearing the name OF
On. Domitius Tullus, the Emperor S
| great-grandfather by adoption. An
other Emperor. Pertinax, for three years
conducted felt factory in Liguria. As
Senators were forbidden to engage in
trade. the future Emperor had recourse
to the usual expedient to bafle the law.
He set up in business trusty freedmen
and slaves who disposed of his manu-
features. Other Senators owned pot
teries or worked mines and quarries.
But though great quantities of mer-
chandise were supplied by these facto-
ries, and the finer fabrics were imported
ready made from the East, most manu-
featured articles were produced on a
small scale in the city itself. 1t was
truly beehive of artisans and mechan-
les. Bakers, tailOrs, shoemakers. car
penters, smiths, dyers, tanners, fullers,
pOtters, masOns, carvers and host of
others here busily piled their trades and
earned modest livelihood. OF shoe
makers there were five or six varieties.
Even the sculptor restricted himself to
one branch of his art. There were ar
lists who produced only Gent or Victo-
ries-nay, some whose sole occupation
was to insert eyes into statues made by
others. Two statues have been found
in which the bodies we're exact dupli-
Gates, though one was surmounted by
the head of Augustus, the other by that
of Agrippa. Some sculptors, therefore,
kept on hand a supply of ready-made
bodies, for which heads were made to
order. Of course, the price of work so
produced was very low, and respect
able life-size statue of marble or bronze
could be got for one hundred and thirty
to one hundred and seventy dollars, at
time when from ten to thirty thousand
dollars were paid for Phidias or a
Scopas.
No doubt, many of the mechanics
and tradesmen of Rome were slaves;
but that a large number were free citi-
zens must be inferred from the number
and Importance of their collegia, or
guilds. Their establishment reaches
back into hoary antiquity, for they are
said to have been founded by Numa
Pompilius. They were associations
with corporate rights, whose aim was
not only to further the business inter-
ests of their members, but also to pro-
vide them with congenial amusements.
Not only each trade had its guild, but
sometimes each branch of trade. For
instance, there were not only goldsmith
and silversmith guilds, but also guild
of ringmakers. Of their influence on
business life we have no detailed
knowledge. We are better informed
of their social features. They all wor-
shipped Minerva, the goddess Of me-
chanical arts, whose festival March 10
to 23) they scrupulously kept; but, be-
sides, each guild had some special
patron, whose feast was celebrated by
them with much pomp and display.
The bakers, for instance, were the spe-
cial wards of Vesta, the goddess of the
hearth-fre; and on her feast (June 81
they marched forth in procession, ac-
companied by their asses, which we're
adorned with garlands of flowers and
loaves of bread. S.. a 9gd
The expenses of the artisan were not
very large. for living at Rome was
cheap. From an edict of the Emperor
Diocletian which seems to give the
maximum prices of labor and merchan-
disc, Forbiger has conjectured that the
shop rent cost from $50 to $50 annu-
ally, while the average yearly pay of
JOurneyman mechanic was from $95 to
S125 and board. The annual cost of
food he computes at $40, and of cloth
ing at $15 per head. The prices of the 4
mechanics products were correspond
ingly low, as appears from the follow
ing items: One felt hat, 81; one pair
mans CATERS, 50 cents; one pair wom-
ans CATERS, 30 cents; one pair shoes,
Sc cents; one pair mans sandals, 26
cents; one pair slippers, 80 cents; one
tunic, SIG to $36; one toga, 500 to S48.
We must not forget to mention that a
shave could be had at the most fash
ionable shop for four cents.
When their earnings were SO exceed
lngly moderate, mechanics were not
likely to become millionaires. But
even under the most adverse cireum-
stances, Fortune will smile on her
favorltes. OF these was JuvenaPs bar
ber. Much to the disgust of the poet.
whose beard he had rasped in early |
manhood, he finally rivaled the richest I
Senators in wealth. Pliny tells the |
story of an ugly, hunchbacked slave,
Ciessippus by name. and a fuller by |
trade. At an auction of his masters
effects, he was thrown in with candle !
stuck that was sold to widow. He !
gained the favor of his mistress, be-
came her heir, and bloomed out into a
Thereafter the candlestick
was the principal deity of his chapel. |
But. apart from these favorites of
fortune, the artisans of Rome had a
hard struggle for existence. They not
only labored and toiled at their trades
but neglected no opportunity to turn an
honest penny by other expedients.
Our modern distiller at times keeps
cows, and sells swill milk, it is said: at
Rome every baker utilized his bran by
keeping hogs, and these, roaming
through the streets of the metropolis.
formed pleasing feature in the land.
,cape, and diffused an exceedingly