Auctions in ancient Greece

Last updated

Auctions in ancient Greece were are events in which goods were sold through an open bidding process between multiple buyers, the highest bidder receiving the goods. [1] In a public auction, goods belonging to the state were sold, whereas private auctions sold goods belonging to individuals and identity of the seller was private. [1] Goods that were often sold at auction include, land, the ability to collect taxes, slaves, seized goods, and inheritances. [1] Auctions have progressed to the exciting event we know today from a very long history that started in ancient Greece.

Contents

Private and public auctions

There were two types of auctions in Ancient Greece. In a public auction, goods belonging to the government were sold and the identity of the seller was made public. [1] These auctions also organized by public officials. [1] Sometimes these officials were more closely affiliated to the military, and sometimes they were civil authorities. [2] Public auctions were often used as a quick and easy way to raise funds to balance the government's budget. [3] Usually public auctions were used to satisfy normal recurring expenditures as opposed to extraordinary expenses like wars, public works projects, or food shortages. [3] Public auctions were also useful as a mechanism to collect taxes. In Athens, in the place of an administrative arm with the express purpose of collecting taxes, there was a system of Tax farming via public auction. [4] The tax farmers (telonai) would collect the taxes instead of government officials. [3] Public auctions were also used a means of punishment by the government. If someone misused or misappropriated public property, sometimes some or all of their goods would be seized and by the government and sold through public auction. [5] Public auctions were also used as a political tool to curry or check power within the polis, especially during the reign of a tyrant. [2] Public auctions could be used to dominate and degrade those who opposed the current regime and reward those who supported it. [2]

In a private auction, the identity of the seller was not made public and the goods on sale belonged to private individuals. [1] Private auctions were an important aspect of estate management as inheritances were commonly sold at private auctions. [2] Private auctions also contributed to the status of buyer within Greek society and as the quality of goods from an estate could contribute to the esteem of the buyer. [2]

Auction procedure

Anyone who desired to sell at an auction would need to speak to the public offerer about the matter. [5] The auction would then be announced both in writing and orally through the keryx. [2] Unlike in Italy, money changers, or argentarii were not used in Greece. [5] However, banks became involved with the process between the second and third century BCE. [1]

Goods commonly sold at auction

Public auctions often sold rights to unpaid loans, public lands and other public goods, goods seized from conquered enemies, confiscated goods from those who owed the government taxes, and goods from exiles and convicts and exiles. [1] The collection of taxes was also often sold through public auction. [1] Prisoners of war were also sold as slaves through public auction. [1] [5] At private auctions, goods like land, inheritance, crops, houses, slaves, and livestock were often sold. [6] [5] Private auctions were also used as a means to pass wealth down through a legacy. [2] Goods sold at public auctions included food, spices, wool and books.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auction</span> Process of offering goods or services up for bids

An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exist and are described in the section about different types. The branch of economic theory dealing with auction types and participants' behavior in auctions is called auction theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publican</span> Occupation in antiquity

In antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in whose official capacity they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects. In addition, they served as tax collectors for the Roman Republic, farming the taxes of the Roman provinces, and bidding on contracts for the collection of various types of taxes. Importantly, this role as tax collectors was not emphasized until late into the history of the Republic. The publicans were usually of the class of equites.

Timaeus of Tauromenium was an ancient Greek historian. He was widely regarded by ancient authors as the most influential historian between the time of Ephorus and Polybius. In the words of scholar Lionel I. C. Pearson, Timaeus "maintained his position as the standard authority on the history of the Greek West for nearly five centuries."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taurini</span> Celto-Ligurian tribe

The Taurini were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the river Po, around present-day Turin, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

An ad valorem tax is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of a property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ad valorem tax may also be imposed annually, as in the case of a real or personal property tax, or in connection with another significant event. In some countries, a stamp duty is imposed as an ad valorem tax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Caecilius Iucundus</span> 1st century CE Roman banker

Lucius Caecilius Iucundus was a banker who lived in the Roman town of Pompeii around AD 14–62. His house still stands and can be seen in the ruins of the city of Pompeii which remain after being partially destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. The house is known both for its frescoes and for the trove of wax tablets discovered there in 1875, which gave scholars access to the records of Iucundus' banking operations.

Oikonomos, Latinized œconomus, oeconomus, or economos, was an Ancient Greek word meaning "household manager." In Byzantine times, the term was used as a title of a manager or treasurer of an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epulones</span> Religious corporation of ancient Roman

The epulones arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games (ludi). They constituted one of the four great religious corporations of ancient Roman priests.

<i>Quindecimviri sacris faciundis</i>

In ancient Rome, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis were the fifteen members of a college (collegium) with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This collegium also oversaw the worship of any foreign gods which were introduced to Rome. They were also responsible for responding to divine advice and omens.

Pyanopsia (Πυανόψια) or Pyanepsia (Πυανέψια) was an ancient Athenian festival held in honor of Apollo in Athens on the 7th day of the month Pyanepsion (October/November). Its name literally means "bean-stewing", in reference to one of the sacred offerings given during this time, and is taken from the Greek words πύανος - pyanos "bean" and ἕψειν - hepsein "to boil".

Ancient Greek clubs were associations of ancient Greeks who were united by a common interest or goal.

The Fornacalia was an Ancient Roman religious festival celebrated in honor of the goddess Fornax, a divine personification of the oven (fornax), and was related to the proper baking of bread.

<i>Klinē</i> Ancient Greek furniture

Klinai, known in Latin as lectus triclinaris, were a type of ancient furniture used by the ancient Greeks in their symposia and by the ancient Romans in their somewhat different convivia.

Andromachus was the ruler of Tauromenium, Magna Graecia, in eastern Sicily in the middle of the 4th century BCE, and the father of the historian Timaeus.

The Boedromia (Βοηδρόμια) was an ancient Greek festival held at Athens on the 7th of Boedromion (summer) in the honor of Apollo Boedromios. Though Apollo was referred to as Boedromios by the Boeotians as well as other Greeks, the festival was exclusively celebrated by the Athenians. According to Demosthenes, the only classical writer to refer to the festival, it had a military connotation, and thanks the god for his assistance to the Athenians during wars. It could also commemorate a specific intervention at the origin of the festival. Various ancient sources have offered differing accounts on what this intervention may have been. According to Plutarch, Theseus refused to battle against the Amazons until he had sacrificed to Phobos. It is in recognition of the help granted in the ensuing battle that the Athenians celebrate the festival. However, the Suda and Euripides report that the festival's origins lie in the help either Xuthos or his son Ion granted to the Athenians when they were attacked by Eumolpos during the reign of Erechtheus. During the event, sacrifices were also made to Artemis Agrotera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government auction</span> Auction held for state-owned or state-sold property

A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority.

An imperial estate in the Roman Empire it was the "personal property of members of the imperial family, as distinct from property belonging to the Roman state". On the Emperor's death, these properties passed to his successor, and not to his private heirs.

The Gallic Alps were an ancient cultural region located in the Alps and populated mainly by Gauls. The term Celtic Alps is also found in ancient Greek texts.

In ancient Rome there were a variety of officials tasked with banking. These were the argentarii, mensarii, coactores, and nummulari. The argentarii were money changers. The role of the mensarii was to help people through economic hardships, the coactores were hired to collect money and give it to their employer, and the nummulari minted and tested currency. They offered credit systems and loans. Between 260 and the fourth century CE Roman bankers disappear from the historical record, likely because of economic difficulties caused by the debasement of the currency.

Ducenarius was a social and military position in ancient Rome. The term ducenarius means "containing two hundred."

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Andreau, Jean (2018-02-26). "auctions". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics. 1. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8237. ISBN   978-0-19-938113-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Morcillo, Marta García (2012), "Auctions", The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell, doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah06032, ISBN   9781444338386
  3. 1 2 3 Millett, Paul C. (2016-03-07). "finance, Greek and Hellenistic". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.6972. ISBN   978-0-19-938113-5.
  4. ↑ Hunter, Virginia (2000). "Policing Public Debtors in Classical Athens". Phoenix. 54 (1/2): 21–38. doi:10.2307/1089088. ISSN   0031-8299. JSTOR   1089088.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Andreau, Jean; Schanbacher, Dietmar (2006). "Auctiones". Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e207990.
  6. ↑ Rolf, Hurschmann (2006). "Household equipment". Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/2214-8647_bnp_e504520.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.