Marcus Tullius Tiro

Marcus Tullius Tiro (died c. 4 BC) was first an enslaved person, 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 enslaver'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.

"Tiro" redirects here. For other uses, see Tiro (disambiguation).

Life

The date of Tiro's birth is uncertain. According to Jerome, who claims to date his death and approximate age, it could be 104 BC,[1] which would make him only a little younger than Cicero. However, he was probably born considerably later than that: Cicero refers to him as an "excellent young man" (adulescentem probum) in 50 BC.[2]

It is possible that Tiro was born a slave in Cicero's household in Arpinum and came with his family to Rome. However, it is known for sure that he was a verna (homegrown slave). Cicero refers to Tiro frequently in his letters. His duties included taking dictation, deciphering Cicero's handwriting and managing his table,[3] as well as his garden[4] and financial affairs.[5] Cicero remarks on how useful he is to him in his work and studies.[6]

Tiro was freed with much celebration in 53 BC to become a Roman citizen under the name of Marcus Tullius Tiro,[7] and he then accompanied Cicero to Cilicia during Cicero's governorship there.[8] He was frequently suffering from malaria after 51 BC.[9] Many of Cicero's letters refer with concern to his illnesses.[10]

By 43 BC, Tiro had bought an estate near Puteoli, where Jerome says he died in 4 BC in "his hundredth year".[11]

Writings

After Cicero's death, Tiro published some of his patron's speeches and letters, along with a collection of jokes and a biography.[9] It seems Tiro also was a prolific writer himself: several ancient writers refer to works of Tiro, including a book on grammar.[9] Aulus Gellius says, "[he] wrote several books on the usage and theory of the Latin language and on miscellaneous questions of various kinds," and quotes him on the difference between Greek and Latin names for certain stars.[12] Asconius Pedianus, in his commentaries on Cicero's speeches, refers to a biography of Cicero by Tiro in at least four books,[13] and Plutarch refers to him as a source for two incidents in Cicero's life.[14]

He is credited with inventing the shorthand system of Tironian notes, later used by medieval monks, among others. There is no clear evidence that he did, although Plutarch credits Cicero's clerks as the first Romans to record speeches in shorthand.[15]

Tiro in fiction

See also

References

Citations

  1. Jerome, Chronological Tables 194.1
  2. Cicero, Letters to Atticus 7.2
  3. Cicero, Letters to Friends 11.22
  4. Cicero, Letters to Friends
  5. Cicero, Letters to Friends 16.23, 16.24
  6. Cicero, Letters to Atticus 7.5
  7. Beard 2015, p. 285.
  8. Cicero, Letters to Atticus 6.7
  9. Badian 2012.
  10. e.g. Cicero, Letters to Atticus 6.7; Letters to Friends 16.8, 16.9, 16.10, 16.11, 16.13, 16.15
  11. Cicero, Letters to Friends 16.21; Jerome, Chronological Tables 194.1; William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology vol. 3 p. 1182 Archived 2006-12-07 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 13.9 (Loeb edition, translated by John C. Rolfe, 1961)
  13. Asconius Pedianus, In Milone 38
  14. Plutarch, Cicero 41, 49
  15. Plutarch, Cato the Younger 23.3

Sources

  • Badian, Ernst (2012). "Tullius (RE 52) Tiro, Marcus". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.). The Oxford classical dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1520. ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8. OCLC 959667246.
  • Beard, Mary (2015). SPQR: a history of ancient Rome (1st ed.). New York: Liveright Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87140-423-7. OCLC 902661394.
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