Commentarii (
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
:
''hupomnemata'') are notes to assist the memory, or
memoranda
A memorandum (: memorandums or memoranda; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered"), also known as a briefing note, is a Writing, written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviation, ...
. This original idea of the word gave rise to a variety of meanings: notes and abstracts of speeches for the assistance of
orators; family memorials, the origin of many of the legends introduced into early
Roman history
The history of Rome includes the history of the Rome, city of Rome as well as the Ancient Rome, civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman la ...
from a desire to glorify a particular family; and diaries of events occurring in their own circle kept by private individuals. An example of this is the day-book drawn up for
Trimalchio in
's ''
Satyricon
The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius in the late 1st century AD, though the manuscript tradition identifi ...
'' (''Satyricon'', 53) by his
actuarius, a slave to whom the duty was specially assigned. Other commentarii were memoirs of events in which they had taken part drawn up by public men. Examples of these are the ''Commentaries'' of
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
: ''
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; ), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' (), is Julius Caesar's first-hand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it, Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine yea ...
'' on the
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland). Gauls, Gallic, Germanic peoples, Germanic, and Celtic Britons, Brittonic trib ...
and ''
Commentarii de Bello Civili
'' Commentarii de Bello Civili'' (''Commentaries on the Civil War''), or ''Bellum Civile'', is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate. It consists of three books covering the events of 49– ...
'' on the
civil wars; another example is that of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
on his consulship. Different departments of the imperial administration and certain high functionaries kept records, which were under the charge of an official known as a commentariis (cf. a secretis, ''
ab epistulis''). Municipal authorities also kept a register of their official acts.
The ''Commentarii Principis'' were the register of the official acts of the emperor. They contained the decisions, favourable or unfavourable, in regard to certain citizens; accusations brought before him or ordered by him; and lists of persons in receipt of special privileges. These must be distinguished from the ''commentarii diurni'', a daily court-journal. At a later period records called ''ephemerides'' were kept by order of the emperor; these were much used by the collection of biographies known as ''Scriptores Historiae Augustae'' (see ''
Augustan History''). The ''Commentarii Senatus'', only once mentioned (Tacitus, Annals, xv. 74) are probably identical with the ''
Acta Senatus''.
There were also Commentarii of the priestly colleges: (a)
Pontificum, collections of their decrees and responses for future reference, to be distinguished from their Annales, which were historical records, and from their Acta, minutes of their meetings; (b)
Augur
An augur was a priest and official in the ancient Rome, classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the List of Roman deities, gods by studying events he observed within a predetermined s ...
um, similar collections of augural decrees and responses; (c)
Decemvirorum; (d)
Fratrum Arvalium. Like the priests, the
magistrates
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
also had similar notes, partly written by themselves, and partly records of which they formed the subject. But practically nothing is known of these ''Commentarii Magistratuum''. Mention should also be made of the ''Commentarii Regum'', containing decrees concerning the functions and privileges of the kings, and forming a record of the acts of the
king
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
in his capacity of priest. They were drawn up in historical times like the so-called leges regiae (jus Papirianum), supposed to contain the decrees and decisions of the Roman kings.
See also
*
Commonplace book
Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into blank books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such book ...
*
Hypomnema
*
Silva rerum
Notes
References
*
* See the exhaustive article by A. von Premerstein in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie (1901); Teuffel-Schwabe, Hist, of Roman Lit. (Eng. trans.), pp. 72, 77–79; and the concise account by H. Thédenat in Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquités.
{{EB1911 article with no significant updates
Classical Latin literature
Prose texts in Latin
Memory