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37Having obtained this, he at once instituted an important and necessary reform. Those who had lent money, it seems, being now in need of large sums because of the civil strife and the wars, were collecting their loans most relentlessly, and many of the debtors for the same reasons were unable to pay back anything, even if they wished to do so, 2since they did not find it easy to sell anything or to borrow more. Hence their dealings with each other were marked by much deceit and fraud, and there was fear that they might go to the point of accomplishing some fatal mischief. To be sure, the rate of interest had been lowered even before this time by some of the tribunes; 3but since payment was not secured even thus, but instead the one class was ready to forfeit its securities, while the other demanded back its principal in cash, Caesar now came to the aid of both so far as he could. He ordered that securities should have a fixed valuation according to their worth, and he provided that arbiters for this purpose should be allotted to persons involved in such a dispute.
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