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| A mosaic of a Roman slave pouring wine |
In our
last blog, we gave a brief introduction of our remarkable Roman lawyer and
academic, Cicero, his ambitions, his feats, and his success despite all the
odds stacked against him. Now, it’s time to talk about his secretary. Why? Who
is this secretary anyway? Why is he so important? Well, the fact that he is
also a slave might hardly serve to add any glamourous tint to Cicero’s
achievement, if not tarnish it. But no! This slave is not like any other slaves
the Roman world had known. And it is this slave’s extraordinary talent which
will later earn him immortality alongside his master, Cicero. In fact, it is
because of this slave that Cicero’s legacy along with that of the Roman Republic
was passed down to posterity and made known to the whole world.
There
is no historical record confirming Marcus Tullius Tiro’s birth date or place,
but it has been estimated that he was born sometimes around 103 BC. However,
considering that Cicero often referred to his companion as an “adulescentum
probum” (excellent young man), it is far more likely that Tiro was born
much later than that. Despite obscurity surrounding his origin, it was commonly
assumed that Tiro was born a slave who came from Arpinum to Rome with Cicero’s
family. Little is known also about his education, but it is most certain that
he was schooled in reading and
writing, and that he was literate, a rare attribute for slaves in those days
who were often regarded as dispensable and replaceable assets. It is this
attribute which would earn Tiro an extraordinary place among his servile peers
and eventually a notable place in history. With this skill of his, Tiro was
able to perform the various tasks for the great orator that ordinary slaves or
even Cicero’s family members wouldn’t be able to perform. Indeed, his daily
tasks ranged from taking dictation, writing and composing letters and
transcribing. However, these secretarial works do not define or limit the scope
of Tiro’s duties. He was still an active participant and witness to Cicero’s
political career and his ascension to the top of cursus honorum. At the
height of Cicero’s career, Tiro would be expected to conduct research, take
notes in various meetings attended by Cicero and his political fellows, copy
out important materials from the library, and record his master’s speeches and
other oratory works.
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| A Roman scribe |
Tiro’s
daily tasks would have required him to receive Cicero’s visitors to his
master’s villa. As you know, important Roman public figures were expected to
act as patrons for the people from various classes and background. In turn,
they would support him in election or lend him their hands in times of need.
Tiro’s task would have involved performing a ‘triage’ i.e. determining whom
Cicero might or might want to meet that day and then prioritising his master’s
schedule accordingly. As his master is always a well sought-after lawyer, Tiro
was also expected to help gather evidence for Cicero’s clients and conduct
interview. He was thus indispensable at any meeting as Cicero mostly relied on
his notes to keep himself on track and up-to-date. In a way, Tiro’s job was
actually akin to a modern-day paralegal!
To
facilitate his daily secretarial tasks, Tiro even developed his own system of
shorthand for Latin called “Tironian Shorthand”, consisting of around 4,000 signs
and where words were truncated and combined with Greek symbols to form phases
and sentences. This does not permit every crucial bit of information to be
recorded efficiently, but also ensure the secrecy of the information such that
the information would not be destroyed by Cicero’s opponents. This system later
permitted Tiro and Cicero to produce multiple copies of oratory works and form
their own library, the existence of which was confirmed in Cicero’s letter to
his life-long friend Atticus in the spring of 56 BC. Tiro no doubt would have
had access to this library containing all the documents and oratory works
compiled throughout his master’s life.
Cicero’s
affection for his secretary is strongly evident from many of their
correspondences, where the former would often inquire about and express concern
for Tiro’s health. Cicero, in expressing his gratitude and affection, even went
so far as to set Tiro free. Being a freedman, Tiro took Cicero’s first two names
and became Marcus Tullius. Nonetheless, he continued to serve Cicero up till
the time of his master’s death in 43 BC, after which he continued to publish
his former master’s works and even wrote some books of his own including the
four volume bibliography of Cicero.
From
this, there is absolutely no doubt why in an October, 2012 blog entry, Ben
Rawlins of Life Well Lived, Tiro was named as the “Most Kick-Ass
Sidekick in History”. He lived at a crucial watershed of Roman history
where one witnessed the transformation of the Republic to an Empire. More
importantly, he allowed later generations to have an insightful glimpse into
the life of Rome’s most famous lawyer by, in a way, becoming his very voice.
By being by always being Cicero’s side and witnessing his ups and downs, his
best and worst, and his glory and downfall, Tiro had certainly helped echo Cicero’s
precious voice to posterity and ensured the immortality of his name!!
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