"In the period 500-200 B.C. it was the custom in to designate the ownership of real estate by marking stones called "horoi," which meant limit or boundary. ...Certain of these gave notice that the property is encumbered, and a few say how, for how much due to whom, and on what terms. ...At about 450 B.C. the deme instructed its temple officials to obtain real security for all its loans and to place horoi on the encumbered property. ...The state itself was never mentioned in the horoi; public lending or borrowing was unusual. Groups of individuals, comprising lending clubs, often made... secured loans to friends, sometimes without interest. The horoi often refer to loan contracts on deposit with bankers or in temples."