"Carthage... must have been a scene of wonderful grandeur and activity. The Carthaginians were luxurious, and prone to display their wealth. ...The riches of the temples were immense, and the furniture and embellishments of private dwellings were of the costliest kind. Distant isles of the Atlantic, as well as the nearer shores of Asia and of Europe, contributed to the teeming stores of Carthage. In [this] great African republic bank-notes had their origin. "In a small piece of leather," says Æschines, the Socratic philosopher, "is wrapped a substance of the size of a piece of four drachms; but what this substance is no one knows except the maker. After this it is sealed, and issued for circulation; and he who possesses the most of this is regarded as having the most money, and as being the wealthiest man. But if any one among us had ever so much he would be no richer than if he possessed a quantity of pebbles." Of course banks must have existed for the redemption of these leather promises to pay, and the issue and currency of such notes must have been provided for by law."