''Acta Diurna'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ''Daily Acts'', sometimes translated as ''Daily Public Records'' or poetically as ''Daily Gazette'') were daily

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

official notice Judicial notice is a rule in the law of evidence that allows a fact to be introduced into evidence if the truth of that fact is so notorious or well-known, or so authoritatively attested, that it cannot reasonably be doubted. This is done upon the ...

s, a sort of daily

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

. They were carved on stone or metal and presented in message boards in public places such as the Forum of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. They also were called simply ''Acta''. In many ways, they functioned like an early newspaper for the Roman citizenry. The Acta were begun in 59 BC and continued until AD 222.

History

''Acta Diurna'', also called ''Acta Populi'', ''Acta Publica'', and simply ''Acta'' or ''Diurna'', in ancient Rome was a sort of daily

government gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establi ...

, containing an officially authorized narrative of noteworthy events at Rome. Its contents were partly official (court news, decrees of the Roman emperor,

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

, and

Roman magistrate The Roman magistrates were elected officials in Ancient Rome. During the period of the Roman Kingdom, the King of Rome was the principal executive magistrate.Abbott, 8 His power, in practice, was absolute. He was the chief priest, lawgiver, ...

s), and partly private (notices of births, marriages, and deaths). Thus, to some extent it filled the place of the modern

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

. The origin of the ''Acta'' is attributed to

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 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, an ...

, who first ordered the keeping and publishing of the acts of the people by public officers (59 B.C.; Suetonius, Caesar, 20). The ''Acta'' were drawn up from day to day, and exposed in a public place on a whitened board called an ''

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

''. After remaining there for a reasonable time they were taken down and preserved with other public documents, so that they might be available for purposes of research. The ''Acta'' differed from the

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

(which were discontinued in 133 BC) in that only the greater and more important matters were given in the latter, while in the former things of less note were recorded. Their publication continued till the transference of the seat of the empire to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. There are no genuine fragments extant. Sometimes

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

s made copies of the ''Acta'' and sent them to

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

s for information. Later emperors used them to announce royal or senatorial decrees and events of the court. Other forms of ''Acta'' were legal, municipal, and military notices. ''Acta Diurna'' introduced the expression “publicare et propagare”, which means "make public and propagate". This expression was set in the end of the texts and proclaimed a release to both Roman citizens and non-citizens.

Legacy

Today, there are many academic periodicals with the word ''acta'' in their titles (the publisher

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', '' Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...

has 64 such titles). ''Acta Diurna'' was used as the title of a Latin newspaper, published by Centaur Books.

References

External links

Brian J. Wright, Tyndale Bulletin 67.1
* {{authority control Society of ancient Rome Government gazettes Latin words and phrases History of newspapers

History

Legacy

See also

References

External links