Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-05
CESAR'S REPORT ERS
SHORTHAND WRITERS IN DAYS
OF ROMAN REPUBLIC.
Proceedings of the Senate Taken Down
and Circulated in the Provinces
Pay Of Copyists.

1T was eminently proper that We should
place tablet over the grave of Thomas
Lloyd, the first official stenographer to the
American Congress" said a yeteI an of the
art to a Star reporter. land 1 have been
deeply interested in delving into ancient
history to find out when and where short
hand reporting was first introduced. Even
before the days of printing presses Cicero
introduced a system of shorthand reporting,
called the Tyronean method, from Tyro, a
freedman, who was one of Ciceros most
expert writers. That even at that early
date systems of shorthand writing-sten-
ography-came into general use for certain
purposes and that the methods were very
effective. we may infer from a passage in
Horace, who. when addressing shorthand
writer, says: You write in such manner
that you will have no occasion in four
whole years to ask for another sheet OF
parchment.
Julius Caesars Stenographers.
Julius Caesar. bidding for popularity IN
his first consulate. caused the proceedings
Of the Roman senate to be published daily,
and these reports were taken down by
trained writer's. who were called tabularh.
being what we today style reporters. These
reporters were probably only rapid writer's
using the ordinary characters The reports
were revised and edited before their ex-
posture to the public eye, and were then cir
culated even in the distant provinces just
the same as the Congressional Record Is
now sent to the constituents OF members
Of our Congress. Prior to this time the
great annals of the lawmakers were writ
ten on tablets and placed in a room of the
pontiff, where they were accessible to the
public. The people had to go to the news
paper and 1t was not delivered at their
homes as now. This room OF the pontin
was a general reading room. reminding one
H., -taI{ oil nj he FtQ
Library.
"Why the ancients had no printing presses
1t has been difficult for students to decide,
for they had the material for making them
and paper and parchment for printing, and
then, as now, there was heavy and grow
ing demand for reading matter. 1t was not
until the material for writing changed that
there was much progress In the matter OK
spreading the news. The decalogue was
written upon tablets of stone; the Athenian
record now known as the 'Partan Chron-
icle' was engraved upon tablets of mar
BILE, and next we find inscriptions on thin
plates of metal and on the broad leaves or
certain plants. on sheets formed OF woven
texture from the bark of trees and on the
skins of animals. These heavy and cum
brous volumes were as difficult to handle
as the iron money imposed upon the Spar
tans
ing press than did the Egyptians. for they
discovered and practiced a method of rapid
ly multiplying their writings, using en-
graved seals, consisting OF cylinders from
which any number of impressions could be
made Naturally intellectual advancement
was rapid with the introduction OF 'circu-
lating documents. books and papers, for
the reading class was then only the Weaithy'
even in the best days Of Roman civilization.
The assembled intellect heard the news at
the Olympian games and in the Athenian
theater.
Work of Educated Slaves
"Cicero's shorthand reporters were the
beginning of the stenographic art. without
which we could not get along very well in
this age of newspapering. Ciceros plan
called only for the taking down and copying
of the proceedings Of the senate by edu-
Gated slaves, and these copies were sent
out Cicero worked on the same plan OF
gaining popularity as do the the statesmen
who send out the Congressional Record.
public documents and garden seed, and he
was unquestionably pretty shrewd poll
tician. 1t IS gratifying. however, to Ste
nographers of the present day to know
that we are not slaves as were the writer's
and shorthand reporters of those days. True
we have frequently long hours and labo-
rious work. but one of our profession Will
earn more in single day than did the an
cient reporters In q whole year. 1t was.
unauestionably, the system of slavery
which the bane of ancient civilization
and the primary cause of Its ruin. Capital
owned labor: therefore. labor was cheap
and without dignity. Authors dined upon
rarities costing thousands OF dollars in the
case of a single meal. while his slaves who
produced his books were nearly starved.
The only cost involved in the production Of
a book was the sustenance of the servtle
writer's and embellishers Publication was
carried on just plantation was worked
In the DAYS before the war. The largest
books with the most beautiful and expen-
sive bindings. could be produced at far
less cost in dollars and cents than they
can be made in this day. And the same
reasons which prevented modern improve
ments in the old slave-holding states pre-
vented the introduction of the printing
press as an organ of ancient civilization.
Copying Books.
'Atticus. a Roman bibliophilist trained
large number of slaves to the especial duty
of merely transcribing. There were five
readers for each one hundred trained writ
ers in different apartments. and Ave hun
dred copies OF a short poem or small book
could be produced rapidly and at little cost
less by far than the boosted powers OF the
press with all our modern appliances In
the. art of printing. These shorthand slaves
could produce in twelve hours Ave hundred
copies of a poem equal in extent to Tenny-
sons eEnoch Arden and its accompanying
poems and for this work they received one
pound of kind of common corn each,
with a small allowance of wine. This kind
of feed would not go with stenographers
of the present day. We have q fair and
healthy scale of prices for our work and
we receive 1t or we don't work"