Abstract
As Ambrose remarked, the lexicon of consumer lending is rich in words that multiply almost as much as the interest charged to the debtor : fenus, usurae - - but the most mysterious is sors, the term that designates what we today call capital (the key word of capitalism, which the Latins hardly used in this sense). Why call it sors, the same word that signifies destiny or the tablet used to draw lots ? The lecture will put forward a number of hypotheses and offer a transparent reading of the metaphors that have formed around this contract over time.
