DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0572
CHAPTER LVII
INSCRIPTIONS RELATING TO BUSINESS AFFAIRS
The most important inscriptions relating to business transac-
tions are the receipts, discovered in 1875, which formed a part
of the private accounts of L. Caecilius Jucundus (p. 439). They
were written on wax tablets, which were carefully packed in a
wooden box. The box, which was in the second story of the
house, crumbled to pieces when the ash about it was removed ;
but the tablets, 127 in number, still retained their shape and
were taken to the Naples Museum. The wood of the tablets
had turned to charcoal, but the writing has been for the most
part deciphered. One receipt dates from 15 a.d., another from
the year 27; the rest belong to the decade immediately pre-
ceding the earthquake, 52-62 a.d. The documents are of the
greatest interest as casting light on the business methods of
antiquity.
Most of the tablets are triptychs. The three leaves were tied
at the back so as to open like the leaves of a book, making six
pages (Fig. 262). The average height is about 5 inches, the
width varies from 2 to 4 inches. Pages 1 and 6 served as
covers, being left smooth and without writing. Pages 2, 3, and
5 were hollowed out, leaving a polished surface with a raised
rim around it. On this surface a thin layer of wax was spread,
in which the letters were made with a stylus; the writing could
be easily read because the wood, which was of a light color,
showed through wherever a scratch was made in the wax
coating.
Two pages facing each other, 2 and 3, were devoted to the
receipt. Page 4, as shown in Fig. 263, was not hollowed out
but was divided into two parts by a broad, flat groove running
across the middle. When the document was ready to be sealed,
the first two leaves were brought together and tied by a thread
489
INSCRIPTIONS RELATING TO BUSINESS AFFAIRS
The most important inscriptions relating to business transac-
tions are the receipts, discovered in 1875, which formed a part
of the private accounts of L. Caecilius Jucundus (p. 439). They
were written on wax tablets, which were carefully packed in a
wooden box. The box, which was in the second story of the
house, crumbled to pieces when the ash about it was removed ;
but the tablets, 127 in number, still retained their shape and
were taken to the Naples Museum. The wood of the tablets
had turned to charcoal, but the writing has been for the most
part deciphered. One receipt dates from 15 a.d., another from
the year 27; the rest belong to the decade immediately pre-
ceding the earthquake, 52-62 a.d. The documents are of the
greatest interest as casting light on the business methods of
antiquity.
Most of the tablets are triptychs. The three leaves were tied
at the back so as to open like the leaves of a book, making six
pages (Fig. 262). The average height is about 5 inches, the
width varies from 2 to 4 inches. Pages 1 and 6 served as
covers, being left smooth and without writing. Pages 2, 3, and
5 were hollowed out, leaving a polished surface with a raised
rim around it. On this surface a thin layer of wax was spread,
in which the letters were made with a stylus; the writing could
be easily read because the wood, which was of a light color,
showed through wherever a scratch was made in the wax
coating.
Two pages facing each other, 2 and 3, were devoted to the
receipt. Page 4, as shown in Fig. 263, was not hollowed out
but was divided into two parts by a broad, flat groove running
across the middle. When the document was ready to be sealed,
the first two leaves were brought together and tied by a thread
489