TRAVEL AND CORRESPONDENCE. BOOKS
REFERENCES: Marquardt, 469-474, 731-738, 799-833; Voigt, 359 f.; Göll,
II, 418-462, III, 1-45; Guhl and Koner, 538-544, 766 f., 783 f.;
Friedländer, II, 36-291; Ramsay, 76-78, 512-516; Pauly-Wissowa,
_carpentum_, _cisium_, _charta_, _Brief_, _Buch_, _Buchhandlung_,
_Bibliotheken_; Smith, Harper, Rich, Lübker, _viae_, _tabulae_,
_liber_, _bibliothēca_, and other Latin words in text; Baumeister,
2079 f., 354, 361-364; Blümner, I, 308-327; Johnston, Latin
Manuscripts, 13-21, 27-34, 36.
§379. For our knowledge of the means of traveling employed by the
Romans we have to rely upon indirect sources (§12), because if any
volumes of travel were ever written they have not come down to us. We
know, however, that while no distance was too great to be traversed,
no hardships too severe to be surmounted, for the sake of fame or
fortune, the Roman cared nothing for traveling in itself, for the mere
pleasure, that is, of sight-seeing. This was partly due to his
blindness to the charms of nature, more perhaps to his feeling that to
be out of Rome was to be forgotten. He made once in his life the grand
tour (§116), he spent a year abroad in the train of some general or
governor (§118), but this done, only the most urgent private affairs
or public duties could draw him from Italy. And Italy was to him only
Rome and his country estates (§145). These he visited when the hot
months had closed the courts and adjourned the senate, roaming
restlessly from one to another, impatient for his real life to begin
again. Even when public or private business called him from Rome, he
kept in touch with affairs by correspondence, expecting his friends to
write him voluminous letters, ready himself to return the favor when
positions should be reversed. So, too, the proconsul kept as near to
Rome as the boundaries of his province would permit; almost all the
uprisings in farther Gaul were due to Caesar's habit of hurrying off
to Italy as soon as winter had put an end to active operations in the
field.
§380. By Water.--The means of travel were the same as our ancestors
used a century ago. By water the Roman used sailing vessels, rarely
canal boats; by land vehicles drawn by horses or mules, for short
distances sedan chairs or litters. There were, however, no
transportation companies, no lines of boats or vehicles, that is,
running between certain places and prepared to carry passengers at a
fixed price on a regular schedule. The traveler by sea whose means did
not permit him to buy or charter a vessel for his exclusive use had
therefore to wait at the port until he found a boat going in the
desired direction and then make such terms as he could for his
passage. And there were other inconveniences. The boats were small,
and this made them uncomfortable in rough weather; the lack of the
compass caused them to follow the coast as much as possible, and this
often increased the distance; in winter navigation was usually
suspended. Traveling by water was, therefore, avoided as much as
possible. Rather than sail to Athens from Ostia or Naples, for
example, the traveler would go by land to Brundisium, by sea across to
Dyrrachium, and continue the journey by land. Between Brundisium and
Dyrrachium boats were constantly passing, and the only delay to be
feared was that caused by bad weather. The short voyage, only 100
miles, was usually made within twenty-four hours.
§381. By Land.--The Roman who traveled by land was distinctly better
off than Americans of the time of the Revolution. His inns were not so
good, it is true, but his vehicles and cattle were fully equal to
theirs, and his roads were the best that have ever been built.
Horseback riding was not a recognized mode of traveling (the Romans
had no saddles), but there were vehicles with two wheels and with
four, for one horse and for two or more, covered and uncovered. These
were kept for hire near the gates of all important towns, but the
price is not known. To save the trouble of loading and unloading the
baggage it is probable that persons going great distances took their
own vehicles and merely hired fresh horses from time to time. There
were, however, no postroutes, and no places where horses were changed
at the end of regular stages for ordinary travelers, though there were
such arrangements for couriers and officers of the government,
especially in the provinces. For short journeys and when haste was not
necessary travelers would naturally use their own horses as well as
their own carriages. Of the pomp that often accompanied such journeys
something has been said in §152.
§382. The Vehicles.--The streets of Rome were so narrow (the widest
not over twenty-five feet, the average about fourteen) that wagons and
carriages were not allowed upon them at hours when they were likely to
be thronged with people. Throughout the Republic and for at least two
centuries afterwards the streets were closed to all vehicles during
the first ten hours of the day, with the exception of four classes
only: market wagons, which brought produce into the city by night and
were allowed to leave empty the next morning, transfer wagons
(_plaustra_) conveying material for public buildings, the carriages
used by the Vestals, _flāminēs_, and _rēx sacrōrum_ in their priestly
functions, and the chariots driven in the _pompa circēnsis_ (§343) and
in the triumphal processions. Similar regulations were in force in
almost all the Italian towns. This made general the use within the
walls of the _lectīca_ and its bearers (§151). Besides the litter in
which the passenger reclined a sedan chair was common in which he sat
erect. Both were covered and curtained. The _lectīca_ was sometimes
used for short journeys, and in place of the six or eight bearers,
mules were sometimes put between the shafts, one before and one
behind, but not until late in the Empire. Such a litter was called a
_basterna_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 177. CARPENTUM]
§383. Carriages.--The monuments show us rude representations of
several kinds of vehicles and the names of at least eight have come
down to us, but we are not able positively to connect the figures and
the names, and have, therefore, very general notions only of the form
and construction of even the most common. Some seem to have been of
ancient design and retained merely for use as state carriages in the
processions that have been mentioned. Such were the _pīlentum_ and the
_carpentum_, the former with four wheels, the latter with two, both
covered, both drawn by two horses, both used by the Vestals and
priests. The _carpentum_ is rarely spoken of as a traveling carriage,
and its use for such a purpose was a mark of luxury. Livy makes the
first Tarquin come from Etruria to Rome in one, and it is generally
supposed that one is shown in an Etruscan painting reproduced here in
Fig. 177. The _petōritum_ was also used in the triumphal processions,
but only for the spoils of war. It was essentially a baggage wagon and
was occupied by the servants in a traveler's train. The _carūca_ was a
luxurious traveling van, of which we hear first in the late Empire. It
was furnished with a bed on which the traveler reclined by day and
slept by night.
[Illustration: FIGURE 178. CISIUM]
§384. The Reda and Cisium.--The usual traveling vehicles, however,
were the _rēda_ and the _cisium_. The former was large and heavy,
covered, had four wheels, and was drawn by two or four horses. It was
regularly used by persons accompanied by their families or having
baggage with them, and was kept for hire for this purpose. For rapid
journeys, when a man had no traveling companions and little baggage,
the two-wheeled and uncovered _cisium_ was the favorite vehicle. It
was drawn by two horses, one between shafts and the other attached by
traces; it is possible that three were sometimes used. The _cisium_
had a single seat, broad enough to accommodate a driver also. It is
very likely that the cart on a monument found near Trieves (Fig. 178)
is a _cisium_, but the identification is not absolutely certain.
Cicero speaks of these carts making fifty-six miles in ten hours,
probably with one or more changes of horses. Other vehicles of the
cart type that came into use during the Empire were the _essedum_ and
the _covīnus_, but we do not know how they differed from the _cisium_.
These carts had no springs, but the traveler took care to have plenty
of cushions. It is worth noticing that none of the vehicles mentioned
has a Latin name, all being Gallic with perhaps one exception
(_pīlentum_). In like manner most of our own carriages have foreign
names.
[Illustration: FIGURE 179. ROAD CUT THROUGH HILL]
[Illustration: FIGURE 180. BRIDGE OVER STREAM]
[Illustration: FIGURE 181. VIADUCT OVER MARSH]
§385. The Roads.--The engineering skill of the Romans and the lavish
outlay of money made their roads the best that the world has ever
known. They were strictly military works, built for strategic
purposes, intended to facilitate the despatching of supplies to the
frontier and the massing of troops in the shortest possible time.
Beginning with the first important acquisition of territory in Italy
(the _via Appia_ was built in 312 B.C.) they kept pace with the
expansion of the Republic and the Empire. In Italy they were built at
the cost of the state, in the provinces the conquered communities bore
the expense of construction and maintenance, but the work was done
under the direction of Roman engineers and often by the legions
between campaigns. They ran in straight lines between the towns they
were to connect, with frequent crossroads and branch roads only less
carefully constructed. No natural obstacles were permitted to change
their course. The grade was always easy, hills being cut through (Fig.
179), gorges and rivers crossed on arches of solid stone (Fig. 180),
and valleys and marshes spanned by viaducts of the same material (Fig.
181).
§386. Their surface was perfectly smooth and carefully rounded off and
there were gutters at the sides to carry off the rain and melted snow.
Regard was had for the comfort of all classes of travelers. Milestones
showed the distance from the starting point of the road and often that
to important places in the opposite direction, as well as the names of
the consuls or emperors under whom the roads were built (Fig. 182).
The roadbed was wide enough to permit the meeting and passing of the
largest wagons without trouble. For the pedestrian there was a
footpath on either side with frequent stepping-stones so he might
cross to the other side above the mud or dust of the wagon way, and
seats for him to rest upon were often built by the milestones. The
horseman found blocks of stone set here and there for his convenience
in mounting and dismounting. Where springs were discovered wayside
fountains for men and watering-troughs for cattle were constructed.
Such roads often went a hundred years without repairs, and some
portions of them have endured the traffic of centuries and are still
in good condition to-day.
[Illustration: FIGURE 182. MILESTONE]
L • CAECILI • Q • F
METEL • COS
CXIX
ROMA[1]
[Footnote 1: Inscription on a milestone of the _via Salaria_. "Erected
by the consul (117 B.C.) Lucius Caecilius Metellus, etc. (§39). One
hundred and nineteen (miles) from Rome."]
[Illustration: FIGURE 183. EMBANKMENT AND CROSS-SECTION]
[Illustration: FIGURE 184. CONSTRUCTION OF ROAD]
§387. Construction.--Our knowledge of the construction of the military
roads is derived from a treatise of Vitruvius on pavements and from
existing remains of the roads themselves. The Latin phrase for
building a road (_mūnīre viam_) epitomizes the process exactly, for
throughout its full length, whether carried above the level of the
surrounding country (Fig. 183) or in a cut below it, the road was a
solid wall averaging fifteen feet in width and perhaps three feet in
height. The method followed will be easily understood from Fig. 184. A
cut (_fossa_) was first made of the width of the intended road and of
a depth sufficient to hold the filling which varied with the nature of
the soil. The earth at the bottom of the cut (E) was leveled and made
solid with heavy rammers (§213). Upon this was spread the _statūmen_
(D), a foundation course of stones not too large to be held in the
hand, the thickness of the layer varying with the porosity of the
soil. Over this came the _rūdus_ (C), a nine-inch layer of coarse
concrete or rubble (§210) made of broken stones and lime. Over this
was laid the _nūcleus_ (B), a six-inch bedding of fine concrete made
of broken potsherds and lime, in which was set the final course (A) of
blocks of lava or of other hard stone furnished by the adjacent
country. This last course (_dorsum_) made the roadway (_agger viae_)
and was laid with the greatest care so as to leave no seams or
fissures to admit water or to jar the wheels of vehicles. In the
diagram the stones are represented with the lower surface flat, but
they were commonly cut to a point or edge, as in Fig. 183, in order to
be held more firmly by the _nūcleus_. The _agger_ was bounded on the
sides by _umbōnēs_ (G,G), curbstones, behind which lay the footpaths
(F,F), _sēmitae_ or _marginēs_. On a subsoil of rocky character the
foundation course or even the first and second courses might be
unnecessary. On the less traveled branch roads the _agger_ seems to
have consisted of a thick course of gravel (_glārea_), well rounded
and compacted, instead of the blocks of stone, and the crossroads may
have been of still cheaper materials.
[Illustration: FIGURE 185. PLAN OF INN]
§388. The Inns.--There were numerous lodging houses and restaurants in
all the cities and towns of Italy, but all of the meanest character.
Respectable travelers avoided them scrupulously, either possessing
stopping places of their own (_dēversōria_) on roads that they used
frequently, or claiming entertainment from friends (§303) and
_hospitēs_ (§184), whom they would be sure to have everywhere. Nothing
but accident, stress of weather, or unusual haste could drive them to
places of public entertainment (_tabernae dēversōriae_, _caupōnae_).
The guests of such places were, therefore, of the lowest class, and
innkeepers (_caupōnēs_) and inns bore the most unsavory reputations.
Food and beds were furnished the travelers, and their cattle were
accommodated under the same roof and in unpleasant proximity. The plan
of an inn at Pompeii (Fig. 185) may be taken as a fair sample of all
such houses. The entrance (_a_) is broad enough to admit wagons into
the wagon-room (_f_), behind which is the stable (_k_). In one corner
is a watering-trough (_l_), in another a _latrīna_ (_i_). On either
side of the entrance is a wineroom (_b_, _d_), with the room of the
proprietor (_c_) opening off one of them. The small rooms (_e_, _g_,
_h_) are bedrooms, and others in the second story over the wagon-room
were reached by the back stairway. The front stairway has an entrance
of its own from the street and the rooms reached by it had probably no
connection with the inn. Behind this stairway on the lower floor was a
fireplace (_m_) with a water heater. An idea of the moderate prices
charged in such places may be had from a bill which has come down to
us in an inscription preserved in the museum at Naples: a pint of wine
with bread, one cent; other food, two cents; hay for a mule, two
cents. The corners of streets were the favorite sites for inns, and
they had signs (the elephant, the eagle, etc.) like those of much
later times.
§389. Speed.--The lack of public conveyances running on regular
schedules (§380) makes it impossible to tell the speed ordinarily made
by travelers. It depended upon the total distance to be covered, the
degree of comfort demanded by the traveler, the urgency of his
business, and the facilities at his command. Cicero speaks of
fifty-six miles in ten hours by cart (§384) as something unusual, but
on such roads it ought to have been possible to go much faster, if
fresh horses were provided at the proper distances, and if the
traveler could stand the fatigue. The sending of letters gives the
best standard of comparison. There was no public postal service, but
every Roman of position had among his slaves special messengers
(_tabellāriī_), whose business it was to deliver important letters for
him. They covered from twenty-six to twenty-seven miles on foot in a
day, and from forty to fifty in carts. We know that letters were sent
from Rome to Brundisium, 370 Roman miles, in six days, and on to
Athens in fifteen more. A letter from Sicily would reach Rome on the
seventh day, from Africa on the twenty-first day, from Britain on the
thirty-third day, and from Syria on the fiftieth day. In the time of
Washington it was no unusual thing for a letter to take a month to go
from the eastern to the southern states in winter.
§390. Sending Letters.--For long distances, especially over seas,
sending letters by special messengers was very expensive, and, except
for the most urgent matters, recourse was had to traders and travelers
going in the desired direction. Persons sending messengers or
intending to travel themselves made it a point of honor to notify
their friends in time for letters to be prepared and also carried
letters for entire strangers, if requested to do so. There was great
danger, of course, that letters sent in this way might fall into the
wrong hands or be lost. It was customary, therefore, to send a copy of
an important letter (_litterae eōdem exemplō_, _ūnō exemplō_), or at
least an abstract of its contents, by another person and if possible
by a different route. It was also customary to disguise the meaning by
the use of fictitious names known to the correspondents only or by the
employment of regular cypher codes. Suetonius tells us that Caesar
simply substituted for each letter the one that stood three places
lower in the alphabet: D for A, E for B, etc., but really elaborate
and intricate systems were in common use.
[Illustration: FIGURE 186. CODICILLI]
[Illustration: FIGURE 187. BRONZE STILUS]
§391. Writing the Letters.--The extensive correspondence carried on by
every Roman of position (§379) made it impossible for him to write any
but the most important of his letters or those to his dearest friends
with his own hand. The place of the stenographer and writing machine
of to-day was taken by slaves or freedmen, often highly educated
(§154), who wrote at his dictation. Such slaves were called in general
terms _librāriī_, more accurately _servī ab epistolīs_, _servī ā
manū_, or _āmanuēnsēs_. Notes and short letters were written on
tablets (_tabellae_, Fig. 24, §110) of firwood or ivory of various
sizes, often fastened together in sets of two or more by wire hinges
(_codicillī_, _pugillārēs_, Fig. 186). The inner faces were slightly
hollowed out and the depression was nearly filled with wax, so as to
leave merely a raised rim about the edges, much like the frame of an
old-fashioned slate. Upon the wax the letters were traced with an
ivory or metal tool (_stilus_, _graphium_) with one end pointed, like
a pencil, for writing, and the other made broad and flat, like a paper
cutter, for smoothing the wax (Fig. 187). With the flat end mistakes
could be corrected or the whole letter erased and the tablets used
again, often for the reply to the letter itself. For longer
communications the Romans used a coarse paper (_papyrus_), the making
of which will be described below. Upon it they wrote with pens made of
split reeds and with a thick ink made of soot (lampblack) mixed with
resinous gums. Paper, pens, and ink were so poor that the bulky and
awkward tablets were used by preference for all but the longest
letters. Parchment did not come into general use until the fourth or
fifth century of our era.
§392. Sealing and Opening the Letters.--For sealing the letter thread
(_līnum_), wax (_cēra_), and a seal (_sīgnum_) were necessary. The
seal (§255) not only secured the letter against improper inspection,
but also attested the genuineness of those written by the _librariī_,
as autograph signatures seem not to have been thought of. The tablets
having been put together face to face with the writing on the inside,
the thread was passed around them and through small holes bored
through them, and was then securely tied. Upon the knot softened wax
was dropped and to this the seal was applied. Letters written on
sheets of paper (_schedae_) were rolled longitudinally and then
secured in the same way. On the outside was written the name of the
person addressed with perhaps the place where he was to be found if
the letter was not sent by a special messenger. When the letter was
opened care was taken not to break the seal, the cutting of the thread
giving access to the contents. If the letter was preserved the seal
was kept attached to it in order to attest its authenticity. Cicero
describes the opening of a letter in the tenth paragraph of the Third
Oration against Catiline.
[Illustration: FIGURE 188. FRAGMENT OF PAPYRUS ROLL FROM HERCULANEUM]
§393. Books.--Almost all the materials used by the ancients to receive
writing were known to the Romans and used by them for one purpose or
another, at one time or another. For the publication of works of
literature, however, during the period when the great classics were
produced, the only material was paper (_papyrus_), the only form the
roll (_volūmen_). The book of modern form (_cōdex_), written on
parchment (_membrānum_), played an important part in the preservation
of the literature of Rome, but did not come into use for the purpose
of publication until long after the canon of the classics had been
completed and the great masters had passed away. The Romans adopted
the papyrus roll from the Greeks; the Greeks had received it from the
Egyptians. When the Egyptians first made use of it we do not know, but
we have preserved to us Egyptian rolls that were written at least
twenty-five hundred years before the Christian era. The oldest Roman
books of this sort that have been preserved were found in Herculaneum,
badly charred and broken. Those that have been deciphered contain no
Latin author of any value. A specimen of the writing on one of these,
a mere fragment by an unknown author, is shown in Fig. 188. At the
time it was buried there were still to be seen rolls in the
handwriting of the Gracchi, and autographs of Cicero, Vergil, and
Horace must have been common enough. All these have since perished so
far as we know.
§394. Manufacture of Paper.--The papyrus reed had a jointed stem,
triangular in shape, and reached a maximum height of perhaps fourteen
feet with a thickness of four or five inches. The stem contained a
pith of which the paper was made by a process substantially as
follows: The stem was cut through at the joints, the hard rind
removed, and the pith cut into thin sections or strips as evenly as
possible. The first cut seems to have been made from one of the angles
to the middle of the opposite side, and the others parallel with it to
the right and left. The strips were then assorted according to width,
and enough of them were arranged side by side as closely as possible
upon a board to make their combined width almost equal to the length
of the single strip. Across these was laid another layer at right
angles, with perhaps a coating of glue or paste between them. The
mat-like sheet that resulted was then soaked in water and pressed or
hammered into a substance not unlike our paper, called by the Romans
_charta_. After the sheets (_schēdae_) had been dried and bleached in
the sun, they were rid by scraping of rough places and trimmed into
uniform sizes, depending upon the length of the strips of pith. The
fewer the strips that composed each sheet, or in other words the
greater the width of each strip, the closer the texture of the
_charta_ and the better its quality. It was possible, therefore, to
grade the paper by its size, and the width of the sheet rather than
its height was taken as the standard. The best quality seems to have
been sold in sheets about ten inches wide, the poorest that could be
used to write upon, about six. The height in each case was perhaps one
inch to two inches greater. It has been calculated that a single
papyrus plant would make about twenty sheets of the size proportioned
to its height, and this number seems to have been made the commercial
unit of measure (_scāpus_), by which the paper was sold in the market,
a unit corresponding roughly to our quire.
[Illustration: FIGURE 189. INSTRUMENTS USED IN WRITING]
§395. Pens and Ink.--Only the upper surface of the sheet was commonly
written upon, the one formed by the horizontal layer of strips, and
these showing even after the process of manufacture served to guide
the pen of the writer. In the case of books where it was important to
keep the number of lines constant to the page, they were ruled with a
circular piece of lead. The pen (_calamus_) was made of a reed brought
to a point and cleft much as our quill pens are. For the black ink
(_ātrāmentum_, §391) was occasionally substituted the liquid of the
cuttlefish. Red ink was much used for headings, ornaments, and the
like, and in pictures the inkstand is generally represented with two
compartments (Fig. 189). The ink was more like paint than modern ink,
and could be wiped off when fresh with a damp sponge and washed off
even when it had become dry and hard. To wash sheets in order to use
them a second time was a mark of poverty or niggardliness, but the
reverse side of _schēdae_ that had served their purpose was often used
for scratch paper, especially in the schools (§110).
§396. Making the Roll.--A single sheet might serve for a letter or
other brief document, but for literary purposes many sheets would be
required. These were not fastened side by side in a back, as are the
separate sheets in our books, or numbered and laid loosely together,
as we arrange them in our letters and manuscripts, but after the
writing was done they were glued together at the sides (not at the
tops) into a long unwieldy strip, with the lines on each sheet running
parallel with the length of the strip, and with the writing on each
sheet forming a column perpendicular to the length of the strip. On
each side of the sheet, therefore, a margin was left as the writing
was done, and these margins overlapping and glued together made a
thick blank space, a double thickness of paper, between every two
sheets in the strip. Very broad margins, too, were left at the top and
bottom, where the paper would suffer from use a great deal more than
in our books. When the sheets had been securely fastened together in
the proper order a thin slip of wood was glued to the left (outer)
margin of the first sheet, and a second slip (_umbilīcus_) to the
right (also outer) margin of the last sheet, much as a wall map is
mounted to-day. When not in use the volume was kept tightly rolled
about the _umbilīcus_, and hence received its name (_volūmen_).
[Illustration: FIGURE 190. CAPSA]
§397. A roll intended for permanent preservation was finished with the
greatest care. The top and bottom (_frontēs_) were trimmed perfectly
smooth, polished with pumice-stone, and often painted black. The back
of the roll was rubbed with cedar oil to defend it from moths and
mice. To the ends of the _umbilīcus_ were added knobs (_cornua_),
sometimes gilded or painted a bright color. The first sheet would be
used for the dedication, if there was one, and on the back of it a few
words were frequently written giving a clue to the contents of the
roll; sometimes a portrait of the author graced this page. In many
books the full title and the name of the author were written only at
the end of the roll on the last sheet, but in any case to the top of
this sheet was glued a strip of parchment (_titulus_) with the title
and author's name upon it, which projected above the edge of the roll.
For every roll a parchment cover was made, cylindrical in form, into
which it was slipped from the top, the _titulus_ alone being visible.
If a work was divided into several volumes (see below), the rolls were
put together in a bundle (_fascis_) and kept in a wooden box (_capsa_,
_scrīnium_) like a modern hat box. When the cover was removed the
_titulī_ were visible and the roll desired could be taken without
disturbing the others (Fig. 190). The rolls were kept sometimes in
cupboards (_armāria_, §231), laid lengthwise on the shelves with the
_titulī_ to the front, as shown in the figure in the next paragraph.
[Illustration: FIGURE 191. READING A ROLL]
§398. Size of the Rolls.--When a volume was consulted the roll was
held in both hands and unrolled column by column with the right hand,
while with the left the reader rolled up the part he was done with on
the slip of wood fastened to the margin of the first sheet (Fig. 191).
When he had finished reading he rolled it back upon the _umbilīcus_,
usually holding it under the chin and turning the _cornua_ with both
hands. In the case of a long roll this turning backward and forward
took much time and patience and must have sadly soiled and damaged the
roll itself. The early rolls were always long and heavy. There was
theoretically no limit to the number of sheets that might be glued
together, and consequently none to the size or length of the roll. It
was made as long as was necessary to contain the given work. In
ancient Egypt rolls were put together of more than fifty yards in
length, and in early times rolls of approximate length were used in
Greece and Rome. From the third century B.C., however, it had become
customary to divide works of great length into two or more volumes,
the division at first being purely arbitrary and made wherever it was
convenient to end the roll, no matter how much the unity of thought
was interrupted. A century later authors had begun to divide their
works into convenient parts, each part having a unity of its own, such
as the five "books" of Cicero's _Dē Fīnibus_, and to each of these
parts or "books" was given a separate roll. An innovation so
convenient and sensible quickly became the universal rule. It even
worked backward, some ancient works being divided into books, which
had not been so divided by their authors, e.g., Herodotus, Thucydides,
and Naevius. About the same time, too, it became the custom to put the
sheets upon the market already glued together, to the amount at least
of the _scāpus_ (§394). It was, of course, much easier to glue two or
three of these together, or to cut off the unused part of one, than to
work with the separate sheets. The ready-made rolls, moreover, were
put together in a most workmanlike manner. Even sheets of the same
quality (§394) would vary slightly in toughness or finish, and the
manufacturers of the roll were careful to put the very best sheets at
the beginning, where the wear was the most severe, and to keep for the
end the less perfect sheets, which might sometimes be cut off
altogether.
§399. Multiplication of Books.--The process of publishing the largest
book at Rome differed in no important respect from that of writing the
shortest letter. Every copy was made by itself, the hundredth or the
thousandth taking just as much time and labor as the first had done.
The author's copy would be distributed among a number of _librāriī_,
his own, if he were a man of wealth, a Caesar or a Sallust, his
patron's, if he were a poor man, a Terence or a Vergil. Each of the
_librāriī_ would write and rewrite the portions assigned to him, until
the required number of copies had been made. The sheets would then be
arranged in the proper order and the rolls mounted as has been
described. Finally the books had to be looked through to correct the
errors that were sure to be made, a process much more tedious than the
modern proofreading, because every copy had to be corrected
separately, as no two copies would show precisely the same errors.
Books made in this way were almost exclusively for gifts, though
friends would exchange books with friends and a few might find their
way into the market. Up to the last century of the Republic, however,
there was no organized book trade, and no such thing as commercial
publication. When a man wanted a book, instead of buying it at a
bookstore he borrowed a copy from a friend and had his _librāriī_ make
him as many more as he desired. In this way Atticus made for himself
and Cicero copies of all the Greek and Latin books on which he could
lay his hands, and distributed Cicero's own writings everywhere.
§400. Commercial Publication.--The publication of books at Rome as a
business began in the time of Cicero. There was no copyright law and
no protection therefore for author or publisher. The author's
pecuniary returns came in the form of gifts or grants from those whose
favor he had won by his genius; the publisher depended, in the case of
new books, upon meeting the demand before his rivals could market
their editions, and, in the case of standard books, upon the accuracy,
elegance, and cheapness of his copies. The process of commercial
publication was essentially the same as that already described, except
that larger numbers of _librāriī_ would be employed and the copy would
be read to all at once to save them the trouble of handling the
awkward roll and keeping the place as they wrote. The publisher would
estimate as closely as possible the demand for any new work that he
had secured, would put as large a number of scribes upon it as
possible, and would take care that no copies should leave his
establishment until his whole edition was ready. After the copies were
once on sale they could be reproduced by anyone. The best houses took
all possible pains to have their books free from errors, having
competent correctors to read them copy by copy, but in spite of their
efforts blunders were legion. Authors sometimes corrected with their
own hands the copies intended for their friends. In the case of
standard works purchasers often hired scholars of reputation to revise
their copies for them, and copies of known excellence were borrowed or
hired at high prices for the purpose of comparison.
§401. Rapidity and Cost of Publication.--Cicero tells us of Roman
senators who wrote fast enough to take evidence _verbātim_, and the
trained scribes must have far surpassed them in speed. Martial tells
us that his second book could be copied in an hour. It contains five
hundred and forty verses, which would make the scribe equal to nine
verses to the minute. It is evident that a small edition, no larger,
for example, than twice or three times the number of the scribes,
could be put upon the market more quickly than it could be furnished
now. The cost of the books varied, of course, with their size and the
style of their mounting. Martial's first book, containing eight
hundred and twenty lines and covering twenty-nine pages in Teubner's
text, sold at thirty cents, fifty cents, and one dollar; his _Xenia_,
containing two hundred and seventy-four verses and covering fourteen
pages in Teubner's text, sold at twenty cents, but cost the publisher
less than ten. Such prices would hardly be considered excessive now.
Much would depend upon the reputation of the author and the consequent
demand, and high prices were put on certain books. Autograph
copies--Gellius († about 180 A.D.) says that one by Vergil cost the
owner $100--and copies whose correctness was vouched for by some
recognized authority commanded extraordinary prices.
§402. Libraries.--The gathering of books in large private collections
began to be general only toward the end of the Republic. Cicero had
considerable libraries not only in his house at Rome, but also at
every one of his half-dozen country seats. Probably the bringing to
Rome of whole libraries from the East and Greece by Lucullus and Sulla
started the fashion of collecting books; at any rate collections were
made by many persons who knew and cared nothing about the contents of
the rolls, and every town house had its library (§206) lined with
volumes. In these libraries were often displayed busts of great
writers and statues of the Muses. Public libraries date from the time
of Augustus. The first to be opened in Rome was founded by Asinius
Pollio (†4 A.D.), and was housed in the _Ātrium Lībertātis_. Augustus
himself founded two others, and the number was brought up to
twenty-eight by his successors. The most magnificent of these was the
_Bibliothēca Ulpia_, founded by Trajan. Smaller cities had their
libraries, too, and even the little town of Comum boasted one founded
by the younger Pliny and supported by an endowment that produced
thirty thousand sesterces annually. The public baths often had
libraries and reading-rooms attached (§365).