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Tiro
Marcus Tullius Tiro (died 4 BC) was first a slave, then a freedman, of Cicero from whom he received his nomen and praenomen. He is frequently mentioned in Cicero's letters. After Cicero's death Tiro published his former master's collected works of letters and speeches. He also wrote a considerable number of books himself, and is thought to have invented an early form of shorthand. Life The year of Tiro's birth is uncertain. Groebe, in the ''Realencyclopädie'', places it at 103 BC per a statement in Jerome that Tiro died in his hundredth year; this dating, however, is unlikely given that Cicero's letters imply that he was much younger. Moreover, because valuable slaves usually received their freedom within a few years, Kathryn Tempest in the ''Encyclopedia of Ancient History'', along with William McDermott in ''Historia'', place his birth . There is no clear evidence of Tiro's parents or of his status as ''verna'' (slave born into a master's household). That said, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tironian Notes
Tironian notes ( la, notae Tironianae, links=no) are a set of thousands of signs that were formerly used in a system of shorthand (Tironian shorthand) dating from the 1st century BCE and named after Tiro, a personal secretary to Marcus Tullius Cicero, who is often credited as their inventor. Tiro's system consisted of about 4,000 signs, extended to 5,000 signs by others. During the medieval period, Tiro's notation system was taught in European monasteries and expanded to a total of about 13,000 signs. The use of Tironian notes declined after 1100 but lasted into the 17th century. A few Tironian signs are still used today. Note on sign counts Tironian notes can be themselves composites (ligatures) of simpler Tironian notes, the resulting compound being still shorter than the word it replaces. This accounts in part for the large number of attested Tironian notes, and for the wide variation in estimates of the total number of Tironian notes. Further, the "same" sign can have ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperium (Harris Novel)
''Imperium'' is a 2006 novel by English author Robert Harris. It is a fictional biography of Cicero, told through the first-person narrator of his secretary Tiro, beginning with the prosecution of Verres. The book is the first in a trilogy. The second volume, ''Lustrum'' (''Conspirata'' for U.S. audiences), was published in October 2009. The third volume, ''Dictator'', was published in 2015. Publication of the sequels was delayed whilst Harris worked on other books, including his contemporary political novel, '' The Ghost'', inspired by the resignation of Tony Blair. The book was serialised as the Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 from 4 to 15 September 2006, read by Douglas Hodge. An abridged audiobook on compact disc is available, read by British actor Oliver Ford Davies. Unabridged audiobooks on compact disc are also available, read by Simon Jones and Bill Wallis. A theatrical adaptation of the trilogy by Mike Poulton was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''stenos'' (narrow) and ''graphein'' (to write). It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek ''brachys'' (short), and tachygraphy, from Greek ''tachys'' (swift, speedy), depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal. Many forms of shorthand exist. A typical shorthand system provides symbols or abbreviations for words and common phrases, which can allow someone well-trained in the system to write as quickly as people speak. Abbreviation methods are alphabet-based and use different abbreviating approaches. Many journalists use shorthand writing to quickly take notes at press conferences or other similar scenarios. In the computerized world, several autocomplete programs, standalone or integrated in text editors, based on w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dictator (Harris Novel)
''Dictator'' is a historical novel by British author Robert Harris, published in 2015, which concludes his trilogy about the life of the Roman lawyer, politician and orator, Cicero (106–43 BC). ''Dictator'' follows the first novel ''Imperium'' (2006) and the second novel ''Lustrum'' (2009). It is both a biography of Cicero and a tapestry of Rome in the time of Pompey, Crassus, Cato, Caesar, Clodius and ultimately Octavian. In Harris's summary: "Thus ''Imperium'' describes the rise to power, ''Lustrum'' the years in power and ''Dictator'' the repercussions of power." All three novels were adapted for the stage in 2017 by Mike Poulton. Plot summary The story is told through Tiro, secretary of Cicero, detailing Cicero's last fifteen years. It begins with Cicero fleeing Publius Clodius Pulcher and his mob in Rome and going into exile in Thessalonica. He is able to return to Rome after more than a year under the promise to support Julius Caesar. Back in Rome, he attempts to r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Pomponius Atticus
Titus Pomponius Atticus (November 110 BC – 31 March 32 BC; later named Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus) was a Roman editor, banker, and patron of letters, best known for his correspondence and close friendship with prominent Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. Atticus was from a wealthy Roman family of the equestrian class (lower aristocratic non-ruling class) and from the Pomponia gens. A close friend since childhood, Cicero dedicated his treatise, ' (), to Atticus. Their correspondence, often written in subtle code to disguise their political observations, is preserved in ' (''Letters to Atticus'') compiled by Tiro, Cicero's slave (later his freedman) and personal secretary. Biography Early life Born Titus Pomponius in Rome , Atticus descended from a family of equestrian rank and was the son of Titus Pomponius and Caecilia. He had a sister named Pomponia. Growing up, he studied and developed close friendships with Cicero, Lucius Manlius Torquatus, and Gaius ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asconius Pedianus
Quintus Asconius Pedianus (BC 9 - AD 76) was a Roman historian. There is no evidence that Asconius engaged in a public career, but he was familiar both with Roman government of his time and with the geography of the city. He may, therefore, have written much of his works in the city. During the reigns of Claudius and Nero he compiled for his two sons, from various sources – e.g. the Gazette (''acta publica''), shorthand reports or skeletons (''commentarii'') of Cicero's unpublished speeches, Tiro's life of Cicero, speeches and letters of Cicero's contemporaries, various historical writers, e.g. Varro, Atticus, Antias, Tuditanus and Fenestella (a contemporary of Livy whom he often criticizes) – historical commentaries on Cicero's speeches, of which only five survive: ''in Pisonem'', ''pro Scauro'', ''pro Milone'', ''pro Cornelio de maiestate'', and ''in toga candida''. Other works attributed to Asconius include a ''Vita Sallustii'', a work referenced in Pliny's Naturalis Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Tullius Cicero
Quintus Tullius Cicero ( , ; 102 – 43 BC) was a Roman statesman and military leader, the younger brother of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, some south-east of Rome. Biography Cicero's well-to-do father arranged for him to be educated with his brother in Rome, Athens and probably Rhodes in 79–77 BC. Around 70 BC he married Pomponia (sister of his brother's friend Atticus), a dominant woman of strong personality. He divorced her after a long disharmonious marriage with much bickering between the spouses in late 45 BC. His brother, Marcus, tried several times to reconcile the spouses, but to no avail. The couple had a son born in 66 BC and named Quintus Tullius Cicero after his father. Quintus was aedile in 66 BC, praetor in 62 BC, and propraetor of the Province of Asia for three years 61-59 BC. Under Caesar, during the Gallic Wars, he was legatus (accompanying Caesar on his second exped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lustrum (novel)
''Lustrum'' (US: ''Conspirata''; 2009) is a historical novel by British author Robert Harris. It is the sequel to ''Imperium'' and the middle volume of a trilogy about the life of Cicero (106–43 BC). For its 2010 release in the United States and Italy, it was retitled ''Conspirata''. The book continues in the format of the first novel, with the story told in the first-person from the point of view of Cicero's secretary Tiro. It follows on immediately from ''Imperium'', starting with the beginning of Cicero's consulship and ending with his exile as a result of the enmity of Clodius. The novel was shortlisted for the 2010 Walter Scott Prize. ''The Guardian'', 2 Apr 2010 It and the other novels in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conspirata (novel)
''Lustrum'' (US: ''Conspirata''; 2009) is a historical novel by British author Robert Harris. It is the sequel to ''Imperium'' and the middle volume of a trilogy about the life of Cicero (106–43 BC). For its 2010 release in the United States and Italy, it was retitled ''Conspirata''. The book continues in the format of the first novel, with the story told in the first-person from the point of view of Cicero's secretary Tiro. It follows on immediately from ''Imperium'', starting with the beginning of Cicero's consulship and ending with his exile as a result of the enmity of Clodius. The novel was shortlisted for the 2010 Walter Scott Prize. ''The Guardian'', 2 Apr 2010 It and the other novels in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics, and he is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC. His influence on the Latin language was immense. He wrote more than three-quarters of extant Latin literature that is known to have existed in his lifetime, and it has been said that subsequent prose was either a reaction against or a return to his style, not only in Latin but in European languages up to the 19th century. Cicero introduced into Latin the arguments of the chief schools of Hellenistic philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Harris (novelist)
Robert Dennis Harris (born 7 March 1957) is a British novelist and former journalist. Although he began his career in journalism and non-fiction, his fame rests upon his works of historical fiction. Beginning with the best-seller ''Fatherland'', Harris focused on events surrounding the Second World War, followed by works set in ancient Rome. His most recent works centre on contemporary history. Harris was educated at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he was president of the Cambridge Union and editor of the student newspaper '' Varsity''. Early life and education Robert Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local printing plant where his father worked. Harris went to Belvoir High School in Bottesford, Leicestershire, and then King Edward VII School, Melton Mowbray, where a hall was later named after him. There he wrote plays and edited the school magazine. Harri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals (Tacitus), ''Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales'') and the Histories (Tacitus), ''Histories'' (Latin: ''Historiae'')—examine the reigns of the Roman emperor, emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the death of Domitian (96 AD), although there are substantial Lacuna (manuscripts), lacunae in the surviving texts. Tacitus's other writings discuss Public speaking, oratory (in dialogue format, see ''Dialogus de oratoribus''), Germania (in Germania (book), ''De origine et situ Germanorum''), and the life of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Agricola (t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
