Auctio
signifies generally “an increasing, an enhancement,” and hence the name
is applied to a public sale of goods, at which persons bid against one another. As a species,
auctio signifies a public sale of goods by the owner or his agent, or a
sale of goods of a deceased person for the purpose of dividing the money among those entitled
to it, which was called
auctio hereditaria. The sale was sometimes
conducted by an
argentarius, or by a
magister
auctionis; and the time, place, and conditions of sale were announced either by a public
notice (
tabula, album), or by a crier (
praeco).
The usual phrases to express the notification of a sale are
auctionem
proscribere, praedicare; and to determine on a sale,
auctionem
constituere. The purchasers (
emptores), when assembled, were
sometimes said
ad tabulam adesse. The phrases signifying to bid are
liceri, licitari, which was done either by word of mouth or by such
significant hints as are known to all people who have attended an auction. The property was
said to be knocked down (
addici) to the purchaser. An entry was made in
the books of the
argentarius of the sale and the money due, and credit
was given in the same books to the purchaser when he paid the money (
expensa
pecunia lata, accepta relata). Thus the book of the
argentarius
might be used as evidence for the purchaser, both of his having made a purchase and having
paid for the thing purchased. If the money was not paid according to the conditions of sale,
the
argentarius could sue for it.
The
praeco or crier seems to have acted the part of the modern
auctioneer, so far as calling out the biddings and amusing the company. Slaves, when sold by
auction, were placed on a stone or other elevated thing, and hence the phrase
homo de lapide emptus. It was usual to put up a spear (
hasta) in
auctions—a symbol derived, it is said, from the ancient practice of selling under a
spear the booty acquired in war. The term
asta publica is used in Italy
at the present time to signify an auction. By the auctio, the Quiritary ownership in the thing
sold was transferred to the purchaser. See
Bonorum
Emptio; Sectio.
