The Acta Diurna Ancient Romes daily newspaper

1. The Acta Diurna Ancient Rome's daily newspaper

3. Empire 1 (800 B.C.)

4. Empire 2 (146 B.C.)

5. Empire 3 (4 A.D.)

6. Empire 4 (117 A.D.)

7. Roman Empire in 120 A.D.

8. WHAT MADE THE ACTA POSSIBLE? -- high degree of literacy among upper classes -- efficient communications network -- Roman roads link empire -- communication also by sea -- regular government postal service

9. PRECURSORS OF THE ACTA DIURNA -- Acta Senatus, the official record of the Roman Senate -- Annales Maximi, tablets on which official events were recorded -- newsletters compiled by scribes

10. ACTA BEGIN PUBLICATION Started by Julius Caesar in 59 BC originally a record of Senate debates

11. Contents The number of births and deaths in the city Reports of trials, with the names of those who were acquitted and condemned Extracts from the Acta Senatus � the record of debates in the Roman Senate Acclamations in honour of the reigning emperor.

12. Contents A�court circular, containing an account of the birth, deaths, festivals, and movements of the imperial family. Accounts of such public affairs and foreign wars as the government thought proper to publish. .�Curious and interesting occurrences, such as prodigies and miracles

13. Contents Erection of buildings � and their destruction by fire A list of various games, including gladiatorial matches and chariot races Marriages among the high-born � and accounts of their divorces. Natural disasters � such as volcanic eruptions. Vesuvius erupted in 79 a.d., burying Pompeii and Herculanium.

14. Pliny�s letter about the eruption of Vesuvius My dear Tacitus, You ask me to write you something about the death of my uncle so that the account you transmit to posterity is as reliable as possible. I am grateful to you, for I see that his death will be remembered forever if you treat it in your Histories.

15. He was at Misenum in his capacity as commander of the fleet on the 24th of August [in 79 AD], when between 2 and 3 in the afternoon my mother drew his attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance. The cloud was rising from a mountain which I learned was Vesuvius. I can best describe its shape by likening it to a pine tree.

16. It rose into the sky on a very long "trunk" from which spread some "branches." Some of the cloud was white, in other parts there were dark patches of dirt and ash. He ordered a boat made ready and embarked himself, a source of aid for people, for that delightful shore was a populous one. He hurried to a place from which others were fleeing, and held his course directly into danger.

17. Ash was falling onto the ships now, darker and denser the closer they went. Now it was bits of pumice, and rocks that were blackened and burned and shattered by the fire. Now the sea is shoal; debris from the mountain blocks the shore.

18. Meanwhile, broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of Vesuvius; their light and brightness were the more vivid for the darkness of the night. The buildings were being rocked by a series of strong tremors, and appeared to have come loose from their foundations and to be sliding this way and that.

19. Outside, however, there was danger from the rocks that were coming down. My uncle and his crew tied pillows on top of their heads as protection against the shower of rock.

20. It was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker than any night. Then came a smell of sulfur, announcing the flames, and the flames themselves. My uncle immediately collapsed. As I understand it, his breathing was obstructed by the dust-laden air, and his innards simply shut down.

21. Now the day begins, with a still hesitant and almost lazy dawn. All around us buildings are shaken. We are in the open, but it is only a small area and we are afraid, nay certain, that there will be a collapse. We decided to leave the town finally; a dazed crowd follows us, preferring our plan to their own (this is what passes for wisdom in a panic). Many strange things happened to us, and we had much to fear.

22. The carts that we had ordered brought were moving in opposite directions, though the ground was perfectly flat, and they wouldn't stay in place even with their wheels blocked by stones. In addition, it seemed as though the sea was being sucked backwards, as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. Certainly the shoreline moved outwards, and many sea creatures were left on dry sand.

23. You could hear women lamenting, children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children or spouses; they could only recognize them by their voices. There were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death. Many raised their hands to the gods, and even more believed that there were no gods any longer and that this was one last unending night for the world.

24. Pompeii victims

25. The Great Fire of Rome The historian Tacitus was born in the year 56 or 57 A.D. He was in Rome during the great fire. During his lifetime he wrote a number of histories chronicling the reigns of the early emperors. The following eye witness account comes from his final work The Annals written around the year 116.

26. "... Now started the most terrible and destructive fire which Rome had ever experienced. It began in the Circus, where it adjoins the Palatine and Caelian hills. Breaking out in shops selling inflammable goods, and fanned by the wind, the conflagration instantly grew and swept the whole length of the Circus.

27. There were no walled mansions or temples, or any other obstructions, which could arrest it. First, the fire swept violently over the level spaces. Then it climbed the hills - but returned to ravage the lower ground again. It outstripped every counter-measure. The ancient city's narrow winding streets and irregular blocks encouraged its progress.

28. Terrified, shrieking women, helpless old and young, people intent on their own safety, people unselfishly supporting invalids or waiting for them, fugitives and lingerers alike - all heightened the confusion. When people looked back, menacing flames sprang up before them or outflanked them.

29. When they escaped to a neighboring quarter, the fire followed - even districts believed remote proved to be involved. Finally, with no idea where or what to flee, they crowded on to the country roads, or lay in the fields. Some who had lost everything - even their food for the day - could have escaped, but preferred to die. So did others, who had failed to rescue their loved ones.

30. Nobody dared fight the flames. Attempts to do so were prevented by menacing gangs. Torches, too, were openly thrown in, by men crying that they acted under orders. Perhaps they had received orders. Or they may just have wanted to plunder unhampered.

31. Nero was at Antium. He returned to the city only when the fire was approaching the mansion he had built to link the Gardens of Maecenas to the Palatine. The flames could not be prevented from overwhelming the whole of the Palatine, including his palace. Nevertheless, for the relief of the homeless, fugitive masses he threw open the Field of Mars, including Agrippa's public buildings, and even his own Gardens.

32. Yet these measures, for all their popular character, earned no gratitude. For a rumor had spread that, while the city was burning, Nero had gone on his private stage and, comparing modern calamities with ancient, had sung of the destruction of Troy.

33. ACTA COME TO AN END -- barbarians invade Rome -- last recorded mention dates to about AD 222, 200 years after they began -- beginning of the "Dark Ages" -- learning and literacy survive only in monasteries -- Nothing like Acta appear again for several hundred years