Hence followed a scarcity of money, a great shock
being given to all credit, the current coin too, in consequence of the
conviction of so many persons and the sale of their property, being locked
up in the imperial treasury or the public exchequer. To meet this, the
Senate had directed that
every
creditor should have two-thirds of his capital secured on estates in
Italy. Creditors however were suing for payment in full,
and it was not respectable for persons when sued to break faith. So, at
first, there were clamorous meetings and importunate entreaties; then noisy
applications to the prætor's court. And the very device intended as a
remedy, the sale and purchase of estates, proved the contrary, as the
usurers had hoarded up all their money for buying land. The facilities for
selling were followed by a fall of prices, and the deeper a man was in debt,
the more reluctantly did he part with his property, and many were utterly
ruined. The destruction of private wealth precipitated the fall of rank and
reputation, till at last the emperor interposed his aid by distributing
throughout the banks a hundred million sesterces, and allowing freedom to
borrow without interest for three years, provided the borrower gave security
to the State in land to double the amount. Credit was thus restored, and
gradually private lenders were found. The purchase too of estates was not
carried out according to the letter of the Senate's decree, rigour at the
outset, as usual with such matters, becoming negligence in the
end.
