Bankus Ruptus

Here's an interesting tid bit...

"Bankruptcy comes from ancient Rome. Merchants used to operate from a 'bankus' - a sortof workbench or counter. If they couldn't pay their bills, the local authorities would come over and break their bench - bankus ruptus. In England, they kept the bankruptcy procedures left behind by the Romans after the Romans left, even the part where they sold the bankrupt person into slavery. Only, it wasn't slavery anymore, it was indentured servitude. And many were sold into indentured servitude in the colonies."