로마 공화정기 후기 청부회사의 조직과 위상

Abstract

If there was a capitalism in the ancient Rome, the capitalistic corporation was to be the contracting company composed of the publicans. In this point this paper can contribute to the estimation of ancient economy and to comparison of the medieval and the modern ones by making the ideal type of ancient company on the various fragments focused on the late Republic of Rome. The scale of the company grew rapidly as the military demand increased highly in second century B.C. Moreover the companies were organized and expanded into the various fields essential to the Roman government. For example, their major businesses were tax collections, construction of public buildings, mining etc, all of which required the great human resources and the wide network of communication and transportation. It was very natural for publicans to organize their company, composed of a representative, branch󰠏managers, boards, members or guarantors and the employees. The representative was called manceps, redemptor, or magister. He was also bidder and contractor in relation to the government. In provinces there were pro󰠏magisters, managers of the local branches, like the proconsul, provincial governor. A board was called decumani with the high status in the company as the Roman senators. This title is generally interpreted as a tithe collector, but has the original meaning of the great person in the company. They discussed the problems proposed by the representative and decided on them. There were many employees, who were not only slaves and freed men but also free men. Some investors were found in the materials, who were called particeps or adfinis, not participating in the company. The character of members called ‘socii'’ is the key point in order to understand the status of the company. They were the publicans, fellow󰠏guarantors for the company. They could convene the general meeting, where a representative could be selected or changed, besides making decisions relating to the company. The company continued only for five years, the contract term, in principle. But the company could be continued without interruption with a representative alternated by another member. It was important for the company to continue doing business relating to the government. So some companies tended to be acknowledged by the government after the Gracchan reforms. The contracting company became a corporation or legal person. The concept is proved by the stele containing the customs law of Asia, discovered ar Ephesus in 1976, in which it is advertised by the consuls that a contractor could be changed. Recently some scholars proposed the possibility of stock exchange of the companies. These suggestions are mostly based on the guesswork or the errors in reading the materials. So the question can not be solved until the discovery of the new materials.