MOEROCLES AND THE METAPHOR OF INTEREST

Amongst the topics covered in Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric is the use of metaphor. Embedded in a long list of illustrations, most of them bons mots by Athenian politicians, is the following example (141 1a16–18):

The context of the comment is unknown, but Moerocles can be identified as a contemporary of Demosthenes. Although earlier commentators failed to appreciate the point of the metaphor (see Billeter 1898: 12), the allusion is presumably to the exaction of interest from borrowers (not profits; see Freese 1926: ad loc.). The figures quoted seem to represent the highest and lowest rates commonly found in Athens. In what follows, I will try to show how the moralizing aspect of the metaphor gives a clue to the fixing of Athenian interest rates.

Ancient interest rates come second only to banks in the attention they have received from historians, but an approach along moral lines is at odds with earlier suggestions. Superficial similarities invite arbitrary comparisons between ancient and modern rates, frequently combined with attempts to determine interest trends over time (see OCD s.v. ‘interest, rate of’). Interpretation of the evidence tends to be based on the assumption that the level of interest is itself a significant indicator of the condition of society.