“All I want is an income of 20,000 sesterces from secure investments”, proclaims a character in a poem by Juvenal (1st-2nd century CE), the Roman poet.

Today, 20,000 sesterces would be equivalent to about A$300,000 in interest from investments. Anyone would be very happy with this much passive annual income.

Like today, people in ancient times understood that investing money could help them consolidate and grow their wealth.

As the Roman novelist Petronius (1st century CE) once wrote,

Whoever has money sails with a fair breeze, and governs his fortune as he wishes.

So, how exactly did ancient people invest their money?

In ancient Greek and Roman times, there was no stock market where you could buy and trade shares in a company.

If you wanted to invest your cash, one of the more popular options was to obtain gold or silver.

People did this to protect against currency fluctuations and inflation. They usually kept the metals either in bullion form or in the form of ware like jewellery. Storing these items could be risky and prone to theft.

The Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BCE) describes the estate of a wealthy person that included “a lofty house, where talents of silver lie deeply hidden”........

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