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is a Latin saying that means "money does not stink". The phrase is ascribed to the Roman emperor Vespasian (ruled AD 69–79).
A tax on the disposal of urine was first imposed by Emperor Nero under the name of in the 1st century AD. The tax was removed after a while, but it was re-enacted by Vespasian around 70 AD in order to fill the treasury.
Vespasian imposed a urine tax on the distribution of urine from Rome's public urinals (the Roman lower classes urinated into pots, which were later emptied into cesspools). The urine collected from these public urinals was sold as an ingredient for several chemical processes. It was used in tanning, wool production, and also by launderers as a source of ammonia to clean and whiten woollen togas. The buyers of the urine paid the tax.
The Roman historian
''That Hideous Strength'', p. 32 (paperback p. 34)
/ref> In the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel '' All The King's Men'', by Robert Penn Warren (1946), protagonist Jack Burden muses that perhaps Vespasian had been right. At the time, Jack is beset with doubts about the source of his inheritance. In ''
Translation of ''De vita Caesarum—Divus Vespasianus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pecunia Non Olent Economy of ancient Rome Urine Latin words and phrases History of taxation Vespasian
History
A tax on the disposal of urine was first imposed by Emperor Nero under the name of in the 1st century AD. The tax was removed after a while, but it was re-enacted by Vespasian around 70 AD in order to fill the treasury.
Vespasian imposed a urine tax on the distribution of urine from Rome's public urinals (the Roman lower classes urinated into pots, which were later emptied into cesspools). The urine collected from these public urinals was sold as an ingredient for several chemical processes. It was used in tanning, wool production, and also by launderers as a source of ammonia to clean and whiten woollen togas. The buyers of the urine paid the tax.
The Roman historian Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
reports that when Vespasian's son Titus complained about the disgusting nature of the tax, his father held up a gold coin and asked whether he felt offended by its smell (). When Titus said "No", Vespasian replied, "Yet it comes from urine" ().
The phrase is still used today to say that the value of money is not tainted by its origins. Vespasian's name still attaches to public urinals in Italy () and France ().
In literature
"Vespasian's axiom" is also referred to in passing in the Balzac short story ''Sarrasine
''Sarrasine'' is a novella written by Honoré de Balzac. It was published in 1830, and is part of his '' Comédie Humaine''.
Introduction
Balzac, who began writing in 1819 while living alone in the rue Lesdiguières, undertook the composition ...
'' in connection with the mysterious origins of the wealth of a Parisian family. The proverb receives some attention in Roland Barthes's detailed analysis of the Balzac story in his critical study '' S/Z''. It is possible that F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to Vespasian's jest in '' The Great Gatsby'' with the phrase "non-olfactory money".
In '' That Hideous Strength'' by C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
, the Warden of Bracton College is given the nickname "Non-Olet" for having written "a monumental report on National Sanitation. The subject had, if anything, rather recommended him to the Progressive Element. They regarded it as a slap in the face for the dilettanti and Die-hards, who replied by christening their new Warden Non-Olet."/ref> In the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel '' All The King's Men'', by Robert Penn Warren (1946), protagonist Jack Burden muses that perhaps Vespasian had been right. At the time, Jack is beset with doubts about the source of his inheritance. In ''
London Fields
London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...
'' by Martin Amis
Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir '' ...
, while smelling a wad of used £50 notes, foil Guy Clinch observes, " was dead wrong. ."
In '' The Surgeon's Mate'' by Patrick O'Brian, when James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez is speaking of "glory to be picked up in the Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
... and in any case, who cares about filthy lucre?", one of the assembled captains murmurs "".
In '' Tono-Bungay'' by H. G. Wells, the narrator, Ponderevo uses the phrase to justify joining his uncle's business selling an ineffective and mildly harmful quack medicine: "... and true too was my uncle's proposition that the quickest way to get wealth was to sell the cheapest thing possible in the dearest bottle. He was frightfully right after all. ,—a Roman emperor said that."
See also
* List of Latin phrasesReferences
Sources
* Lissner, Ivar. ''Power and Folly: the story of the Caesars'' * Suetonius. ''De Vita Caesarum--Divus Vespasianus'' * Laporte, Dominique. '' History of Shit''External links
Translation of ''De vita Caesarum—Divus Vespasianus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pecunia Non Olent Economy of ancient Rome Urine Latin words and phrases History of taxation Vespasian