The difference in form between the receipt, on pages 2 and 3, and the memorandum will be plain from the examples. The receipt, with few exceptions, is simply a record of an oral acknowledgment in the presence of witnesses that a sum of money was received, accepti latio. In nearly all the tablets this acknowledgment and the names of the witnesses, on page 4, are in the same handwriting, which must have been either that of Jucundus himself or of his secretary. It did not matter who wrote the receipt; in case of a dispute the seals of the witnesses would alone be sufficient to prove its genuineness. The memorandum, however, was ordinarily in a different hand, either that of the person who gave the receipt, or of some one authorized to write for him. As it was not under the seals of witnesses, the handwriting might become a matter of importance if any question should arise in regard to the document.
Fig. 275.—Tablet, restored, with the two leaves containing the receipt tied and sealed, and with the signatures of the witnesses at the right of the seals.
The entire tablet, with its receipt, memorandum, and names and seals of witnesses was called perscriptio, 'entry of account.' This word appears ordinarily on the edge of the tablet, with the name of the person who gave the receipt in the genitive case.
Nearly all the tablets record transactions connected with auction sales, the person whose effects were thus disposed of giving Jucundus a receipt in full for the proceeds of the sale less a commission, mercede minus. A few contain receipts for rent which Jucundus paid for the use of property belonging to the city—a fullery ([p. 394]), the rent of which altogether amounted to 1652 sesterces, about $75; a pasture, for the use of which he paid 2675 sesterces, about $130; and a piece of arable land, fundus, on which he paid 6000 sesterces, about $300, in rents.
We present an example of both classes of receipts. The first, which we may call Tablet A, was given by a lady, Umbricia Januaria, for the proceeds of an auction sale; it is dated December 12, A.D. 56. The other, Tablet B, is the receipt for the rent of public pasture land and belongs to the year 59 A.D.
TABLET A
Title
Perscriptio Umbriciae Januariae, 'Entry of account of Umbricia Januaria.'