Note 467 — Chapter XIV

An amusing instance of official interference is recorded in Apuleius, Metamorhp. I. 18. Lucius, the hero of the story, tries to buy some fish for dinner from a fishmonger at Hypata in Thessaly, who demanded 100 nummi (denarii): after much haggling, 20 denarii’s worth is bought and being taken home, when the local ædile intervenes, seizes the parcel on account of the extravagant charge, and destroys the fish in the presence of the seller. The result, which Lucius bewails, was loss of both dinner, and denarii!