Commentarii (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

: ''hupomnemata'') are notes to assist the memory, or

memoranda A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...

. This original idea of the word gave rise to a variety of meanings: notes and abstracts of speeches for the assistance of

orators Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

; family memorials, the origin of many of the legends introduced into early

Roman history The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced ma ...

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 Trimalchio is a character in the 1st-century AD Roman work of fiction '' Satyricon'' by Petronius. He features as the ostentatious, nouveau-riche host in the section titled the "Cēna Trīmalchiōnis" (The Banquet of Trimalchio, often translated a ...

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
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, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...

'' (''Satyricon'', 53) by his

actuarius ''Actuarius'' or ''actarius'', rendered in Greek as ''aktouarios'' (), was the title applied to officials of varying functions in the late Roman and Byzantine empires. In the late Roman Empire, the ''actuarius'' was an official charged with the dis ...

, 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 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, 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 Caes ...

: ''

Commentarii de Bello Gallico ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Ca ...

'' 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, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homela ...

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 49–4 ...

'' on the

civil wars A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

; another example is that of

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 estab ...

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 ''Ab epistulis'' was the chancellor's office in the Roman Empire with responsibility for the emperor's correspondence. The office sent ''mandata'' (instructions) to provincial governors and other officials. ''Ab epistulis'' wrote in Latin (''ab e ...

''). 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 ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

''). 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 classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying i ...

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 the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

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.

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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 Latin prose texts Memory

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