Prestiti e pegni, tempio e città. Note sull’ἐπίκριμα efesino di Paolo Fabio Persico (44 d.C.)

Some inscriptions found at Ephesus (IEph. Ia 17-19) evidence a part of the edict that the proconsul Paullus Fabius Persicus addressed to the city in 44 AD. A section of this edict (IEph. Ia 17, ll. 48-49) attests some of the banking operations carried out by the temple of Artemis, the allowing of loans on the basis of the provision by the debtor (probably the city) of the pledges on the incomes of the current and the following year. After the study of the epigraphic problems that arise from the inscription (rather fragmentary) and its editions, and after the reconstruction of the historical context when the edict was placed, the article shows how the measures of the proconsul aimed at limiting the use of those guarantees, which appeared unreliable and especially conflicting with the Roman juridical mens. In particular, a comparison is made with the discipline of the pledge of future things, as known from the Digest and from some imperial constitutions. Finally, the responsibility of city officials, acting in the name of the city, is briefly considered.