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The Corrupting Sea Loan Justinian's Failed David Rockwell THE CORRUPTING SEA LOAN JUSTINIAN’S FAILED REGULATION OF PECUNIA TRAIECTITIA MA Thesis in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies CEU eTD Collection Central European University Budapest May 2019 THE CORRUPTING SEA LOAN JUSTINIAN’S FAILED REGULATION OF PECUNIA TRAIECTITIA by David Rockwell United States and United Kingdom Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Chair, Examination Committee ____________________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________________ CEU eTD Collection Examiner Budapest May 2019 THE CORRUPTING SEA LOAN JUSTINIAN’S FAILED REGULATION OF PECUNIA TRAIECTITIA by David Rockwell United States and United Kingdom Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Reader Budapest May 2019 CEU eTD Collection I, the undersigned, David Rockwell, candidate for the MA degree in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, declare herewith that the present thesis is exclusively my own work, based on my research and only such external information as properly credited in notes and bibliography. I declare that no unidentified and illegitimate use was made of the work of others, and no part of the thesis infringes on any person’s or institution’s copyright. I also declare that no part of the thesis has been submitted in this form to any other institution of higher education for an academic degree. Budapest, 14 May 2019 __________________________ David Rockwell CEU eTD Collection Abstract In September 540 CE, Justinian adopted new legislation that enshrined in law certain “long-standing customs” in relation to maritime loans (pecunia traiecticia). Less than eight months later, he repealed it. This study attempts to reconstruct the circumstances of this confused episode of imperial lawmaking. It considers and in large part rejects older attempts at explanation that depended on outdated assumptions and underdeveloped arguments. This study presents a range of conjectures to explain the historical circumstances surrounding the passage and repeal of Novel 106, conjectures that give more weight to the role played by two notoriously corrupt officials in promulgating the new law. On this reconstruction, earlier legislation by Justinian regulating interest rates had substantially reduced the interest rates that could be earned on maritime loans, which became much less profitable. Lenders sought legislation to return to the status quo ante. Their efforts were successful, perhaps as a result of illicit intervention by one or both of the quaestor sacri palatii, Tribonian, or the praefectus praetorio Orientis John the Cappadocian. The new law led to an increase in the real interest cost of maritime loans. A reaction ensued from the shippers (ναύκληροι) or merchants (ἔμποροι) that relied upon maritime loans to finance their activities. These groups may in turn have applied for redress to the imperial bureaucracy, perhaps to the very same two officials. Novel 106 and its repeal through Novel 110 may therefore represent an instance of the charge made against Tribonian in Procopius Wars 1.24.16, namely that he sold the repeal of some laws and the passage of others, as the needs of his (presumably paying) clients might from time to CEU eTD Collection time require. i Acknowledgements The debts I owe are many and various; listing all those whom I should thank would perhaps double the length of an already long thesis. Family, friends and colleagues who have assisted me know who they are and, I hope, are assured of my gratitude. I should especially like to thank the Medieval Studies Department of Central European University for the opportunity provided to pursue these studies in its flourishing and most congenial intellectual community. I am very grateful for their willingness to take a chance on a candidate whose application must have appeared somewhat unconventional. CEU eTD Collection ii Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: The Maritime Loan .................................................................................................. 8 Athenian origins ..................................................................................................................... 8 Roman adoption ................................................................................................................... 10 Key features ......................................................................................................................... 12 Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 12 Lenders ............................................................................................................................. 13 Borrowers ......................................................................................................................... 16 Shifting the Risks of Voyage ........................................................................................... 16 Interest.............................................................................................................................. 18 Security ............................................................................................................................ 19 Insurance? ............................................................................................................................ 20 Chapter 2: Justinian’s Prior Efforts to Regulate Interest Rates ............................................... 27 Background .......................................................................................................................... 27 History.............................................................................................................................. 27 CEU eTD Collection Banking Conventions ....................................................................................................... 30 Rate Caps ............................................................................................................................. 32 Justinian’s General Regulation of Interest Rates ............................................................. 32 Evasion and correction ..................................................................................................... 36 iii Compound Interest ............................................................................................................... 41 Repayments Ultra Duplum .................................................................................................. 42 Subsequent Developments ................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 3: Justinian’s Maritime Loan Legislation and its Repeal ........................................... 46 Lenders and Bankers ............................................................................................................ 46 Novel 106 ............................................................................................................................. 50 Adoption .......................................................................................................................... 50 Loan Structures ................................................................................................................ 51 Sailing Season and Duration ............................................................................................ 53 Increased Interest Costs ................................................................................................... 57 The Repeal: Novel 110 ......................................................................................................... 59 Prior Accounts ..................................................................................................................... 59 A Revolt by Provincial Businessmen? ............................................................................. 61 The Rage of an Emperor Scammed? ............................................................................... 62 A Collapse in Seaborne Commerce? ............................................................................... 63 An Alternative Reconstruction ............................................................................................ 65 Chapter 4: Avenues of Corruption ........................................................................................... 69 Justinian as Legislator .......................................................................................................... 70 CEU eTD Collection The Pace ........................................................................................................................... 70 Making New Law ...........................................................................................................
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