Evening star., 1902-02-15
AN ANCIENT. : JOURNAL
NEWSPAPERS 4AT ROME WHEN
THE CAESARS RULED.
Plfny Wrote for the Acta Diurna Ur-
bis-circulated In the City
ri -
and Provinces.
From the London EXPRESS.

tne LONDON Express.
After all, there is nothing new under the
sun. London Of today and Rome Of yes
terday are twenty centuries apart; yet
man and manners have changed but little,
II We are to believe a newspaper published
when julius Caesar ruled the world. To
pick up a copy Of the Acta Diurna Urbis,
which was Rome's leading daily paper,
with Pliny as its star reporter, one might
be reading resume of a twentieth century
days news. twisted into quaint language.
Ihe Acta was court Journal as well as
general newspaper. It printed the laws
OF the emperor, enactments OF the senate,
the names Of incoming magistrates. list
OF politicians who had an audience with
the emperor or an invitation to his ban
quets, the sacrifices to the gods, the games
at the circus, births, marriages, divorces.
and deaths OF notable people, and general
gossip of the day.
Tablets giving new insight into this early
day Journalism have just been discovered
IN Rome. They show that the Acta must
have circulated extensively in every part
was posted every morning in the forum
and copied and sold in the Argiletum-the
Fleet street Of ancient Rome
Plain Facts.
Zine writing was not the forte of those
ancient chroniclers. Dry statements were
good enough for them. Imagination and
facts seem to have been impartially mixed.
Side by side with the statement Of a stab
bing affray can be found brief story of a
wonderful phoenix being discovered near
Rome and exhibited in the Comitia.
Pliny wrote for the Acta. Pliny possessed.
among other qualifications for that posi-
tion vivid imagination. Had he lived in
the twentieth century he would have writ
ten lurid and highly-circumstantial ac-
counts OF various modern events. His was
the story of the phoenix-which story, by
the way, seems to be the direct ancestor
OF that familiar fable Of latter days-the
sea serpent. Piny contributed to one num-
ber Of the Acta an account of an interest
ing phenomenon. He says that during the
trial Of Milo for the murder Of Clodius a
shower Of baked bricks fell in several parts
OF the city. He neglects to state, however,
whether the streets were paved thereby, or
whether the bricks piled themselves into
walls.
Consulting the Files.
The Acta was frequently consulted by
literary men of the day. Back numbers
were deposited in a library accessible to
students and poets. Suetonius consulted
these files when he wrote the lives Of the
twelve Caesars. and found the birthday Of
Tiberius, the birthplace of Caligula, the
three letters added by Claudius to the Ro-
man alphabet, and the deitication Of Do
mitian.
Tacitus admits having copied from the
Acta his description of the funeral Of Ger
manicus and of the apotheosis of Claudius
Other noteworthy excerpts made by the
same writer were the debates in the senate
when a temple was to be erected to Nero,
and when the Senator ThraSeus Indignantly
protested against the cowardice Of his col
leagues who applauded Nero's matricide
Dion heard from the same source the vic
tories of Commodius in the amphitheater
and other more disreputable exploits Of
that individual.
A Glance at the News.
A glance at the news summary in one
copy Of the Acta. which is undated, and
possibly apocryphal, is. nevertheless, inter-
esting. 1t shows that the world has really
changed very little after all:
The Consul Savinius will today assume
the duties Of his Office.
A violent thunderstorm burst yesterday
over the city. A thunderbolt fell in the
afternoon on an oak tree in the vicinity of
the Velia.
A fatal affray took place at the Bear
wineshop near the shrine of Janus. The
landlord was dangerously wounded.
The Aedile Titanus passed sentence upon
those butchers who notoriously sold to the
people meat not previously submitted to in
specton. The fines collected will be devot
ed to the erection of a shrine.
AnSidiuS the money changer, who car
ried on business under the sign of the
Shield Of the Climber, has fled with a con-
siderable sum Of money He was pursued
at once and captured, and the money was
found on his person. The Praetor Fonten-
ius ordered the money to be restored to
those citizens who had deposited their
funds with him.
Denniphon, the robber. who was lately
captured was crucified this morning.
Not SO different from the daily run Of
news in the twentieth century. We have
defaulting bankers. whose loot is some
times divided for the benefit of their cred
itors; butchers who violate the laws gov
erning the sale Of meat; fatal brawls in
wine shops,' and robbers who suffer for
their sins.
Likewise an occasional tale of the phoe-
nfx-Sea serpent variety.