BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF, ,. 
 
 Henrg ^08. Sage 
 1891 
 
 jQ,.3.fa.<?.ii.t... ■■:..: ... .. sl.^/.b. 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029525940 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND LITERARY 
 CULTURE IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
THE UNIVERSITY OP CHICAGO PRESS 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 
 
 Bgente 
 THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE CUNNINGHAM, CURTISS & WELCH COMPANY 
 
 LOB ANGELES 
 
 THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH 
 
 THE MARUZEN-KABUSBIKI-KAISHA 
 
 TOKYO, OSAKA, KYOTO 
 
 THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY 
 
 KARL W. HTERSEM ANN 
 
 LEIPZIG 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND 
 
 LITERARY CULTURE IN 
 
 ANCIENT ROME 
 
 By 
 
 CLARENCE EUGENE BOYD 
 
 Professor of Greek, Emory College, 
 
 School of Liberal Arts of 
 
 Emory University 
 
 m$m 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 
 
 E.V. 
 
Copyright 1915 By 
 Clarence Eugene Boyd 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Published November 1915 
 
 Composed and Printed By 
 
 The University of Chicago Press 
 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 
 
MAGISTRIS CAEISSIMIS QUI SUMMA CURA IN SAPIENTIAM CUL- 
 
 TUMQUE ANTIQUORUM ME EDUXERUNT, PRAECIPUE 
 
 EI QUI MTHT IN ARTIBUS LIBERALIBUS 
 
 NUPER SUIT INSPIRATIONI VERAE: 
 
 GRANT SHOWERMAN 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 As no treatise dealing with public libraries in antiquity has 
 survived from ancient or mediaeval times, it is only by the study 
 of miscellaneous data afforded by classical literature, inscriptions, 
 and monuments that a conception of public libraries in ancient 
 Rome may be obtained. 
 
 Employing such sources of information, the present inquiry 
 will concern itself with the history, equipment, contents, manage- 
 ment, object, and cultural significance of the Roman public library. 
 
 Particular attention will be directed to libraries in Rome 
 during the first one hundred and fifty years of the Empire. The 
 first four centuries, however, form the total period under general 
 consideration. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 ^ PAGE 
 
 Foreword v 
 
 Introduction • i 
 
 I. Public Libraries in Ancient Rome 3 
 
 II. Equipment: Environment and Facilities .... 21 
 
 III. Contents: Books and Documents 31 
 
 IV. Management: Officials and Duties 41 
 
 V. Object: Incentives and Advantages 52 
 
 VI. Literary Culture oe the Early Empire .... 61 
 
 Bibliography 70 
 
 Index 73 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The idea of founding public libraries in the capital of the 
 Roman Empire originated with Julius Caesar: the actual realiza- 
 tion of this idea was effected by Augustus. 
 
 In the era of peace, so auspiciously dawning but soon so 
 ruthlessly disturbed, none of the dictator's plans for the develop- 
 ment of Rome was more significant than that of instituting libraries 
 for pubb'c patronage. Caesar had doubtless long since learned to 
 appreciate the value of the public libraries already estabb'shed in 
 important literary centers in Asia Minor, Egypt, and Greece, and 
 could therefore easily foresee the function they were destined to 
 perform among the Romans themselves. 
 
 A twofold motive on Caesar's part is set forth by Suetonius: 1 
 first, to reduce all existing codes of civil law to a more simplified 
 form by extracting only the essential features and combining them 
 in a select series of legal documents; and, secondly, to throw open 
 to public use as many libraries 2 as possible, both Greek and Latin, 
 the duty of organizing and managing them to devolve upon Marcus 
 Terentius Varro. 
 
 Before so worthy an undertaking could be executed, however, 
 political conditions suddenly changed. Caesar was assassinated, 
 and Varro, 3 likewise thwarted by his enemies, suffered at the hands 
 of the proscriptionists — events which augured ill for the further- 
 ance of literary interests at Rome. 
 
 But, fortunately, the affairs of the new Empire were to be 
 administered by a successor whose ambition lay in the direction 
 of literary as well as political supremacy. Emphasizing the 
 
 1 Suetonius, Caesar 44: " .... ins civile ad certum modum redigere, 
 atque ex immensa diffusaque legum copia optima quaeque et necessaria in 
 paucissimos conferre libros; bibliothecas Graecas et Latinas, quas maximas 
 posset, publicare, data M. Varroni cura comparandarum et digerendarum." 
 
 2 The term j8i/3Xh>0i}kij or /3i/3X<W 0i}/ct; (likewise diro0i}ici;), equivalent 
 to librorum repositio, probably denoted originally the collection of books in the 
 bookseller's shop. Bibliotheca, in its Latinized form, is believed to have been 
 applied first by the Romans to the Alexandrian library. 
 
 s See pp. 48, 49. 
 
2 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 demands of literature and culture, Augustus began at an early 
 date to consummate the scheme already proposed with reference 
 to public libraries. For it was through his inspiration and en- 
 couragement that C. Asinius Pollio inaugurated at Rome the first 
 library devoted exclusively to the interests of the public, and thus 
 performed the duty originally assigned by Caesar to Varro. 1 
 
 Two other libraries were founded in the city under the adminis- 
 tration of Augustus. Additional libraries were instituted from 
 time to time by subsequent emperors. 
 
 Public libraries existing in Rome up into the fourth century 
 are said by Ammianus Marcellinus 2 to have been closed forever, 
 like so many graves. This was due largely to the influence of the 
 church, library buildings being sometimes transformed into sanc- 
 tuaries. 3 
 
 1 Pliny, N.H. xxxv. 2. 9: "Non est praetereundum et novitium inventum. 
 .... Asini Pollionis hoc Romae inventum, qui primus bibliothecam dicando 
 ingenia hominum rem publicam fecit." 
 
 2 Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 6. 18: " . . . . bibliothecis sepulcrorum 
 litu in perpetuum clausis " 
 
 » As is typified in the creation of the Church of S. Maria Antiqua out of 
 the library adjoining the temple of Augustus. 
 
I. PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Twenty-eight, possibly twenty-nine, public libraries flourished 
 in ancient Rome in the fourth century of the Empire, according 
 to the appendixes to the Regionary Catalogues, 1 and the MirabUia 
 Romae. 2 
 
 Only nine public libraries can be identified in name and only 
 seven in location. But the several available sources combine 
 advantageously in showing, through more or less details, the chief 
 features of the typical public library as it existed at Rome. These 
 nine libraries 3 were: 
 
 i. Bibliotheca in Atrio Libertatis. 
 
 2. Bibliotheca Templi Apollinis. 
 
 3. Bibliotheca Porticus Octaviae. 
 
 4. Bibliotheca Templi Augusti. 
 
 5. Bibliotheca Domus Tiberianae. 
 
 6. Bibliotheca in Templo Pacis. 
 
 7. Bibliotheca in Foro Traiani. 
 
 8. Bibliotheca in Capitolio. 
 
 9. Bibliotheca in Templo Aesculapii. 
 
 1. Bibliotheca in Atrio Libertatis 
 
 The Atrium Libertatis, containing both Greek and Latin 
 libraries, cannot be definitely located. 
 
 'The two recensions, "Notitia" (not before 334 a.d.) and "Curiosum 
 Urbis Romae Regionum XIV cum Breviariis Suis" (ca. 357 a.d.). 
 
 2 MirabUia Romae cap. 23: ". . . . iuxta arcum septem lucernarum 
 templum Aesculapii: ideo dicitur Cartularium, quia ibi fuit bibliotheca publica, 
 de quibus xxviii fuere in urbe." Preller (Die Regionen der Stadt Rom, p. 119) 
 remarks that the number xxviiii of Codex A of the "Notitia" should, in 
 accord with the unanimous authority of the remaining MSS, certainly be con- 
 sidered an error of the scribe, especially since the Mirabilia Romae mentions 
 twenty-eight libraries. 
 
 3Paulus Diaconus, Excerpta ex libro Pompom Fesii, 356: "Bibliothecae 
 et apud Graecos et apud nos tam librorum magnus per se numerus quam 
 locus ipse, in quo libri collocati sunt, appellatur." 
 
 3 
 
4 PUBLIC LIBRAKIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 An Aedes Libertatis, says Livy, 1 was erected on the Aventine 
 in 216 B.C., by the father of Gracchus, fine money defraying the 
 cost. Greatly pleased at the success of a public banquet held 
 near the city, Gracchus is said to have ordered a representation of 
 the scene painted on the interior of the edifice. Twenty years 
 later it was rebuilt by the censors, Paetus and Cethegus. 2 
 
 The old curia was apparently termed Atrium Libertatis, for 
 Cicero 3 seems to have referred to it when he wrote that Caesar's 
 friends, Oppius and himself, did not hesitate to spend 60,000,000 
 sesterces ($3,000,000) in widening the forum and making it reach 
 to the Atrium Libertatis. The same designation is said to have 
 been applied by Theodoric the Ostrogoth (483-526 a.d.) to the 
 curia. 4 
 
 It has been clearly shown by Latin writers that a public 
 library formed part of such a structure, as in the following state- 
 ments: That Asinius PoUio was the first to make men's talents 
 public property by dedicating a library ; s that he made public for 
 the first time both Greek and Latin libraries in the atrium, con- 
 structed in magnificent style out of spoils of war; 6 and that he 
 here added busts of authors, among which appeared that of Varro 
 while he was still alive. 7 
 
 It is suggested by Merivale that, as Varro's statue was placed 
 in this library, and spoils of war provided means for its erection, 
 
 'Livy, xxiv. 16. 19: "Digna res visa, ut simulacrum celebrati eius diei 
 Gracchus, postquam Romam rediit, pingi iuberet in aede Libertatis, quam 
 pater eius in Aventino ex multaticia pecunia faciendam curavit dedicavitque." 
 
 3 Livy, xxxiv. 44. 4, 5: "Creati censores Sex. Aelius Paetus et C. Cor- 
 nelius Cethegus Atrium Libertatis et villa publica ab iisdem refecta 
 
 amplificataque." 
 
 J Cicero, Ad Atticum iv. 17. 7 (16. 14): "Itaque Caesaris amici, me dico et 
 Oppium, dirumparis licet, in monumentum illud, quod tu tollere laudibus 
 solebas, ut forum laxaremus et usque ad atrium Libertatis explicaremus, 
 contempsimus sexcenties HS; cum privatis non poterat transigi minore 
 pecunia." See Huelsen, The Roman Forum (Carter), 2d ed., p. 16. 
 
 'See Huelsen (Carter), pp. 27, 117. 
 
 s See p. 2, n. 1. 
 
 6 Isidorus, Origines vi. 52: "Primum autem Romae bibliothecas publicavit 
 Pollio Graecas simul atque Latinas, additis auctorum imaginibus, in atrio 
 quod de manubiis magnincentissimum instruxerat"; Suetonius, Augustus 29: 
 " . . . . ab Asinio Pollione Atrium Libertatis [exstructum]." 
 
 7 Pliny,iV.H. vii. 30. 115: "M. Varronis in bibliotheca, quae prima in orbe 
 ab Asinio Pollione ex manubiis publicata Romae est, unius viventis posita 
 imago est, . . . ." 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 5 
 
 probably Pollio only made additions to a library already begun 
 by his learned but aged contemporary. It is safer, however, 
 to assume that Varro's misfortunes had incapacitated him for 
 even a partial realization of Caesar's purpose. 
 
 The date of the founding of this first library has not been 
 accurately determined, though it is to be placed between 39 B.C., 
 when the Parthian victory occurred (715 A.u.c), and 27 (24 ?) B.C., 
 the year of Varro's death. The anniversary date is given by 
 Ovid 1 as April 13. 
 
 2. Bibliotheca Templi Apollinis 
 
 Whatever doubt may exist regarding the founding of the 
 library of the Atrium Libertatis, the name of Augustus is closely 
 connected with the establishment of two public libraries — that 
 of the Templum Apollinis and that in the Porticus Octaviae (not 
 to be confounded with the Porticus Octavia). That these three 
 libraries were in operation at the same time is indicated by Ovid, 8 
 when he personifies his little volume of verse, and represents it as 
 seeking admittance at their doors. 
 
 The temple of Apollo vowed in 36 B.C. and dedicated in 28 B.C. 
 (October 9) was one of the most beautiful and magnificent 
 structures erected in Rome by Augustus. After his victory over 
 
 1 Ovid, Fasti iv. 621-24: 
 
 Occupat Aprilis Idus cognomine Victor 
 
 Iuppiter. Hac illi sunt data templa die. 
 Hac quoque, ni fallor, populo dignissima nostro 
 
 Atria Libertas coepit habere sua. 
 
 3 Ovid, Tristia iii. 1. 59-72: 
 
 Inde tenore pari gradibus sublimia celsis 
 60 Ducor ad intonsi Candida templa dei, 
 
 Signa peregrinis ubi sunt alterna columnis, 
 
 Belides et stricto barbarus ense pater, 
 Quaeque viri docto veteres cepere novique 
 Pectore, lecturis inspicienda patent. 
 65 Quaerebam fratres, exceptis scilicet illis, 
 Quos suus optaret non genuisse pater. 
 Quaerentem frustra custos e sedibus illis 
 
 Fraepositus sancto iussit abire loco. 
 Altera templa peto, vicino iuncta theatro; 
 70 Haec quoque erant pedibus non adeunda meis. 
 Nee me, quae doctis patuerunt prima libellis, 
 Atria Libertas tangere passa sua est. 
 
6 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Sextus Pompey in Sicily, remarks Velleius Paterculus, 1 he devoted 
 to public use several buildings purchased by his deputies, and, 
 manifesting unusual liberality, determined to erect the temple of 
 Apollo with surrounding porticoes. A specific reason for its 
 consecration to Apollo was the fact that a thunderbolt had struck 
 the buildings occupying this site, as is mentioned by Dio Cassius," 
 when he states that a house was presented to Augustus, public 
 funds being used for the purpose (notwithstanding certain gossip 
 about some of bis acts and motives). The testimony of Suetonius 3 
 harmonizes with this: "He erected the temple of Apollo in that 
 section of the Palatine house which, because of its being struck by 
 lightning, the soothsayers asserted was earnestly desired by the 
 god." Further, in the Monumentum Ancyranum, Augustus 4 him- 
 self alludes to this structure as among the edifices he erected in 
 the city. 
 
 As for the library that is associated so closely with the famous 
 temple, Dio Cassius 5 says that he "provided and dedicated the 
 temple of Apollo on the Palatine, the precinct surrounding it, and 
 stores of books"; while Suetonius, 6 in referring to the soothsayers' 
 interpretation of the thunderbolt, gives the information that 
 "he added porticoes with a Greek and Latin library, where, when 
 
 1 Velleius Paterculus, ii. 81. 3: "Victor deinde Caesar reversus in urbem 
 contractas emptionibus complures domos per procuratores, quo laxior fieret 
 ipsius, publicis se usibus destinare professus est, templumque Apollinis et 
 circa porticus facturum promisit, quod ab eo singulari exstructum munifl- 
 centia est." 
 
 2 Dio Cassius, xlix. 15 : d\XA ravra piv tWas iSpvhetTO, rbre Si olxtav re 
 
 aurQ £k toO Stj/j-octLou Sodrjvai %-yvwaav . rbv yap t6ttov 8v iv t$ IlaXa-riy, &ffT* 
 olKodo/iijtral Tiva, £wvt]to, iSTjpAjffiutre kclI r$ ' Ait6XKwvl, Mpvaev, iiretdi] Kepavvbs 
 is airbv {yKartaKrife. rjv re oiv oUlav air<p tyiitpUravTO, koX rb pfrrc ipyifi 
 /iijre X67V rt ij}pt£c<T8tu. 
 
 3 Suetonius, Augustus 29: "Templum Apollinis in ea parte Palatinae 
 domus excitavit quam fulmine ictam desiderari a deo haruspices pronuntiarant; 
 addidit porticus cum bibliotheca Latina Graecaque, quo loco iam senior saepe 
 etiam senatum habuit decuriasque iudicum recognovit." 
 
 * Monumentum Ancyranum, § 19: "Curiam et continens ei Chalcidicum, 
 templumque Apollinis in Palatio cum porticibus .... feci." 
 
 5 Dio Cassius, liii. 1: rb re ' A.wo\\<!>viov rb [re] iv rep TLaKarlif xal rb repi- 
 vmim tA 7repl airrb, rds re airoSJKas T&v jSijSWwi', ifeTroiijire Kal KaBUpoxre. 
 
 6 See n. 3. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME J 
 
 he had now become rather advanced in years, he often, indeed, 
 held the Senate and selected the judicial decuriae." 
 
 According to the usual view, the temple and its library, with 
 the inclosing porticoes, formed a group of structures on the north- 
 east side of the Palatine, probably facing westward on the Vicus 
 Apollinis which ran north to the Via Sacra. A more recent theory 
 locates all the buildings of Augustus on the southwest part of the 
 hill. 1 The exact location of the library has thus never been de- 
 termined. Platner 2 says: "Some grave difficulties in the current 
 view are avoided by the second, and while only a preliminary 
 report of the investigation has as yet been published, and a final 
 decision would be premature, the available evidence seems to point 
 distinctly to the southwest part of the hill." 
 
 While there survives no description of the elegance of the 
 library, much is known of the magnificence of the temple, from 
 which inference may easily be drawn regarding the library itself. 
 The temple was probably peripteral and octostyle, or, if not, 
 prostyle hexastyle. 3 It was elaborately decorated with works of 
 art, as may be seen from Propertius. 4 Between the columns of the 
 portico, doubtless made of giatto antico, were the statues of the 
 fifty daughters of Danaus, while immediately opposite were the 
 statues of their respective husbands, the sons of Aegyptus, in 
 equestrian style. Apollo and Diana formed a group design set up 
 over the entrance to the temple. Numerous bronze figures 
 ornamented the facade. Bas-reliefs on the portals represented 
 the rout of the Gauls and the fate of Niobe's children. 
 
 1 Platner, Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, 2d ed., p. 146. 
 a Ibid. 147. 3 Ibid. 144. 
 
 4 Propertius, ii. 31: 
 
 Quaeris, cur veniam tibi tardior? aurea Phoebi 
 
 Porticus a magno Caesare aperta fuit; 
 Tanta erat in speciem Poenis digesta columnis, 
 
 Inter quas Danai femina turba scnis. 
 Turn medium claro surgebat marmore templum, 
 
 Et patria Phoebo carius Ortygia: 
 Et duo Solis erant supra fastigia currus; 
 
 Et valvae, Libyci nobile dentis opus, 
 Altera deiectos Parnasi vertice Gallos, 
 
 Altera maerebat funera Tantalidos. 
 Deinde inter matrem deus ipse interque sororem 
 
 Pythius in longa carmina veste sonat. 
 Hie equidem Phoebo visus mihi pulchrior ipso 
 
 Marmoreus tacita carmen hiare lyra: 
 Atque aram circum steterant armenta Myronis, 
 
 Quattuor artifices, vivida signa, boves. 
 
8 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 The temple and the library both suffered in the fire of Nero, 
 and restorations were made by Domitian. 1 The buildings were 
 totally destroyed in the great conflagration March 18, 363 A.D. a 
 
 3. Bibliotheca Porticus Octaviae 
 
 The library of the Porticus Octaviae was located between the 
 Capitoline and the Tiber near the Theater of Marcellus : it is shown 
 in this position in the Marble Plan 3 of the city. Partial remains 
 of the Porticus are still to be seen. 4 
 
 The porticus consisted of a double colonnade, inclosing a 
 rectangular court 443 feet long and 377 feet wide and show- 
 ing a four-faced archway at each corner. Entrance was effected 
 through handsome double hexastyle propylaea on the southwest 
 side. Near the center of the area were the two temples built 
 parallel to each other in honor, respectively, of Jupiter Stator and 
 Juno — the former being hexastyle peripteral, and the latter 
 hexastyle prostyle. s The Opera Octaviae included, in addition to 
 these temples, a schola immediately at their rear — a sort of "Con- 
 versation Hall," a curia used occasionally for meetings of the 
 Senate, and the double library devoted to Greek and Latin volumes. 
 The library sections are described by Middleton as having the 
 
 1 Suetonius, Domitian 20: "Liberalia studia in initio imperii neglexit, 
 quamquam bibliothecas incendio absumptas impensissime reparare curasset, 
 exemplaribus undique petitis, missisque Alexandriam qui describeient emen- 
 darentque." 
 
 "Ammianus Marcellinus, sariii. 3. 3: "Verum ut compertum est postea 
 hac eadem nocte Palatini Apollinis templum praefecturam regente Aproniano 
 in urbe conflagravit, ubi, ni multiplex iuvisset auxilium, etiam Cumana car- 
 mina consumpserat magnitudo flammarum." 
 
 'Huelsen (Carter), The Roman Forum p. 236, §xxxix: "The so-called 
 
 Templum Sacrae Urbis The back wall on the contrary is of brick and 
 
 exhibits countless holes used for fastening slabs of marble. On this wall was 
 fastened originally the great Marble Plan of the city (Forma Urbis Romae) 
 which was made in the reign of Septimius Severus probably as a renewal of an 
 older plan." Cf. Platner, pp. 2-5, "The Capitoline Plan." 
 
 * Platner, pp. 372, 373. 
 
 'Velleius Paterculus, i. n. 3: "Hie est Metellus Macedonicus, qui 
 porticus, quae fuerunt circumdatae duabus aedibus sine inscriptione positis, 
 quae nunc Octaviae porticibus ambiuntur, fecerat, quique hanc turmam sta- 
 tuarum equestrium, quae frontem aedium spectant, hodieque maximum orna- 
 mentum eius loci, ex Macedonia detulit." 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME O. 
 
 curia between them and standing behind the schola. 1 Doubt is 
 expressed by Platner whether these several terms designate one 
 and the same building or different structures. 3 Various inscrip- 
 tions indicate the existence of both Greek and Latin divisions of the 
 library.* 
 
 The Porticus Octaviae replaced the original Porticus Metelli 
 constructed in 147 b.c. by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus 
 and inclosing very likely the previously existing temples of Jupiter 
 and Juno.'* This was the work of Augustus in 33 B.C., and he 
 utilized for this purpose the spoils of war secured in his Dalmatian 
 campaign. 
 
 Both the porticus and the bibliothecae, says Dio Cassius, s 
 were erected by the emperor in honor of his sister. He includes 
 "the Octavian buildings together with their books" as among the 
 structures consumed in the disastrous fire of 80 a.d. 6 
 
 It is stated by Suetonius 7 that "he built also certain structures 
 in the name of others, viz., his nephews, his wife, his sister: as, the 
 Porticus and Basilica of Gaius and Lucius, likewise the Porticus 
 of Livia, the Porticus of Octavia, and the Theater of Marcellus." 
 
 According to Plutarch, 8 Octavia erected the library in honor 
 of her son, Marcellus, who died in 23 B.C. at the age of twenty. 
 The library, therefore, must have been organized soon after that 
 year. 
 
 1 Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, s.v. "Porticus Octaviae," Vol. I, 
 pp. 203 f. 
 
 3 Platner, p. 373. » See pp. 44, 45- 4 See p. 8, n. 5. 
 
 s Dio Cassius, xlix. 43: eireiSJj re ol Ae\pArat iravreX&s iKexelpuvro, rfc 
 re <tto4s &irb tuv Xcupipuv airuv Kal t&s dwoOrjKas tuiv fiifikluv t&s ' OKTaoviavas 
 ivl Tijs &8e\<pTJs airov K\r)6eto-as Ktt.naKtiia.tiev. 
 
 6 Ibid., Levi. 24: irvp Si Si) irepov ivlyeiov r!f hifts ireiiroWa irdvv ttjs 
 'Pifyti/s, rod Tlrov irpbs to trdSinia rb iv Ty Ka/iiravlq. yevbixevov feS)7/«}(rai/Tos, 
 iirevelpM.ro • Kal yap rb 'Sepaireiov Kal rb 'laetov ri re "Sivra koX rb XLoaeiSii- 
 viov rb re fSaXavetov rb tov ' Ayptirirov Kal rb Ildpffeiov t6 re SipifliTtfpiov Kal rb 
 rod BdXfiov Biarpov Kal rty <toS> TLonTrqlov <rKt\vfiv, Kal to, 'OKraovleia oU^para 
 /icra tuiv fiif}\lu>>, t6v re vetiiv tov Aids toO KawtrioXtov peri, tuiv avvvdav ai- 
 rov KariKavaev. 
 
 'Suetonius, Augustus 29: "Quaedam etiam opera sub nomine alieno, 
 nepotum scilicet et uxoris sororisque, fecit, ut porticum basilicamque Gai et 
 Luci, item porticus Liviae et Octaviae theatrumque Marcelli." 
 
 8 Plutarch, Marcellus 20: els Se rip-ty airov Kal p.irfip.-qv "O/tTo/Sti /iiv i) 
 p.4\r-t\p ri]V pipTuoStfKriv aviByKev. 
 
10 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 The statements of these three writers will display no incon- 
 sistency if it be supposed that the porticus and library were 
 actually erected in honor of the emperor's sister, but that the 
 library was shortly after designated by Octavia as a permanent 
 memorial to her son. 
 
 A quotation from Dio Cassius already cited shows the destruc- 
 tion of the Octavian buildings by the fire in the time of Titus. 
 The library, however, was restored by Domitian. He endeavored 
 to obtain duplicates of volumes destroyed, even sending competent 
 officials to Alexandria to make the desired copies. 1 It was at 
 least partially destroyed by a second fire, for an inscription appear- 
 ing later on the entablature of the propylaea and containing the 
 words incendio corruptam suggests a restoration under Severus and 
 Caracalla in 203 a.d. 3 
 
 Like the library of the Palatine, that of the Porticus Octaviae 
 was founded in a beautiful environment. The two temples con- 
 tained famous works of art by the masters; 3 and the schola was 
 similarly ornamented. 4 A double portico surrounding the spacious 
 area, near the center of which the group of structures arose, was 
 not only itself imposing but had an entrance on the southwest 
 side through the ornately constructed propylaea. 
 
 4. Bibliotheca Templi Augusti 
 
 The names of Livia, Tiberius, and Caligula are associated 
 with the erection and dedication of the temple built in honor of 
 Augustus and containing a public library. 
 
 Pliny s alludes to " the temple of the Palatine which Augusta, 
 his wife, constructed for [the commemoration of] divine Augustus." 
 
 1 See p. 8, n. 1. 
 
 2 Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, p. 470; " Scavi nel 
 portico di Ottavia," Bull. Inst., 1878, p. 209. 
 
 3 Pliny, N.H. xxxvi. 5. 24 f. [Cephisodotus, son of Praxiteles] : "Romaeeius 
 opera sunt Latona in Palatii delubro, Venus in Pollionis Asini monumentis 
 et intra Octaviae porticus in Iunonis aede Aesculapius ac Diana." Cf . Middle- 
 ton, Remains of Ancient Rome, I, 203 f . 
 
 4 Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, p. 469. 
 
 s Pliny, N.H. xii. 19, 94: "Coronas ex cinnamo interrasili auro inclusas 
 primus omnium in templis Capitolii atque Pacis dicavit imperator Vespasianus 
 Augustus. Radicem eius magni ponderis vidimus in Palatii templo quod 
 fecerat divo Augusto coniunx Augusta, aureae paterae inpositam, ex qua guttae 
 editae annis omnibus in grana durabantur, donee id delubrum incendio con- 
 sumptum est." 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME II 
 
 Referring to Tiberius, Velleius Paterculus 1 observes: "What 
 edifices he erected in his own name and that of his family! With 
 what tender liberality, surpassing human belief, did he erect a 
 temple to his father!" 
 
 "He built only two public structures," says Tacitus, 2 "a 
 temple to Augustus and a stage for Pompey's theater; he did not 
 dedicate these when completed on account of his contempt for 
 display or because of old age." 
 
 Suetonius states that these buildings were left by Tiberius 3 
 in incomplete condition but finished by Caligula 4 who also dedi- 
 cated the temple; but Dio Cassius 5 says that while Tiberius 
 repaired buildings that had fallen to decay he did not construct 
 anything new except the temple of Augustus. 
 
 It is to be noted, in addition, that Dio 6 ascribes the erection 
 of a heroum of Augustus to both Livia and Tiberius: "A heroum 
 voted by the Senate and built by Livia and Tiberius was erected 
 to the dead emperor in Rome and others at many different 
 points " 
 
 Archaeologists have determined with definiteness the site of the 
 temple and its library. Within recent years these have been 
 located among the excavations made on the north and northwest 
 corner of the Palatine between the Clivus Tuscus and the Clivus 
 Victoriae. That the eastern and southeastern portions of the 
 ruins there laid bare represent the original site of the library 
 
 "Velleius Paterculus', ii. 130, 1: "Quanta suo suorumque nomine ex- 
 struxit opera! quam pia munificentia superque humanam evecta fidem 
 templum patri molitur!" 
 
 'Tacitus, Annates vi. 45: "Ne publice quidem, nisi duo opera, struxit, 
 templum Augusto, et scenam Pompeiani theatri; eaque perfecta, contemptu 
 ambitionis an per senectutem, haud dedicavit." 
 
 3 Suetonius, Tiberius 47: "Princeps neque opera ulla magnifica fecit 
 (nam et quae sola susceperat, Augusti templum restitutionemque Pompeiani 
 theatri, imperfecta post tot annos reliquit) neque spectacula omnino edidit." 
 
 ••Suetonius, Caligula 31: "Opera sub Tiberio semiperfecta, templum 
 Augusti theatrumque Pompeii, absolvit." 
 
 5 Dio Cassius, Ivii. 10. 2 : irdvra yip to. irerovriKbTa dvaKTitadptvos (airbs 
 ya,p oiSiv rb wapdirav ix Kacvrjs irXV tov AiyovaTetov, na.TeaKevA.aa.To) oiSiv 
 airQv ISidaaro, dWb. rd tuv irptbTWV oUoSo/iTiadvTiov avri. ivbixara. iraal aipurtv 
 iiriSuKev. 
 
 6 Ibid., lvi. 46: Koi airif iv re tJ 'PiS/afl r)p$ov xjiTiipiadkv ptev iirb ttjs 
 yepovatas olKoSofirjOiv Si inr6 re TTp Aiovlas ko.1 iirb tou Ti/3epfo« iirorfBq, Kai 
 &W061 iroXhaxoSi, to, piv iubvruv 8tj twv 8-tjp.wv, t4 di &k6vtuv olKobopovpAvwv. 
 
12 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 itself was the readily accepted theory of Huelsen, 1 who came to 
 this conclusion upon recalling the suggestion of Vitruvius, 2 that 
 libraries should have eastern exposure. 
 
 Running the entire length of the temple and a little farther to 
 the south, there is a very large quadrangular area, the southern 
 half of which constitutes the supposed library. There are relics 
 of a middle section with two columns on each side. To the east, 
 south, and west are the Greek and Latin divisions of the library. 
 
 On the west side is the temple of Augustus with its extended 
 front where six transverse walls may still be seen. The long rear 
 wall and the two shorter side walls show alternating square and 
 round niches adapted for statues. At the southern corner is a 
 doorway leading to two small rooms. From the larger of these, 
 on the left, there opens an entrance into a large group of rooms 
 believed to be the library of the "new temple" mentioned by 
 Martial 3 and Suetonius. 4 
 
 ' ' There is little doubt, " says Platner , s ' ' that this eastern portion 
 of the structure is the bibliotheca attached to the temple, although 
 this so-called temple itself is far from conforming to the normal 
 type." 
 
 A single sentence used by Suetonius 6 in his biography of 
 Caligula has proved helpful in locating the site of the Augusteum. 
 For here appears the statement that Caligula united the Capitoline 
 and Palatine hills with a bridge built over the roofs of the inter- 
 vening structures. The brick piers still remaining are the same, 
 it is believed, that originally supported the wooden bridge of the 
 emperor, which, however, was removed shortly after his death. 
 The temple, therefore, was erected on the northwestern side of the 
 Palatine, and not constructed on the highest portion of it. 
 
 Another passage in the writings of Suetonius 7 seems to refer 
 to the library under discussion. Tiberius, he remarks, dreamed 
 
 'Huelsen (Carter), pp. 172-75. 
 
 2 See pp. 23, 24. * See n. 7. 
 
 3 See p. 34, n. 4; n. 5. s Platner, p. 163. 
 
 6 Suetonius, Caligula 22: "Et in contubemium ultro invitatus, super 
 templum Divi Augusti ponte transmisso, Palatium Capitoliumque coniunxit." 
 
 7 Suetonius, Tiberius 74: "Supremo natali suo Apollinem Temenitem, 
 et amplitudinis et artis eximiae, advectum Syracusis, ut in bibliotheca novi 
 templi poneretur, viderat per quietem amnnantem sibi, non posse se ab ipso 
 dedicari." 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 13 
 
 on his last birthday that the large and beautiful statue of 
 Apollo Temnites, which had been transported from Syracuse 
 for the purpose of being placed in the library of the new temple, 
 declared to him he would not be accorded the privilege of 
 setting it up. 
 
 How shall the words bibliotheca novi templi be interpreted? 
 One of the more recent reviewers of the subject of libraries in 
 Ancient Rome, Filippo Garbelli, 1 thinks this expression alludes 
 to the library of the temple of Apollo. But does it not with 
 more probability indicate the new temple of the reign of Tiberius ? 
 It has been noted already that the edifice erected in honor of the 
 god was vowed in 36 B.C. and dedicated in 28 B.C. There is no 
 record of its destruction, and consequently there was no restoration, 
 until the latter half of the first century of our era. 2 
 
 The phrase in bibliotheca templi Augusti employed by Pliny 3 
 to designate the place where he had seen a Tuscan Apollo fifty 
 feet high, admired for its bronze workmanship, is construed by so 
 discriminating a scholar as Max Ihm 4 as meaning the library of 
 the Augusteum; by Garbelli 5 as the library in the temple of 
 Apollo. The view of Ihm should be accepted. 
 
 Military diplomas were usually fastened on bronze tablets and 
 posted in public places. An antique diploma of this variety 
 found bearing the words, Romae in muro post tempVum dim, Augusti 
 ad Minervam, 6 appeared, presumably, on the wall of the eastern 
 corner of this temple structure — that is, on a wall of the library, 
 ad Minervam being a significant phrase. 
 
 The Augusteum was restored probably by Domitian after it 
 was burned in 80 a.d.' 
 
 1 Filippo Garbelli, Le Biblioteche in Italia all' Epoca Romana, p. 139. 
 
 2 See p. 8, n. 1. 
 
 3 Pliny, N.H. xxxiv. 7. 43: "Videmus certe Tuscanicum Apollinem in 
 bibliotheca templi Augusti quinquaginta pedum a pollice, dubium aere mira- 
 biliorem an pulchritudine." 
 
 * Max Ihm, "Die Bibliotheken im alten Rom," Centralblatt fur Biblio- 
 thekwesen, XIII, 503 f . 
 s See n. 1. 
 
 6 Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, p. 122; Huelsen 
 (Carter), p. 172; see p. 34, n. 3. 
 
 7 See p. 10, n. 5; cf. p. 8, n. 1. 
 
14 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 After being destroyed a second time; it was again restored in the 
 reign of Antoninus Pius, as is shown by a coin of that period 1 
 bearing the inscription: Templum div{i) Aug(usti) rest(itutum). 
 
 5. Bibliotheca Domus Tiberianae 
 
 Some commentators have considered the Bibliotheca August! 
 and the Bibliotheca Tiberiana as the same library.' Furthermore, 
 the query has arisen whether the books found in the library of the 
 Palace of Tiberius may not have been transferred from that of the 
 Augusteum. There is no evidence to support this idea. On the 
 other hand, there are passages in the works of Marcus Aurelius> 
 Aulus Gellius, and Flavius Vopiscus which show unmistakably 
 that the Palatine Hill afforded the public free access to a third 
 library. 
 
 The letter of Marcus Aurelius to Fronto 3 contains the informa- 
 tion that a particular speech of Cato is desired and a servant is 
 dispatched in search of it, visiting first the library of Apollo, where 
 he goes in vain, and seeking next the Tiberianus Bibliothecarius. 
 
 Gellius 3 remarks that while he and some intimate friends 
 were seated in domus Tiberianae bibliotheca, a book was produced, 
 by chance, bearing the name of M. Cato Nepos. 
 
 In recording the fact that he used especially books ex bibliotheca 
 Ulpia and likewise ex domo Tiberiana, Vopiscus, 4 as compiler of 
 historical data, implies that both were repositories for valuable 
 literary material. 
 
 1 Huelsen (Carter), p. 174, Fig. 100, reproduction of coin. 
 
 2 Marcus Aurelius, Ad Frontonem iv. 5 : "Legi Catonis orationem de bonis 
 Dulciae, et aliam qua tribuno diem dixit. 'Io,' inquis puero tuo; ' vade quan- 
 tum potes, de Apollinis bibliotheca has mihi orationes adporta.' Frustra 
 mittis; nam et isti libri me secuti sunt. Igitur Tiberianus bibliothecarius tibi 
 subigitandus est; aliquid in earn rem insumendum, quod mihi ille, ut ad urbem 
 venero, aequa divisione impertiat." 
 
 • Gellius, N.A. xiii. 20. 1: "Cum in domus Tiberianae bibliotheca sedere- 
 mus ego et Apollinaris Sulpicius et quidam alii mihi aut illi familiares, pro- 
 latus forte liber est ita inscriptus 'M. Catonis Nepotis.' Turn quaeri coeptum 
 est quisnam is fuisset M. Cato Nepos ?" 
 
 4 Vopiscus, Probus 2.1: "Usus autem sum, ne in aliquo fallam carissimam 
 mihi familiaritatem tuam, praecipue libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, aetate mea 
 thermis Diocletianis, et item ex domo Tiberiana, usus etiam ex regestis scri- 
 barum porticus Porphyreticae, actis etiam Senatus ac populi." 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 15 
 
 Consideration of the libraries once existing on the Palatine 
 should include also a significant statement of the physician Galen. 1 
 Alluding to the destruction of two books on medicine written by 
 himself, he records that "the great libraries of the Palatine" 
 were burned. "What indeed could they have been," says Gar- 
 belli, 2 "if not those of the temple of Apollo and of the Domus 
 Tiberiana?" Now, Garbelli, overlooking the present claims of 
 archaeology for the library in the Augusteum, and interpreting the 
 words novum templum to mean Apollo's famous edifice, could 
 designate by name only two great libraries. We may properly 
 extend his inquiry, therefore, and ask if Galen's reference to 
 ingentes bibliothecae did not really embrace three important 
 libraries — those of the temple of Apollo, the temple of Augustus, 
 and the Domus Tiberiana. The date of this conflagration was 
 191 a.d., under the reign of Commodus. Dio Cassius 3 says that 
 nearly all of , the imperial documents deposited here were lost at 
 this time. Tacitus^ tells of the earlier total destruction of the 
 buildings on the Palatine, but does not specifically mention 
 libraries. 
 
 The library of the Domus Tiberiana has been identified by 
 later archaeologists 5 with one of the apartments opening off from 
 the central court, about ioo meters square and surrounded by a 
 colonnade, around which Tiberius had built his palace. This 
 group of structures extended north and west from the house of 
 his father, the Domus Germanici, which it adjoined. Only a few 
 traces of the foundation on the south side remain today. 
 
 1 Galen, De compositicme med. i. cl. 1 a: ". . . . pads delubrum totum 
 et ingentes Palatii bibliothecae incendio conflagrarunt." 
 3 See Garbelli, pp. 151, 152. 
 
 3 Dio Cassius, lxxii. 24: irvp re vinTwp apBkv £f otxlas Tivbs koX is ri 
 Fjiprjvaiov ipireabv rat airoB'/JKas T&v re Xlyvmlav nal r&v ' kpapluv tpoprlav 
 
 .iirevelparo, is re T& TraXdncx/ fiereapurdh i<ry\Be nal iroWi. ir&vv airov kot- 
 iKavaev, &<rre teal t& ypdp.pxi.Ta t&. r% &p%V irpoff^KonTa dKlyov Setv irivra 
 tpOapTJmi. 
 
 4 Tacitus, Annates xv. 39: "Neque tamen sisti potuit quin et Palatium 
 et domus et cuncta et circa haurirentur." 
 
 5 Platner, pp. 147, 162; Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, 
 pp. 144-47. "The great attraction of the palace was the library, Bibliotheca 
 Tiberiana, which seems to have contained state papers and documents more 
 than books" (Lanciani, p. 144). 
 
1 6 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 6. Bibliotheca in Templo Pacis 
 
 The Forum Pacis or Forum Vespasiani, 145 meters long and 
 85 meters wide, with its lofty peperino wall, inclosed two temples — 
 Templum Pacis and Templum Sacrae Urbis. The former was 
 erected in the middle of this spacious area by Vespasian between 
 the years 71 and 75 a.d., 1 while the latter was built by the same 
 emperor a few years later in the southwest corner, though it was 
 not known by the name Templum Sacrae Urbis until after its 
 restoration under Caracalla and Severus. 2 
 
 From the scant references surviving regarding the "library of 
 the temple of Peace," it is difficult to determine which of the two 
 temples in Vespasian's Forum contained the library. Though the 
 Templum Sacrae Urbis was utilized during the first century of the 
 Empire as an archive for important documents, records, and maps 
 of the city, 3 there is no positive evidence to show that it was this 
 temple that contained the library in question. It is the opinion of 
 some, however, that the library was located here. The probability 
 is that it was established in the temple which arose in the middle 
 of the forum. 
 
 Pliny describes the Forum of Augustus and the temple of 
 Peace as among the most beautiful structures the world has 
 ever seen. 4 He says also that numerous masterpieces of art were 
 displayed here. 5 
 
 Josephus states that after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus 
 the Books of the Law were deposited on the Palatine, and the 
 
 1 Suetonius, Vespasian 9: "Fecit et nova opera, templum Facis foro proxi- 
 mum, divique Claudii in Caelio monte, coeptum quidem ab Agrippina, sed 
 a Nerone prope funditus destructum"; Dio Cassius, brvi. 13: *r' Si tov 
 Oieairaoiavov Iktov ko.1 iwl toB T/tou rkraprov Apxivruv, ri rrjt YAp-qv-qs 
 t4/upos xadtepiiBri • 8 re KoXoaabs Civop.au jxivos tv t§ leptj. oSa. Idptiff-q. 
 
 1 Platner, pp. 2, 281; Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, 
 p. 212; Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, I, 41. 
 
 » See p. 36. 
 
 < Pliny, N.H. xxxvi. 15. 102: "Non inter magnifica basilicam Pauli 
 columnis e Phrygibus mirabilem forumque divi Augusti et templum Pacis 
 Vespasiani Imp. Aug., pulcherrima operum, quae umquam: . . . . ? 
 
 s Ibid, xxxiv. 8. 84: "Atque ex omnibus, quae rettuli, clarissima quaeque 
 in urbe iam sunt dicata a Vespasiano principe in templo Pacis aliisque eius 
 operibus, violentia Neronis in urbem convecta et in sellariis domus aureae 
 disposita." 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 1 7 
 
 Judaean spoils of war in the temple of Peace, alluding also to the 
 artistic decorations of the building. 1 
 
 Dio Cassius 2 and Herodianus 3 record the destruction of the 
 temple during the fire under Commodus. Procopius," writing 
 in the sixth century, refers to its having been struck by lightning. 
 
 Direct evidence that there was a public library in Vespasian's 
 Forum is furnished by Gellius, who makes very explicit references 
 to a book containing certain letters 5 and a commentary on gram- 
 mar 6 that were here accessible to the public. 
 
 7. Biblioiheca in Foro Traiani 
 
 Owing to the enterprise of Napoleon I in excavating the Forum 
 of Trajan, it is now easy to appreciate its chief characteristics. 
 
 The forum consisted of the following distinctive features: 
 the propylaea with the triumphal arch of the emperor; the exten- 
 sive peristyle with a large hemicycle on each side and Trajan's 
 
 1 Josephus, Bell. Jud. vii. 5. 7(158): fieri Si robs 8pidp.f3ovs xal tV /SejSato- 
 rdri\v tijs 'Pupaliav iiyepjovlas Kardaraaiv Oievirao-tavbs eyvu rip.evos Wp^vqs xara- 
 axevdaai • ra%b Si Srj p.d\a Kal irdai\% dvBpuirtvris Kpehrov involas irereXelaro • 
 Tjj y&p ix rod irKoirov xopyyla Saipovla xPW'6f' te >"> ! > '™ Ka ' ro ' ! ^KtraXai 
 Ko.TwpBwp.e'vots, ypa<pi)s re xal v\airriKrjs Hpyois avrb xarexbtrptftre • irdvra yap 
 els ixetmv rbv veO>» <rvv/jx9y Ka ' xareriBr), Si' &v rty Biav tLvBpuiroi irpbrepov 
 irepl iratrav iirKavwvro tt)v oUovp-iv-qv, las SXXo irap' dXXots fy xelfievov ISeiv 
 Trodovvres • ' AviBijxe Si ivravBa Kal rd ix rod lepov ran 'lovSaloiv xP u<r <* 
 xaratrxevdffpara, aep.vvv6p.evos iir airois . Tbv Si v6p.ov auTuJp, Kal to. iroptpvpd 
 roO ariKov xarairerd<rp.ara, irpoairal-ev iv rots /SacnXefois dvoBep.ivovs tfrvKdrreiv. 
 
 ' See p. ij, n. 3. 
 
 ' Herodianus, i. 14. 6 : trvvefidWovro S4 rives [Ik tQv KaTei\ij$brav] iro\4puav 
 (T-qpetov elvai rfyv tou rail tj}s elp^vr/s dirw'heiav. 
 
 * Procopius, Bell. Goth. iv. 21. n-12: . . . . it dypov 7J/c« Sid rijs dyopas, 
 4jv ibpov EJpi}»»;s xaXovai "Sapatoi . irravBa ydp irrj d r9js E/piJcijs veas Kepav- 
 vb/3\i)ros yevbpjevos ix ira\aiov xeirai. 
 
 * Gellius, N.A. v. 21. 9: "Turn ille amicus noster, cum hominem confi- 
 dentem pluribus verbis non dignum existimaret: 'Sirmi,' inquit, 'Capitonis, 
 doctissimi viri, epistulae sunt uno in libro multae positae, opinor, in templo 
 Pads."' 
 
 6 Ibid. xvi. 8. 1, 2: "Cum in disciplinas dialecticas induci atque imbui 
 vellemus, necesse fuit adire atque cognoscere, quas vocant dialectici eluayayds. 
 Turn, quia in primo irepl di-iti>p.&ruH> discendum, quae M. Varro alias 'profata,' 
 alias 'proloquia' appellat, Commentarium de Proloquiis L. Aelii, docti hominis, 
 qui magister Varronis fuit, studiose quaesivimus eumque in Pads bibliotheca 
 repertum legimus." 
 
1 8 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 equestrian statue in the center; the Basilica Ulpia with its double 
 colonnade, having at each extremity a hemicycle and an additional 
 row of columns; the imposing spiral column of the founder, ioo 
 feet high, with 185 steps and 43 loopholes, near the center of a 
 colonnaded court; the Greek library on one side of this court, the 
 Latin library on the other side; and, lastly, the stately temple, 
 erected by Hadrian to his parents, Trajanus and Plotina, which 
 faced toward the other structures constituting the forum proper. 
 
 Each division of the library was about 60 feet long and 45 
 feet wide. The Marble Plan of the city gave the outline of one 
 of these apartments with the incomplete inscription: BASIL .... 
 ULPIA. 1 Allusions by certain Latin writers 2 indicate that 
 reading-rooms must certainly have been provided. Busts of 
 famous authors are also found to have adorned the walls. Apol- 
 linaris Sidonius, 3 a Christian writer, who died in 488 a.d., says: 
 "Would that Nerva Trajan could behold the bust, set up enduringly 
 along with my works, among the authors of both libraries! " 
 
 Collections of books, says Dio Cassius, 4 were brought together 
 by Trajan. Gellius and Vopiscus tell of particular kinds of 
 volumes consulted in the library. The former, with a group of 
 friends, had access to Edicta veterum praetorum, s while the latter 
 refers to his use "especially of books from the Ulpian Library" 
 and that of the Domus Tiberiana, these being historical in subject 
 matter. 6 
 
 This library was known commonly as Bibliotheca Ulpia. The 
 entire group of structures was built, says Dio Cassius, 7 by the 
 
 1 See p. 8, n. 3. * See pp. 14, n. 4; 17, n. 6; etc. 
 
 3Apollinaris Sidonius, ix. 16: ". . . . cum meis poni statuam 
 perermem Nerva Trajanus titulis videret inter auctores utriusque fixam 
 bibliothecae " 
 
 * Dio Cassius, brviii. 16: ... . (careo-raWe Si ko! pipXiav iiroS^xas. 
 
 s Gellius, N.A. xi. 17: "Edicta veterum praetorum, sedentibus forte 
 nobis in bibliotheca templi Traiani et aliud quid quaerentibus, cum in manus 
 incidissent, legere atque cognoscere libitum est." 
 
 6 See p. 14, n. 4. 
 
 ' Dio Cassius, lxix. 4: 'ASpiavbs Si roirav p.iv, xalvep axt)«r0et; a<f>uriv, 
 itpelaaro, pvriSep.lav eSXoYoi" SKiBpov kot' airdv 6upopp.j)v \a/3uiv ■ rbv 5' 'AiroX- 
 \iSapov rbv ipx^riKTova rbv rty dyopiv ko.1 rb ipSetov, t6 re yvpwiiriov, t4 tou 
 Tpaiavov irovfipara, iv ry 'ViipvQ KaTatTKevdurairra rb piv irp&rov itpvydSevcrev, 
 (wcira Si Kal fariKTUve. .... 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 19 
 
 Greek architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, during the years 
 112 to 114 A.D. 
 
 The Ulpian Library is a splendid illustration of the prevailing 
 tendency to place libraries in the midst of colonnades, temples, 
 and fora. A striking tribute to the elegance of the Forum of 
 Trajan is offered by Ammianus Marcellinus 1 when he depicts the 
 admiration of Emperor Constantius upon first entering it.. 
 
 8. Bibliotheca in Capitolio 
 
 The existence of a library on the Capitoline is known only 
 through casual observations on the part of Orosius and St. Jerome. 
 
 Orosius 3 wrote his eight books of Histories about 400 a.d. He 
 makes a fuller statement regarding the destruction of the library 
 than Jerome (331 or 348-420 a.d.). Mentioning the accession of 
 Lucius Antoninus Commodus to the imperial throne in the 930th 
 year of the city and his administration as emperor for a period of 
 thirteen years, he adds: "The emperor's evil acts brought disaster 
 to the city. For the Capitoline was struck by lightning, from 
 which a fire broke out and burned with violent fury that well-known 
 library which had been collected through the zealous care of 
 past generations, and other adjacent structures. Then another 
 fire which occurred later at Rome razed to the ground the temple 
 of Vesta and the Palatine and a very large portion of the city." 
 
 St. Jerome 3 briefly confirms the account given by Orosius: 
 "A thunderbolt fell upon the Capitoline and, a great conflagration 
 resulting, the library and certain neighboring temples were burned 
 simultaneously." 
 
 1 Ammianus Marcellinus, xvi. 10. 15, 16: "Verum cum ad Traiani forum 
 venisset, singularem sub omni caelo structuram, ut opinamur, etiam numinum 
 adsensione mirabilem, haerebat adtonitus per giganteos contextus circum- 
 ferens mentem, nee relatu effabiles, nee rursus mortalibus adpetendos." 
 
 ' Orosius, vii. 16.3: "Anno ab urbe condita DCCCCXXX Lucius Antoni- 
 nus Commodus quintus decimus ab Augusto patri successit in regnum mansit- 
 
 que in eo annis XIII Flagitia regis poena urbis insequitur. Nam 
 
 fulmine Capitolium ictum, ex quo facta inflammatio bibliothecam illam, 
 maiorum cura studioque compositam aedesque alias iuxta sitas rapaci turbine 
 concremavit. Deinde aliud incendium postea Romae exortum aedem Vestae 
 et Palatium plurimamque urbis partem solo coaequavit." 
 
 » St. Jerome, Chron. ii. 174: ". . . . in Capitolio fulmen ruit et magna 
 inflammatione facta bibliotheca et vicinae quaeque aedes concrematae sunt." 
 
20 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Preller has suggested that the Capitoline library may have 
 been established by Hadrian at the same time that the Athenaeum 1 
 was erected. 
 
 Careful inquiry into the matter of calendar lists, magisterial 
 records, foreign treaties, court decrees, religious ceremonies, and 
 other public documents* indicates the necessary presence of a 
 repository in this location. Merely the splendid security of this 
 elevation, with its historical citadel and its antique temples, 
 argues strongly for the existence of a valuable library. 
 
 9. Bibliotheca in Templo Aescttlapii 
 
 Known only through the MirabUia Romae, this library was 
 located "iuxta arcum septem lucernarum" in the structure called 
 Cartularmm. 3 
 
 1 Pausanias, i. 18, 9: 'ASpiavtts Si KaTeffKevdcaro pkv koX 6Xksx 'ABijvalois .... 
 xal oUrifiara ivravdi tariv ip6<pif re iirixP^V Ka ' aKapaar pt# \Wtg, irp&s Si 
 ayd\fi.aai kckoh uriixiva xal ypa<paiv /caxd/ceiTai Si is airh, fliflXta. 
 
 'A Companion to Latin Studies, p. 103, § 128: "We know that in the 
 late Republican time there existed, in connection with many historic omces, 
 religious and secular, minute-books (commentarii) which must in many 
 cases have embodied matter of ancient date, though often obscured by the 
 embellishments of recent generations. Again, the treaties concluded between 
 Rome and foreign peoples or princes supplied chronological information of the 
 highest importance" (J. S. Reed). See infra, p. 57 (e), concerning repositories 
 on the Capitoline. 
 
 3 See, p. 3, n. 2. 
 
II. EQUIPMENT: ENVIRONMENT AND FACILITIES 
 
 While it is evident that Rome was the beneficiary of whatever 
 ideas had proved valuable in the organization of libraries in older 
 centers of learning and necessarily duplicated the salient features 
 of the Assyrian, Alexandrian, and Pergamene libraries, it is also 
 true that such ideas were developed to a degree of efficiency 
 considerably surpassing the earlier conceptions. 
 
 By his excavations in the palace of Assur-bani-pal, king of 
 Nineveh, in 1850, Layard 1 showed the existence of a library on this 
 site as early as 700 B.C. Strabo" credits Aristotle with being the 
 first scholar known to have been thoroughly versed in the art of 
 book collecting and library management, saying that he showed 
 the kings in Egypt how to systematize their libraries. It was 
 doubtless the Ptolemies who thus profited by Aristotle's broad 
 library experience. The founding of the earlier of the two famous 
 libraries at Alexandria is attributed to Ptolemy Philadelphus II 
 (285-247 b.c.). 3 Some years after its destruction, the second 
 library, 4 excelling the first in grandeur of design and beauty of 
 
 1 Sir Henry Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, 
 II, 3434- 
 
 ' Strabo, xiii. 1. 54: 6 yap 'A/>ktto7-^Xi)s rip> iavrov [fSiftKioff^Kriv] 0eo- 
 (ppdtjTcp waptdwuev tpirep Kal tti\v <rxo\liv dwiXiire, vp&ros, Sv tapxv, avvayay&v 
 /3i/3Mo, Kal SiSU-as toOs iv Alyiirrtf f3atri\ias |3i/3Xio0i}ki)s <rtivrat-iv. 
 
 3 Ibid., xvii. 1. 8: rwv Si fiatrCheluiv juntos iarl Kal rh Movaaov, ix ov "■'/»'- 
 irarov Kal i£48pav xal oXkov pjyav, iv if rb avaalriov tuSk /neTex&vruv too Movaelov 
 tptkoK&ywv dvSpwv tan di tj} avvbSif rair-g Kal xP"hP aTa xoivd Kal lepeis i iirl 
 rlf Movtreltp, Tcray/iivos rbre pJv iirb rwv paaiXiwv, vvv S' inri Kalaapos. "That 
 the older of the two libraries must have been in some way connected 
 with these buildings seems to me certain from two considerations. First, 
 a ruler who took so keen an interest in books as Ptolemy would assuredly have 
 kept his treasures under his own eye, and, secondly, he would hardly have 
 placed them at a distance from the spot where the learned men of Alexandria 
 held their meetings" (J. W. Clark, Care of Books, p. 7). 
 
 <Epiphanius, De pond, et mens. 16. 12: tn Sk Harepov Kal iripa iyivero 
 f}i,p\io8JJK7) iv t$ Xepairettp, /UKporipa rtp irpi>Ti)s, ijrts Bvydryp &vop.da6i\ 
 airy. 
 
22 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 structure, 1 was erected. They seemed to have formed a part of the 
 king's magnificent palace. The rival library of Pergamum was 
 established by Eumenes II (197-159 B.C.),* coming into the hands 
 of the Romans in the last days of the Republic. 3 Very limited data 
 survive regarding the prevalence of public libraries in Greece prior 
 to their establishment at Rome, though Pisistratus is said to have 
 founded the first library. 4 
 
 Comparison of Roman libraries with the three representative 
 prototypes at Nineveh, Alexandria, and Pergamum indicates 
 that there was observance of the following usages: 
 
 a) The library was regularly placed in proximity to a temple 
 or palace, a patron god or deified hero being consequently associ- 
 ated with it. 
 
 b) In the group of structures an eastern location was preferable 
 for the library. 
 
 c) The interior of the library was adorned in an artistic 
 manner. 
 
 d) Systematic methods were employed in the management of 
 the library. 
 
 Let us now apply these considerations to the Roman libraries 
 especially. We shall see that the Romans developed to great 
 
 1 Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 16. 12: "Inter quae eminet Serapeum, quod 
 licet minuatur exilitate verborum, atriis tamen columnatis amplissimis, et 
 spirantibus signorum figmentis, et reliqua operum multitudine ita est exorna- 
 tum, ut post Capitolium, quo se venerabilis Roma in aeternum adtollit, nihil 
 orbis terrarum ambitiosius cernat." 
 
 ' Vitruvius, Be architecture! vii, Praefatio: "Reges Attalici magnis philolo- 
 giae dulcedinibus inducti cum egregiam bibliothecam Peigami ad communem 
 delectationem instituissent, turn item Ptolemaeus infinito zelo cupiditatisque 
 incitatus studio, non minoribus industriis ad eundem modum contenderat 
 Alexandriae comparare." 
 
 3 Plutarch, Anlonius 57: KaXouftrios Si, Kaierapos iratpos, crt xal ravra t&v 
 els K\eow&Tpav iyic\r}ii&T<ov ' AvTiovtif Ttpoifpepe • x<V>(cracr0cu f^" <"5rS T ^ s i" 
 Hepy&pov /Si/SXio0iJKas, tv ah etnoai. /ivplaSes /3tj3\{(i>K air\u>v Ijaav. 
 
 * Isidorus, vi. 3. 3 : " Bibliothecam primus instituisse Pisistratus creditur 
 Atheniensium tyrannus." Gellius, JV.^l. vi. 17. 1, 2: "Libros Athenis discip- 
 linarum liberalium publice ad legendum praebendos primus posuisse dicitur 
 Pisistratus tyrannus. Deinceps studiosius accuratiusque ipsi Athenienses 
 auxerunt; sed omnem illam postea librorum copiam Xerxes Athenarum 
 potitus urbe ipsa praeter arcem incensa abstulit asportavitque in Persas. 
 Eos porro libros universos multis post tempestatibus Seleucus rex, qui 
 Nicanor appellatus est, referendos Athenas curavit." 
 
equipment: environment and facilities 23 
 
 advantage these two phases: interior ornamentation, and syste- 
 matized management. 
 
 I. EXTERIOR 
 
 a) Proximity to temple or palace. — The Atrium Libertatis, 
 dedicated to the personification of Liberty, was the home of the 
 first library founded. 
 
 The Palatine library adjoined the porticoes inclosing the 
 Templum ApoUinis. 
 
 The Porticus Octaviae contained the Templum Jovis and the 
 Templum Junonis in the rear of both of which arose the library. 
 
 The Augusteum was constructed with the Templum Divi 
 Augusti immediately west of the library rooms. 
 
 The Templum Sacrae Urbis with its archives and the Templum 
 Pacis, the probable home of the library, were contained in the 
 Forum Vespasiani. 
 
 The Ulpian library occupied a position between the Basilica 
 Ulpia and the notable Templum Traiani. 
 
 The Capitoline library was doubtless associated with one of 
 the several temples erected on the Moris Capitolinus. 
 
 The Templum Aesculapii was called Cartularium because it 
 included a library. 
 
 The library in the Domus Tiberiana formed an important 
 feature of the renowned palace of the emperors. 
 
 In every instance imposing statuary was set up to commemorate 
 the particular deity or emperor in whose honor the composite 
 structure had been erected. 
 
 Of all public edifices temples were the most magnificent, the 
 most accessible, the most secure. With deities as protectors and 
 priests as guardians, valued possessions, such as spoils of war or 
 treasured relics, were there preserved to greatest advantage. A 
 library could be associated with no structure so fittingly as with 
 a temple, a palace sometimes proving an appropriate substitute. 
 
 b) Location on the east side. — Vitruvius 1 gives the following 
 direction for the location of the library in the private home: "The 
 
 'Vitruvius, vi. 4. 1: "Cubicula et bibliothecae ad orientem spectare 
 debent; usus enim matutinum postulat lumen; item in bibliothecis libri non 
 putrescent. Nam quaecumque ad meridiem et occidentem spectant, a tineis 
 et humore libri vitiantur, quod venti humidi advenientes procreant eas et 
 alunt infundentesque humidos spiritus pallore volumina corrumpunt." Cf. 
 vi. 7. 3 : "ad orientem autem bibliothecae." 
 
24 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 sleeping-rooms and libraries should face toward the east; for 
 their utilization demands the morning light; also the books in the 
 libraries will not decay. For, where books are placed on the south 
 and west, they are ruined by worms and dampness, since the damp 
 winds that arise produce and support these worms, and creating 
 a humid atmosphere destroy the volumes through mouldiness." 
 
 If such location was desirable for private libraries, why may it 
 not have been even better adapted for public libraries where rarer 
 and larger collections of books were stored? It is significant 
 that the plans for the libraries at Nineveh and at Pergamum 
 (that at Alexandria has not survived) indicate eastern, or par- 
 tially eastern, exposure. As for the several Roman libraries under 
 consideration, the architectural design of six is unknown — those in 
 the Atrium Liber tatis, theTemplum Apollinis, the DomusTiberiana, 
 Templum Pacis, Templum Aesculapii, and on the Mons Capi- 
 tolinus. But the remaining three, with noteworthy accord, show 
 an eastern position for the library. From this conclusion one may 
 deduce a plausible theory for the probable site of the library con- 
 nected with the Templum Apollinis: that it was situated in the 
 rear of the temple which itself faced west and was inclosed by the 
 quadrangular colonnade. 1 It is also established that the Templum 
 Sacrae Urbis, used at least for archives, had an available eastern 
 room or group of rooms on the east side. 
 
 n. INTERIOR 
 
 c) Ornaments and decoration. — A beginning having been made 
 by Asinius Pollio* when founding the first public library under 
 Augustus and placing in it the bust of Varro, the custom of adorn- 
 ing the public library with specimens of art, as statues, busts, 
 medallions, and inscriptions, soon became popular and may be 
 said to have typified the interior almost as much as the volumes 
 themselves and the usual fixtures. 3 The aesthetic phase of the 
 library was further enhanced by artistic decorations. 
 
 1 Provided the usual view as to the location of the temple is accepted: 
 cf. p. 7. 
 
 ' See p. 4, n. 7. 
 
 'Pliny, N.H. xxxv. 2. 9: "Siquidem non ex auro argentove, at certe 
 ex aere in bibliothecis dicantur illis, quorum inmortales animae in locis iisdem 
 locuntur, quin immo etiam quae non sunt finguntur, pariuntque desideria 
 non traditos vultus, sicut in Homero evenit. Quo maius, ut equidem arbitror, 
 nullum est felicitatis specimen quam semper omnes scire cupere, qualis fuerit 
 aliquis." 
 
equipment: environment and facilities 25 
 
 The huge column of Trajan occupied a position between the 
 Greek and Latin libraries of the Forum of Trajan. 1 
 
 The assembly room of the library of Apollo was very prob- 
 ably the hall represented by Tacitus" in his Annales as being used 
 for sessions of the Senate and containing statues of eminent authors. 
 
 In commending the literary style of Pompeius Saturninus and 
 remarking on the lack of appreciation of him while he still lived, 
 Pliny 3 says: "If he were already numbered among the dead, we 
 should eagerly seek not only for his books but for his busts." 
 
 The close relation of books and art is again seen in a reference 
 by the same writer to Silius Italicus: 4 "Everywhere many books, 
 many statues, many portraits, which he not only possessed, but 
 even hallowed — Virgil's, in preference to all others." 
 
 Lanciani cited unmistakable evidence of the medallion as a 
 library ornamentation, when he identified with the old Roman 
 custom his discovery of a medallion on the wall above the armarium 
 indicating the words [A]PO[L]LONIUS THYAN[US].* 
 
 Alluding to the private library, which in large measure 
 duplicated the features of the public library, Juvenal exclaims: 6 
 
 1 See p. 18. 
 
 'Tacitus, Annates ii. 37: "Igitur quattuor filiis ante limen curiae ad- 
 stantibus, loco sententiae cum in Palatio senatus baberetur, modo Hortensi 
 inter oratores sitam imaginem, modo Augusti intuens, ad hunc modum coepit." 
 
 3 Pliny, Epist. i. 16. 8: "Neque enim debet operibus eius obesse, quod 
 vivit. An, si inter eos quos numquam vidimus floruisset, non solum libros 
 eius, verum etiam imagines requireremus; eiusdem nunc honor praesentis et 
 gratia quasi satietate languescit." 
 
 4 Ibid. iii. 7. 8: "Multum ubique librorum, multum statuarum, multum 
 imaginum, quas non habebat modo verum etiam venerabatur, Virgilii ante 
 omnes, cuius natalem religiosius quam suum celebrabat, Neapoli maxime, ubi 
 monumentum eius adire ut templum solebat." 
 
 s Lanciani, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, pp. 193, 194: 
 "My hope that, at last, after fifteen years of excavations, I had succeeded 
 in discovering a library, was confirmed beyond any doubt by a legend, 
 written, or rather painted, in bright red colour on one of the frames. There 
 was but one name POLONTVS THYAN .... but this name told more 
 plainly the purpose of the apartment than if I had discovered there the actual 
 bookshelves and their contents." 
 
 6 Juvenal, Sat. ii. 4-7 : 
 
 Indocti primum, quamquam plena omnia gypso 
 Chrysippi invenies; nam perfectissimus horum est, 
 Si quis Aristotelem similem vel Pittacon emit 
 Et iubet archetypos pluteum servare Cleanthas. 
 
26 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 "Ignoramuses, first of all; and yet you will see all their apartments 
 abounding in plaster-casts of Chrysippus; the noblest of these is 
 the man who has purchased a portrait of Aristotle or Pittacus 
 and orders that his bookstand contain the originals of Cleanthes." 
 
 Pliny says he can present proof that an archaic bronze inscrip- 
 tion from Delphi had been placed in the Palatine library by 
 Augustus, as a specimen of archaeology. 1 
 
 The use of inscriptions on the part of the Christian Fathers, of 
 which ample evidence is at hand, undoubtedly reflects the Roman 
 custom of the early Empire. 2 
 
 To judge from the excavations at Pompeii, it is only reasonable 
 to believe that the interior of the Roman public library must have 
 had walls and ceilings painted in delicate hues and frescoed with 
 unique designs, and floors formed of ingenious mosaics, as well as 
 wood and marble. At any rate, it appears that Boethius (524 a.d.) 3 
 was acquainted with libraries that showed on their walls ornamen- 
 tations of ivory and glass, and that Isidorus (570-636 a.d.), 4 as 
 spokesman for the leading architects, expressed preference for 
 walls and ceilings adorned with green cipollino in comparison with 
 other kinds. Pliny 5 described the temple of Peace as "among 
 the most beautiful works the world has ever seen." We may 
 
 r Pliny, N.B. vii. 58. 210: "Veteres Graecas fuisse easdem paene quae 
 nunc sint Latinae indicio erit Delpbica antiqui aeris, quae est hodie in 
 Palatio, dono principum Minervae dicata [in bibliotheca] cum inscriptione 
 
 tali: NATZIKPATHZ ANE8ET0 TAI AIOZ KOPAI " (The several 
 
 MSS show variation as to inscription.) 
 
 ' A good illustration is cited by J. W. Clark, in Care of Books, p. 43 : an 
 inscription appearing in a library under a portrait of Virgil, as follows: 
 Virgilium vatem melius sua carmina laudant; 
 In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbrae 
 Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet, 
 Semper honos nomenque tuum laudesque manebtmt. 
 [In a letter from Rusticus to Eucherius (about 441 a.d.); last three 
 lines from Aeneid, i. 607-9.] 
 
 3 Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae i. 5: "Itaque non tarn me loci 
 huius quam tua fades movet, nee bibliothecae potius comptos ebore ac vitro 
 parietes quam tuae mentis sedem requiro; in qua non libros, sed id quod libris 
 pretium facit, librorum quondam meorum sententias conlocavi." 
 
 4 Isidorus, Origines vi. 2: "Cum peritiores architecti neque aurea lacu- 
 naria ponenda in bibliothecis putent neque pavimenta alia quam a Carysteo 
 marmore, quod auri fulgor hebetat et Carystei viriditas reficiat oculos." 
 
 s See p. 16, n. 4. 
 
equipment: environment and facilities 27 
 
 certainly infer that the library contained within shared in its 
 glory and charm. 
 
 d) Storing and cataloguing. — Methods employed by the 
 Romans for storing and using the numerous rolls and documents 
 in their libraries were simple, convenient, and well defined. Not 
 only were lengthy rolls (volumina) in use, some being 20, 30, or 
 40 feet long, but also, for convenience' sake, subdivisions of the 
 same writings on papyrus or parchment {librt), as well as small 
 treatises for brief compositions, epitomes, memoranda, official 
 records, and the like (libelli). 1 Each of the three varieties of the 
 Roman roll, regardless of its dimensions, is to be thought of, as it 
 formed a unit in the contents of the library, as having its umbilicus, 
 cornua, frontes, membrana or toga purpurea, tiPulus or index, and 
 at times lora. One of the epigrams of Martial is addressed to one 
 of his own little works and is descriptive of most of these char- 
 acteristics. 2 Catullus, too, describes such rolls. 3 
 
 Roman books, when grouped together, required for easy 
 handling and ready availability the — 
 
 Capsa, a cylinder-shaped box of a size large enough to hold one 
 roll or more standing upright, with a movable top (sometimes pro- 
 vided with handle, hinges, and lock) ; 
 
 Scrinvum, a receptacle of the same description differing only in 
 size and being designed like the other as a temporary bookholder, 
 but accommodating a greater number of rolls; 
 
 Armarium, a cupboard-like bookcase containing shelves which 
 were often divided into sections where the volumes were placed 
 horizontally so as to show the end to which the title was attached. 
 
 Loculamentum, forulus, nidus are terms sometimes used by 
 the Romans synonymously with armarium. 
 
 1 F. G. Kenyon, The Palaeography of Greek Papyri (Oxford, 1899), chap. 
 »i. PP- 59-63- 
 
 1 Martial, Epigrams iii. 2. 6-11 : 
 
 Faustini fugis in sinum ? sapisti. 
 
 Cedro nunc licet ambules perunctus 
 
 Et frontis gemino decens honore 
 
 Pictis luxurieris umbilicis, 
 
 Et te purpura delicata velet, 
 
 Et cocco rubeat superbus index. 
 
 3 Catullus, xxii. 7, 8: 
 
 Novi umbilici, lora, rubra membrana, 
 Directa plumbo et pumice omnia aequata. 
 
28 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Pluteus, a kind of reading desk mentioned occasionally in 
 literature, is to be included as an additional fixture of the usual 
 library. 
 
 In his criticism of literary affectation so common among 
 the Romans of his time, Seneca 1 speaks with disdain of those who 
 possessed armaria that ranged the four walls and reached to the 
 ceiling and were stored with thousands of volumes — not to be 
 read but to be seen. A fair conception of the actual appearance 
 of such armaria as they existed in the public libraries at Rome is 
 doubtless given by the discovery of the library in the House of the 
 Papyri at Herculaneum (excavated in 1754 a.d.). In addition to 
 the regular wall shelves, an armarium had been stationed in the 
 middle of the room. 
 
 Further, as first suggested by Lanciani, 2 the library of the 
 Vatican probably presents a fair duplicate of the interior of 
 the public library in ancient times, for the doors constructed in 
 the wall casings, when opened, reveal time-honored stores of 
 antique documents. 
 
 Such was the magnificence and reputation of the Alexandrian 
 libraries and such the splendor and excellence of Alexandrian 
 scholarship that it must be assumed there was no lack of con- 
 veniences and facilities in the grouping and cataloguing of books 
 in the great libraries at Alexandria. 
 
 As regards the excavated remains of the temple and library 
 of Pergamum, the description given in 1884 by Alexander Conze 5 
 suggests that the several rooms located on the eastern side were 
 well adapted for library quarters and that certain sections of these 
 had doubtless served for "stacks," for apertures in the walls 
 showed where supports for bookshelves had been inserted. A 
 similar arrangement was presumably in use at both Alexandria and 
 Pergamum. 
 
 1 Seneca, Dial. ix. 9. 6.: "Quid habes, cur ignoscas homjni armaria citro 
 atque ebore captanti, corpora conquirenti aut ignotorum auctorum aut improba- 
 torum et inter tot milia librorum oscitanti, cui voluminum suorum frontes 
 maxime placent titulique? Apud desidiosissimos ergo videbis quidquid 
 orationum historiarumque est, tecto tenus exstructa loculamenta." 
 
 1 Lanciani, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, p. 195. 
 
 s "Die pergamenische Bibliothek," Sitzungsberichte der KSnigl. Preuss. 
 Akad. der Wiss. zu Berlin, II (1884), 1259-70. 
 
equipment: environment and facilities 29 
 
 It is obvious that the most desirable features of these earlier 
 libraries must have been duplicated and, where feasible, improved 
 upon at Rome. 
 
 Certain archaeologists are of the opinion that the bust of 
 Epicurus found in the library of a private citizen at Herculaneum 
 had originally been set up over the manuscripts dealing with 
 Epicureanism. The libraries of the Christian Fathers reflect this 
 custom of the public libraries of grouping together the works of a 
 single author. 1 
 
 In his epitome of "Bibliotheken" in the Pauly-Wissowa Real- 
 Encydopadie, Dziatzko 2 cites an interesting Greek inscription from 
 Rome (CIG, 6047), which shows the alphabetical arrangement of 
 an author's work: "Verzeichnis der Dramen des Euripides (A-A) 
 unter dessen Reliefbildnis." He refers also to the catalogue of 
 an old library of philosophical works appearing on papyrus which 
 had been discovered in the neighborhood of Alexandria and is now 
 preserved in Petrograd. 
 
 Again, the phraseology employed by two Latin authors, Quin- 
 tilian and Pliny, suggests the idea of catalogue lists for the ordinary 
 library, the word index being used for such designation. "No one, 
 indeed," says Quintilian, 3 "is so unacquainted with these [Greek 
 poets] as not to be able to remove a book-list from a library and 
 incorporate it in his own volumes." "I shall perform the part of 
 an index," Pliny* remarks, "and shall inform you even in what 
 order my uncle's works had been composed." 
 
 A well-regulated system for consulting the contents of a library 
 accessible to the public is indicated by Vopiscus 5 when alluding 
 to the sixth armarium as the exact location in the Ulpian library of 
 the ivory book that contained a senatorial decree. This is shown 
 
 1 J. W. Clark, Care of Books, p. 47. * Sec. VIII, p. 422 (Dziatzko). 
 
 3 Quintilian, Inst. Orat. x. 1. 57: "Nee sane quisquam est tarn procul a 
 cognitione eorum [poetarum Graecorum] remotus, ut non indicem certe ex 
 bibliotheca sumptum transferre in libros suos possit." 
 
 4 Pliny, Epist. iii. 5. 2: "Fungar indicis partibus, atque etiam quo sint 
 ordine scripti [libri avunculi mei] notum tibi faciam." 
 
 s Vopiscus, Tacitus 8. 1 : "Ac ne quis me Graecorum alicui vel Latinorum 
 existimet temere credidisse, habet bibliotheca Ulpia in armario sexto librum 
 elephantinum, in quo hoc senatus consultum perscriptum est, cui Tacitus ipse 
 manu sua subscripsit: nam diu haec senatus consulta, quae ad principes 
 pertinebant, in libris elephantinis scribebantur." 
 
30 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 again in passages occurring in the writings of Gellius. 1 The inci- 
 dent described as happening at Tibur" is significant, and may 
 readily be viewed as typical of library regulations in Rome itself. 
 Gellius was present with certain friends at this little village when the 
 discussion arose whether water — such as they were then drinking — 
 when condensed from snow, was healthful. One member of the 
 company, who was a philosopher, asserted that Aristotle and many 
 physicians had strongly condemned this variety of drinking-water. 
 The matter, however, was settled to the satisfaction of all, when 
 the philosopher himself procured from the library of Tibur 3 a 
 copy of Aristotle's book dealing with the subject and brought it 
 to them. 
 
 1 See p. 58. 
 
 3 Gellius, Nod. Att. xix. 5. 4= "Haec quidem ille ad nos prudenter et 
 benivole et adsidue dictitabat. Sed cum bibendae nivis pausa fieret nulla, 
 promit e bibliotheca Tiburti, quae tunc in Herculis templo satis commode 
 ins true ta libris erat, Aristotelis librum eumque ad nos adfert et 'huius saltern' 
 inquit 'sapientissimi viri verbis credite ac desinite valitudinem vestram pro- 
 fligare."' 
 
 1 Cagnat's Les Bibliothiques municipales gives a readable and authoritative 
 resume 1 of public libraries known to have existed in other localities in Italy 
 than Rome itself. 
 
III. CONTENTS: BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS 
 
 An inquiry into the contents of the public libraries in Rome 
 will now be appropriate, especially as such information proves an 
 index regarding the literary tastes of the Romans under the 
 Empire and enlarges one's conception of the service rendered by 
 their public libraries. It is desirable, therefore, to note, with as 
 much detail as is practicable, the contents of each library to which 
 classical writers have made either specific or general reference. 
 
 i. Library in the Atrium 
 
 Mention has been made of Caesar's ambition 1 to found Greek 
 and Latin libraries for public use and to provide a convenient 
 digest of legal codes, and of the establishment of libraries under 
 the administration of Augustus. It is easily inferred, then, that 
 many volumes dealing with earlier and contemporary law were 
 collected in the library of the Atrium Libertatis. 
 
 But a great variety of books and documents must have been 
 brought together here, as is implied in the description already 
 given concerning Pollio, "the first to make men's talents public 
 property by dedicating a library." 2 This is to be viewed as a 
 miscellaneous collection of popular manuscripts in both prose and 
 poetry. Moreover, Pollio "made public at Rome both Greek and 
 Latin libraries." 3 That poetry was included with prose is made 
 clear in Ovid's lines in the Tristia,* where his little volume of verse 
 sought entrance at the three public libraries existing in the city at 
 that time: those of the Atrium Libertatis, the Templum Apollinis, 
 and the Porticus Octaviae. The allusion is significant: "Neither 
 did Liberty permit me to enter her halls which were the first to 
 give access to learned works." Besides, the popularity of poetry 
 among the Greeks and Romans alone would indicate that a large 
 number of poetical works must have been accorded a place in the 
 first of Roman libraries. 
 
 "Seep, i, n. i. 'Seep. 4, n. 6. 
 
 s Seep. 2, n. 1. <Seep. 5, n. 2. 
 
 3i 
 
32 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 2. Library of the Templum Apollinis 
 
 The library in the Templum Apollinis contained "stores of 
 books," said Dio Cassius; 1 "Whatsoever men, both formerly and 
 now, have learnedly conceived lies open to the perusal of readers," 
 is the testimony for its collected works as given by Ovid. a A 
 strong hint as to the general nature of its contents is furnished 
 by Horace 3 when he makes a very personal allusion to a con- 
 temporary poet whom he pictures as a plagiarist and who needs 
 to be warned over and over again not to be found handling the 
 variety of writings for which Apollo had provided a home, lest 
 some day he be exposed and made a laughing-stock. And, further, 
 according to Suetonius, 4 porticoes with "a Greek and Latin 
 library" were added by Augustus. 
 
 Ovid's allusion to this library indicates two items of value: 
 (i) that volumes of poetry were naturally included in it; and (2) 
 that not only old works of authors but also their newly published 
 works were added to the stores of books. While it appears that the 
 poet's booklet looked there in vain for its "brethren" and was 
 urged by the librarian to withdraw, it is otherwise well established 
 that poetical productions were ordinarily deposited in Apollo's 
 library. 
 
 The words of Marcus Aurelius addressed to Fronto 5 showed 
 that certain orations were procurable at this library. He writes 
 as follows: "I have read Cato's speech on the Property of Dulcia 
 and another in which he appoints a day for the tribune. 'Go,' 
 you say to your slave, 'as quickly as you can, and fetch me 
 those speeches from the library of Apollo.'" 
 
 One of the scholiasts explains the lines of Juvenal (Satire 1, 128), 
 Sportula, deinde forum iurisque peritus, Apollo, 
 
 with the commentary : " Quia bibliothecam iuris civilis et liber alium 
 studiorum in templo Apollinis Palatini dedicavit Augustus" — thus 
 
 1 See p. 6, n. 5. ' See p. 5, n. 2 (lines 63, 64). 
 
 3 Horace, Epist. i. 3. 13-20: 
 
 Quid mihi Celsus agit? monitus multumque monendus 
 
 Privatas ut quaerat opes et tangere vitet 
 
 Scripta Palatums quaecumque recepit Apollo, 
 
 Ne, si forte suas repetitum venerit olim 
 
 Grex avium plumas, moveat cornicula risum 
 
 Fuitivis nudata coloribus. 
 
 * See p. 6, n. 3. s See p. 14, n. 2. 
 
contents: books and documents 33 
 
 attributing to the satirist a reference to works of civil law and 
 general culture as contents of the Palatine library, and implying 
 fulfilment of Caesar's plan for the condensation of voluminous 
 documents of law. 
 
 There was preserved, also, in this library a remarkable group 
 of documents, none other than the time-honored Sibylline Books, 
 which were deposited for safekeeping, at the order of Augustus, in 
 two gilded receptacles under the pedestal of the statue of Apollo. 1 
 The fact that they were consulted at appropriate intervals only by 
 the Committee of Quindecimviri" is great evidence alike of their 
 value and the dignity and importance of the library. 
 
 3. Library of the Portions Octaviae 
 
 As for the library of the Porticus Octaviae, one is reminded of 
 the comprehensive expressions used by Dio Cassius, 3 " the Octavian 
 stores of books" and "the Octavian structures together with their 
 books," which he stated were destroyed by the fire under Titus in 
 80 a.d. Although no mention of specific volumes or documents in 
 it can be cited in Latin literature, the frequent notices occurring 
 in monumental inscriptions 4 and testifying to the character and 
 efficiency of library officers employed here lead to the conclusion 
 that many valuable works were provided for public use. They 
 indicate also that this was one of the most accessible and popular 
 of Roman libraries. The grief of Octavia for her devoted son, 
 Marcellus, and the affection of Augustus for his ill-fated nephew 
 doubtless contributed in no small way toward making it a worthy 
 memorial — perhaps the earliest instance of a "memorial library." 5 
 
 This was the third of the libraries in which Ovid would have his 
 volume of verse gain admittance. 6 
 
 That here again a miscellaneous collection of volumes in prose 
 and poetry was found is inferred from the action of Domitian 
 
 'Suetonius, Aug. 31: "Libros Sibyllinos condidit duobus forulis auratis 
 sub Palatini Apollinis basi." Cf. Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 3. 3; p. 8, n. 2. 
 
 2 Tacitus, AnncUes vi. 12: "Relatum inde ad patres a Quintiliano, tribuno 
 plebei, de libro Sibyllae, quern Caninius Gallus quindecimvirum recipi inter 
 ceteros eiusdem vatis et ea de re senatus consultum postulaverat." 
 
 3 See. p. 9, n. 5 and n. 6. 
 
 * See pp. 44, 45, inscriptions. 
 
 s See p. 9, n. 5, n. 7, and n. 8; p. 10. 6 See p. 5, n. 2. 
 
34 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 which has already been noted, 1 i.e., the dispatch of literary emis- 
 saries to Alexandria for the purpose of duplicating copies of docu- 
 ments destroyed in the fire of Titus. 
 
 Numerous inscriptions* show that there were Greek and Latin 
 sections in the library of the Porticus Octaviae. 
 
 4. Library of the Augusteum 
 
 No titles, again, of individual works in the library of the 
 temple of Augustus are extant; but three references can be quoted 
 in substantiation of the claim that the Bibliotheca Novi Templi, 
 or Bibliotheca Templi Augusti, was accessible to the public and had 
 contents of a particularly literary nature: 
 
 a) An inscription 3 on a military diploma which has been 
 unearthed and contains this language: " On a wall in Rome behind 
 the temple of divine Augustus on the side toward [the library 
 devoted to the Goddess of Wisdom] Minerva." 
 
 b) An epigram of Martial alluding to a library official: "Him, 
 O Cosmus, whom you often see within the halls of our Pallas and 
 the thresholds of the new temple." 
 
 c) A second couplet from Martial: 5 "Of thy right seek the 
 revered threshold of the new temple, where their dwelling has 
 been restored to the Pierian band." 
 
 5. Library of the Domus Tiberiana 
 
 Three excerpts from Latin authors which were previously 
 cited to verify the existence of the library in the home of Tiberius 
 are valuable for their bearing on the library as a repository for 
 certain important volumes. 
 
 The correspondence between Marcus Aurelius and M. Cornelius 
 Fronto 6 discloses an earnest desire on the part of the distinguished 
 rhetorician that his unusually apt pupil should also become a 
 teacher of rhetoric. It is probable, therefore, that Marcus ad- 
 
 1 See p. 8, n. 1. ' See pp. 44, 45. 
 
 3ROMAE IN MURO POST TEMPLUM DIVI AUGUSTI AD MINER- 
 VAM. See p. 13, n. 6. 
 
 * Martial, Ep. iv. 53: 
 
 Hunc, quern saepe vides intra penetralia nostrae 
 Pallados et templi limina, Cosme, novi. 
 
 s Ibid. jdi. 3 : 
 
 lure tuo veneranda novi pete limina templi, 
 Reddita Pierio sunt ubi tecta chore. 
 
 6 See p. 14, n. 2. 
 
contents: books and documents 35 
 
 dressed the following words to his instructor about the orations 
 of Cato while he was still professing an ardent interest in the study 
 of oratory: "'Here,' you say to your slave, 'go as quickly as you 
 can and fetch me those speeches from the library of Apollo.' 
 In vain do you send; for these books indeed have come into my 
 hands. Therefore the Tiberianus Bibliothecarius must be sought." 
 
 In the next extract Aulius Gellius 1 mentions a book whose 
 authorship is given: "While I and Apollinaris Sulpicius and 
 certain of our intimate friends were sitting in the library of the 
 Domus Tiberiana, it chanced that a book was brought to us on 
 which was inscribed the name of M. Cato Nepos. Then the 
 inquiry arose, 'Who, pray, is M. Cato Nepos?'" 
 
 Vopiscus* refers both to this library and to that in the Forum of 
 Trajan as being desirable for the study of imperial documents and 
 letters, and volumes of a heterogeneous kind. He writes to a 
 friend: "Now that I may in no way disregard thy very dear affec- 
 tion for me, I have used especially the books of the Ulpian library, 
 in my time in the Baths of Diocletian, and likewise those in the 
 Domus Tiberiana." 
 
 At this time Vopiscus was collecting information on the personal 
 phases of Probus' career and found these two libraries the best 
 adapted for such research, though he" implies that other libraries 
 may have offered somewhat similar, but less valuable, data. 
 
 This library in the home of Tiberius is seen, then, to have con- 
 tained works of oratorical, historical, and political nature, at 
 least. As it was located in one of the imperial residences, it would 
 seem well suited for a public library where archives of state papers 
 and private documents were accessible. 3 The three allusions that 
 have been noted demonstrate that it was open to consultation by 
 the citizens of Rome. In special cases, it appears that permits to 
 refer to official records were granted to individuals. 4 
 
 1 See p. 14, n. 3. ' See p. 14, n. 4. 
 
 3 Woefflin (Siizungsber. Akad. Miinchen, 1891, p. 497) identified the library 
 of the Domus Tiberiana with the scrinia praefecturae urbanae mentioned in 
 Hist. Aug. Aurel. 9. 1. Cf. p. 38, n. 2. 
 
 * Referring to the Ulpian Library, Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of 
 Ancient Rome, p. 316, says: "A special license from the prefect of Rome was 
 required to inspect these records of the history of the world; and when 
 Vopiscus himself was asked to write the life of Aurelianus on the basis of 
 official documents, he had to apply to Junius Tiberianus, prefect 291 A.D., 
 for a permit to consult them." 
 
36 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 6. Library in the Templum Pads 
 
 Works of a critical, grammatical, and philological range were 
 among the volumes in the library of the Temple of Peace, according 
 to two passages occurring in the writings of Gellius and reproduced 
 below. As some commentator, however, has suggested, such cita- 
 tions do not justify the conclusion that books of this kind neces- 
 sarily predominated. 
 
 In connection with some linguistic discussion, Gellius records 1 
 how "then that friend of ours .... said, 'the epistles of Sinnius 
 Capito, a most learned man, have been filed in a book, I think, in 
 the temple of Peace.'" 
 
 Again, he says: 2 "Then .... we eagerly sought the Commen- 
 tarium de Proloquiis of L. Aelius, a learned man, who was the 
 teacher of Varro, and, when we had found it in the library of 
 Peace, consulted it." 
 
 The subject-matter of the remaining books and documents 
 preserved in this edifice, which competent authorities believe was 
 the largest of all such structures in the city of Rome, is only to be 
 conjectured. 
 
 After referring to the Roman census taken in 74 a.d., the 
 surveys made throughout the city, the new maps drawn, and the 
 general improvements instituted, Lanciani says: 3 "All the docu- 
 ments connected with these geodetic and financial operations were 
 deposited in a fireproof building erected for the purpose on the 
 southwest side of the Forum of Peace between it and the Sacra 
 Via." This indicates that the building located here was one of the 
 important archives for all sorts of public records. It is this 
 structure that has wrongly been considered by some the home of 
 the library. 
 
 Josephus* states that the spoils of war brought back from 
 Jerusalem by Titus were stored in the library of the temple of 
 Peace. There are those who believe that this confiscated property 
 included Hebrew codices. 
 
 "The Romans were very desirous," says an Italian writer, 
 Tiroboschi, as quoted by Garbelli, 5 "of making a collection of this 
 
 1 See p. 17, n. 5. 'Seep. 17, n. 6. 
 
 3 See Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, p. 211. 
 
 4 See p. 17, n. 1. 
 
 * See Garbelli, Le Biblioteche in Italia all' Epoca Romano, pp. 153, 154. 
 
contents: books and documents 37 
 
 variety, and having found at Jerusalem not a few books in char- 
 acters and a language commonly unknown to them, it is easy to 
 think that they would have carried these along with them to Rome, 
 where no repository could better have preserved them than that 
 in which the other spoils and monuments of that conquest were 
 stored." Such a theory, in the opinion of Garbelli, was altogether 
 unwarranted. He objected to it on two grounds: (i) even though 
 we admit that these volumes were not scattered about or destroyed 
 amid the horrors of which the unhappy city was the scene, the 
 Romans, despisers of all other languages than the Greek or the 
 Latin, would not have kept them so scrupulously safe; (2) it is 
 probable that, upon finding these volumes, they would have 
 repudiated them as books of superstitious error, and, as such, 
 have destroyed them immediately. 
 
 Their preservation in this library may be seriously questioned. 
 
 7. Library of the Forum Traiani 
 
 The existence of none of the libraries at Rome is so fully 
 established as that of the Ulpian. Much evidence in Latin 
 literature is obtainable; and archaeologists have located its exact 
 site with reliable evidence as to its Greek and Latin sections. 
 Information regarding the contents of the library is provided 
 by Dio Cassius, Gellius, Vopiscus, and Apollinaris Sidonius. 
 
 Dio 1 casually remarks, while referring to Trajan, that "he 
 also gathered collections of books" after constructing portions of 
 the Forum. 
 
 It is mentioned by Gellius 2 that he and some friends were seated 
 in the library intent on some special topic when they chanced upon 
 Edicta veterum praetorum, which they read and examined with 
 interest. 
 
 Sidonius 3 expresses the wish that Nerva Trajanus might view 
 the enduring statue set up among the authors of each library and 
 placed with his own works. 
 
 Allusions are frequently made by Vopiscus to the historical 
 data accessible here. Some appropriate quotations will be given 
 setting forth specific volumes that were very essential to him in his 
 work as compiler and historian, some Greek, others Latin, many 
 being recorded on linen material. 
 
 1 See p. 18, n. 4. 2 See p. 18, n. 5. J See p. 18, n. 3. 
 
38 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 In a passage already considered, 1 Vopiscus spoke of having 
 "used especially books from the Ulpian library, in my time in the 
 Baths of Diocletian, and also those in the Domus Tiberiana." 
 
 In the first chapter of his life of Aurelianus,' he describes how 
 he arrived at the temple of the Sun, dedicated by the emperor, and 
 there began to converse with Julius Tiberianus, who begged him 
 to write a biography of his kinsman Aurelianus. Said Tiberianus: 
 "We have the Epkemeridae of this man written out, also the wars 
 arranged in historic manner, which I should like you to take in 
 hand and write out in connected style, adding whatever items 
 pertain to his life. All these things, with zealousness on your 
 part, you may discover accurately from the linen books, in which 
 he himself ordered his diaries recorded. I shall see to it, more- 
 over, that books axe also brought to you from the Ulpian library. 
 I should wish you to write, to the best of your ability, an account 
 of Aurelianus." 
 
 Vopiscus then adds: "I obeyed indeed his injunctions. I 
 took in hand the Greek books, and I had at my disposal all things 
 that were necessary: from which now I have brought together in 
 one small volume whatever was worthy of remembrance." 
 
 Further, 3 this insistent friend of Vopiscus is represented as 
 advising him, if he does not find certain other specified material 
 satisfactory, that "you may read the Greek books, you may also 
 ask for the linen books, which the Ulpian library will furnish you 
 whenever you wish." 
 
 1 See p. 14, n. 4. One is tempted to interpret the language aetate mea 
 thermis Diodetianis as meaning that a separate group of books was to be found 
 in the Baths of Diocletian. Various allusions by Vopiscus seem to indicate 
 that he used books which were actually in the library in Trajan's Forum. 
 
 'Vopiscus, Aurelianus 1: ". . . . Et tamen, si bene novi, ephemeridas 
 illius viri scrip tas habemus, etiam bella, charactere historico digesta, quae velim 
 accipias, et per ordinem scribas additis quae ad vitam pertinent. 
 
 "Quae omnia ex libris linteis, in quibus ipse cotidiana sua scribi prae- 
 ceperat, pro tua sedulitate condisces. Curabo autem ut tibi ex Ulpia biblio- 
 theca et libri lintei proferantur. Tu velim Aurelianum ita ut est, quatenus 
 potes, in litteras mittas. 
 
 "Parui ipse quidem praeceptis: accepi libros Graecos, et omnia mihi 
 necessaria in manum sumpsi: ex quibus et quae digna erant memoratu in 
 unum libellum contuli." 
 
 3 Vopiscus, Aurelianus 1 (end) : "Tu velim meum munus boni consulas: et 
 si hoc contentus non fueris, lectites Graecos, linteos etiam libros requiras, 
 quos Ulpia tibi bibliotheca cum volueris ministrabit." 
 
contents: books and documents 39 
 
 These lintei libri contained not only the daily chroniclings of 
 the emperor, but also files of important correspondence, 1 as the 
 same historian shows: "I found recently in the Ulpian library, 
 among the linen books, a letter of divine Valerianus, making 
 reference to Emperor Aurelianus, which, as was fitting, I have 
 inserted verbatim." 
 
 Still another kind of document was preserved among the 
 records here, for Vopiscus tells of an authentic paper, a decree of the 
 Senate, 2 duly signed by Emperor Tacitus, and cites it as verifica- 
 tion of quotations he had already used: "And that no one may 
 think I have rashly trusted to any of the Greek and Latin works, 
 the Ulpian library contains in the sixth armarium a book of ivory, 
 in which this decree of the Senate has been written down, to which 
 Tacitus affixed his own signature; for those decrees of the Senate 
 which concern the emperors were long wont to be copied in books 
 of ivory." 
 
 While it has been seen that the public libraries at Rome had 
 both Greek and Latin divisions, it is interesting to read in the 
 statements of Vopiscus that Greek volumes were consulted, along 
 with Latin volumes, in the Ulpian collection. 
 
 This library in Trajan's Forum seems to have excelled all 
 other libraries in equipment and efficiency, providing not only a 
 miscellaneous array of books, both Greek and Latin, but, par- 
 ticularly, extensive material to be used for reference: historical 
 data, official records, imperial documents, and the like. 
 
 8. Library of the Capitolium 
 
 No information is extant regarding the contents of the Capito- 
 line library, though the descriptive phrase of Orosius 3 "collected 
 through the zealous care of past generations," indicates that it 
 was a library of numerous well-selected volumes. 
 
 9. Library in the Templum Aesculapii 
 For this library no contents whatever can be cited. 
 
 1 Ibid. 8.1: " Inveni nuper in Ulpia bibliotheca inter linteos libros epistulam 
 divi Valeriani de Aureliano principe scriptam, quam ad verbum, ut decebat, 
 
 inserui: Valerianus Augustus Antonino Gallo consuli Haec epistula 
 
 indicat quantae fuerit severitatis, ut ilium Valerianus etiam timuisse se dicat." 
 
 3 See p. 29, n. 5. 3 Seep. 19, n. 2. 
 
40 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 io. Libraries m General 
 
 A few additional extracts from classical writers serve to empha- 
 size further the cultural aspect of the typical public library. 
 These allude not to individual libraries, as in the cases so far noted, 
 but to "the libraries," "the public libraries," "all the libraries," as 
 a group, which would embrace other collections of books than the 
 nine which have been considered. 
 
 Caesar and Brutus, as is mentioned by Tacitus, 1 wrote poetry 
 and placed their volumes of verse in the libraries. 
 
 According to Suetonius, 2 Tiberius ranked certain writings of 
 favorite authors among the productions of recognized worth in 
 the public libraries. 
 
 Caligula, says the same writer, 3 at one time threatened to 
 remove the works and busts of Virgil and Livy from all the libraries, 
 believing both authors undeserving of the honor accorded them. 
 
 Vopiscus 4 records the statement that Emperor Tacitus had the 
 works of his eminent ancestor, Cornelius Tacitus, copied ten times 
 each year at public expense in the citizens' (?) archives and 
 placed in all the libraries. 
 
 ii. Archives and Registers 
 
 Serving the purpose of formal libraries, archives and registers 5 
 provided valuable material that dealt with official documents of 
 the Empire. 
 
 'Tacitus, Dial, at: "Fecerant enim [Caesar et Brutus] et carmina et in 
 bibliothecas rettulerunt, non melius quam Cicero, sed felicius, quia illos fecisse 
 pauciores sciunt." 
 
 "Suetonius, Tiberius 70: "Fecit et Graeca -poemata, imitatus Eupho- 
 rionem et Arrianum et Parthenium: quibus poetis admodum delectatus, scripta 
 eorum et imagines publicis bibliothecis inter veteres et praecipuos auctores 
 dedicavit." 
 
 3 Suetonius, Caligula 34: "Cogitavit etiam de Homeri carmmibus abolen- 
 dis: 'cur enim sibi nonlicere,' dicens, 'quod Platoni licuisset, qui eum e civitate, 
 quam constituebat, eicerit?' Sed et Vergilii et Titi Livii scripta et imagines, 
 paullum abfuit quin ex omnibus bibliothecis amoverit: quorum alteram, ut 
 nullius ingenii minimaeque doctrinae; alteram, ut verbosum in historia negli- 
 gentemque carpebat." 
 
 4 Vopiscus, Tacitus 10 (middle): "Gornelium Taciturn, scriptorem his- 
 toriae Augustae (quod parentem suum eundem diceret), in omnibus biblio- 
 thecis collocari iussit; et, ne lectorum incuria deperiret, librum per annos 
 singulos decies scribi publicitus in evicis [perhaps civicis (Scaliger)] archiis iussit 
 et in bibliothecis poni." 
 
 5 See p. 14, n. 4; p. 20, n. 2; p. 40, n. 4. 
 
IV. MANAGEMENT: OFFICIALS AND DUTIES 
 
 We are indebted to inscriptions, both Greek and Latin, for 
 information concerning a seemingly well-organized system of 
 administration for public libraries — the officials employed, the 
 rank accorded them, the duties performed, and other details. 
 
 We are indebted to literature for definite conceptions of the 
 personality, the capability, and the social position of the various 
 librarians of whom record is made. 
 
 Library officials were organized into several specific ranks: 
 
 i. Inscription CIL, VI, 2132, 1 contains the following: Q. 
 Veturius Callistatus v(ir) e(gregius) .... procurator) rat(iotmm) 
 summ{arum) pHvatarum bibliothecarum Augusti n(ostri) et pro- 
 curator eius. Mommsen believed that this official was the manager 
 and administrator of the imperial finances available for library 
 purposes, though no other inscription of this kind has been found. 
 Hirschf eld suggested that this title probably designated an officer, 
 subordinate to the head procurator, who needed the assistance of a 
 library financier. It is impossible to determine the exact nature 
 of the title and its rank among the various offices. 
 
 2. However this is to be interpreted, there is trustworthy 
 evidence that there was a chief director of libraries: procurator 
 bibliothecarum. 
 
 A Greek inscription (CIG, 5900) 2 refers to L. Julius Vestinus 
 as procurator of libraries at Rome, curator of the museum and 
 high priest at Alexandria, imperial secretary to Emperor Hadrian, 
 and philologist. 
 
 *CIL, VI, 2132: 
 
 CAMPIAE SEVERINAE 
 V V MAX SANCTISSIMAE 
 CUIUS SINCERAM PUDICITIAM 
 SENATUS COMPROBATAM AETERNA 
 LAUDE PUBLICE CUMULAVIT_ 
 Q VETURIUS CALLISTATUS V E 
 SUFFRAGIO EIUS FACTUS PROC RAT 
 SUMM PRIVATARUM BIBLIOTHECARUM 
 AUGUSTI N ET PROCURATOR EIUS 
 [Set up in third century of the Empire.] 
 'CIG, 5goo=Kaibel, Inscr. 1085. 
 
 41 
 
42 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 The following inscription, which is anonymous, was thought 
 by Borghesi also to describe L. Julius Vestinus {CIL, III, 43 1): 1 
 .... {procurator bibUothecar{um) Graec(arum) et Latm{arum) 
 ab epist{ulis) Graeciis). A Greek inscription found in Syria 
 demonstrated, as Mommsen had claimed, that Vestinus was not 
 the procurator in question. 
 
 There are extant three inscriptions, in addition, which indicate 
 the position of procurator of libraries: 
 
 Ti{berius) Claud{ms) Aug{usti) l{ibertus) Scirtus procurator) 
 bybl{iothecarum) . . . ? 
 
 L{ucio) Baebio .... Aurelio Iuncino procurator) byblio- 
 thec{arum) ad sest. LX? 
 
 T(ito) Aelio T(iti) f(ilio) Largo eq(uiti) R(omano) proc(.urator[i[) 
 Aug{usti) bibliothecarum iuris publici [et] privati \peritissimo]. 4 
 
 Mommsen inserted et between publici and privati, and added 
 peritissimo — an emendation materially altering the earlier render- 
 
 Z CIL, 111,431: 
 
 PROC 
 CAESARIS TRANI HADRIANI 
 ADDIOECESIN ALEXANDR 
 [P]ROC BIBLIOTHECAR GRAEC ET 
 LATIN AB EPIST GRAEC PROC LYC 
 PAMP GALAT PAPH PISID PONT 
 PROC HEREDIT ET PROC PROV[IN] 
 CIAE ASIAE PROC SYRIAE 
 
 HERMES AUG LIB ADIUT 
 
 'CIL, X, 1739: 
 
 TI CLAUD AUG L 
 
 SCIRTI PROC BYBL 
 
 VETTIA TYCHE 
 
 SCIRTI 
 
 3 CIL, X, 7580: 
 
 L BAeBIO L F gAL AURELIO 
 
 IUNCINO 
 
 AD SEST LX 
 *CIL, XIV, 2916: 
 
 PROC BybLiOTHEC 
 
 T AELIO T F 
 LARGO 
 EQ R PROC AUG 
 BYBLIOTHECARUm 
 IURIS PUBLICI 
 PRIVATI / / / 
 ["Iuris publici et privati peritissimo." — Mommsen.] 
 
management: officials and duties 43 
 
 ing. Before this proposal had been made, Henzen and Hirschfeld 
 had considered the inscription spurious. 
 
 The procuratorship of libraries, according to the second inscrip- 
 tion, paid at this time a salary of 60,000 sesterces (about $3,000). 
 This kind of procuratorship is thought to have provided less 
 income than any other. 
 
 3. Another title of a library executive is shown in a single 
 inscription, 1 viz., procurator (Augusti) a bibliothecis. No distinc- 
 tion can be made between the terms procurator bibUothecarum and 
 procurator a bibliothecis. 
 
 4. In only one inscription, 2 also, appears the designation 
 magister a bibliotheca, followed by the words, Latina ApolUnis 
 item scriba ab epistulis Latinis. It was the office of a high-ranking 
 librarian. 
 
 5. Next to such official, if commonly employed, or the pro- 
 curator, was the administrator known as a bibliotheca. This 
 title was used alone or was accompanied by the name of a 
 special library. From a large number of available illustrations, 
 the following will suffice: a bibliotheca: CIL, VI, 4233,3 5190, 4 
 
 1 Revue archeologique, 1884, 1, 285 : 
 
 ANNIO POSTUMO PROC AUG A BYBLIOTHE 
 CIS PROC VICESIMAE et maglSTRO PROC 
 AUG ad annona OSTIS PROC aUG PAN 
 NONIAE InFERIORIS 
 
 HORATIUS MARCIANUS AMICO INDULgen 
 tissimo OB BEneficia quAE IN SE 
 CONTULIT P DEDICAVTTQUE 
 
 1 Mommsen 6857 (=Will. 2646): 
 
 TI CLAUDIUS ALCIBIADES 
 
 MAG A BIBLIOTHECA LATINA 
 
 APOLLINIS 
 
 ITEM SCRIBA AB EPISTULIS LATINIS 
 
 'CIL, VI, 4233: 
 
 < CIL, VI, 5190: 
 
 APOLLOnius 
 CAES 
 a BYBLiotheca 
 
 IULIA QUARTA 
 ET FILIA 
 IULIA PRIMA 
 FESTI A BIBLIOTEC 
 
44 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 5347/ 87436;* de bibHotheca occurs as a substitute in VI, 44325 s 
 while a bibUotheca is associated with a definite library in: CIL, 
 VI, 4433, 4 a bibUotheca Graeca Porticus Octaviae; CIL, VI, 5884,* 
 a bibUotheca Latina Apollinis; CIL, VI, 5192, 6 a bibUotheca Porti- 
 cus Octaviae. It is of interest to note that in the Porticus Octaviae 
 and in the Templum Apollinis, a librarian was in charge of each 
 section; but, as seen in the last instance, a librarian was not 
 always definitely characterized in this way. 
 
 6. The position ranking after that of a bibUotheca, as far as 
 the record of inscriptions is concerned, is one of ordinary grade, 
 
 ' CIL, VI, 5347: 
 
 ' CIL, VI, 8743 b: 
 
 s CJ£, VI, 4432: 
 
 * CIL, VI, 4433 = 
 
 s CIL, VI, 5884: 
 
 I A BYBLIO 
 cONIUGI SANCTissimae 
 bpnE MERITAE 
 
 ALEXIO 
 
 CAESARIS 
 
 AUG AB 
 
 BYBLIOTHEC 
 
 VALERIA HILARA 
 MATER 
 HYMNI DE 
 BIBLIOTHECE 
 
 LARYX 
 
 PORTICU OCTAV 
 
 byPLIOTHE GRAEC 
 
 SULPICIAE 
 
 THALLUSAE 
 
 ANTIOCHUS TI CLAUDI 
 
 CAESARIS A BYBLIOTHECA 
 
 LATINA APOLLINIS 
 
 CONIUGI SUAE 
 
 BENE MERITAE 
 
 CIL, VI, 5192: 
 
 D M S 
 
 SOTERICHI PUBLICI 
 
 VESTRICIANI A 
 
 BUBLIOTHECE PORTICUS 
 
 OCTAVIAE 
 
 STATELIA HELPIS 
 
 CONIUGI B M F V A XX VIII 
 
management: officials and duties 45 
 
 described as vilicus a bibliotheca. In this division of subordinates 
 are found the public slaves — servi publici. The frequent mention of 
 these in connection with the Octavian library has led to the 
 suggestion that here was located a "city library." Of this type 
 the following are cited: CIL, XIV, 196, 1 vilico a bibliotheca; CIL, 
 VI, 4431," a bybliotheca Latina Porticus Octaviae vilicus; 443s, 3 
 viiic(us) a bibliotheca Octaviae Latin(ae); 8744, 4 servi vilici a 
 bibliotheca. 
 
 Two unique inscriptions assign certain specific duties to 
 freedmen employees. Only one inscription of each kind is extant. 
 
 7. The first, CIL, VI, 8679,' refers to a subordinate as vilic(us) 
 thermarum bibliothec(.arum) Graec(arum). Certain critics proposed 
 
 'CIL, XIV, 196: 
 
 ALCIM 
 
 CAESARIS VILICO 
 
 A BYBLIOTHECA 
 
 MARCIA FECIT 
 
 C7£,VI,443i: 
 
 > CIL, VI, 4435: 
 
 DECURIO 
 
 HYMNUS 
 
 AURELIANUS 
 
 A BYBLIOTHECE 
 
 LATINA PORTICUS 
 
 OCTAVIAE 
 
 VILICUS 
 
 MONTANUS 
 IULIANUS VILIC 
 A BYBLIOTHECA 
 OCTAVIAE LATIN 
 
 *CIL, VI, 8744: 
 
 pERMISSO 
 decurionUM ET POPULI EIUSDEM COLLEGI 
 
 S ARGAEUS LIB EIUS CUR SUA 
 
 et/eutycHETIS CAES N SERVI VILICI 
 
 a byblioTHECA IMPENSA SUA FECIT DEDICA 
 
 vitque V K OCT VERO III ET AMBIBULO COS 
 
 s CIL, VI, 8679: 
 
 D M 
 
 ONESIMUS CAES 
 
 VILIC THERMAR 
 
 BYBLIOTHEC GRAEC 
 
 CRESCENTI ALU 
 
 MNO SUO VTX 
 
 AN VIII MES I 
 
 B M FECIT 
 
46 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 hermarum as a reading for thermarum. Hirschfeld, recalling the 
 custom of adorning libraries with busts and statues, suggested 
 that the slave mentioned in the inscription, Onesimus, was merely 
 an employee of the library intrusted with the duty of keeping the 
 hermae in neat and polished condition. It soon developed, how- 
 ever, that the inscription was still fairly well preserved (having 
 been discovered in 1785 in a corner of the monastery of S. Paolo), 
 and, on being examined more carefully, revealed an initial letter T. 
 The only alternative, therefore, was the view that libraries existed 
 occasionally in the public thermae. Consistent with this view is 
 the phrase used by Vopiscus when casually observing that books 
 were to be found in his time in the Baths of Diocletian, praecipue 
 libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, aetate mea thermis Diocletianis. 1 
 
 8. The second inscription is of unusual interest (CIL, VI, 8907),* 
 alluding to Ti(berms) Claudius Augus(ti) l(ibertus) Hymenaeus 
 medicus a bibliothecis. The official title medicus a bibliothecis 
 indicates that Hymenaeus served in the capacity of special physi- 
 cian to the library attaches, having oversight of the health, per- 
 haps, of all library employees of the emperor. The fact that an 
 inscription commemorates him is evidence that this freedman 
 physician of Augustus was efficient in his work. 
 
 9. Inscriptions appear so frequently on monuments with the 
 designation librarius that it is easy to conclude that the term 
 represents the position of a well-educated official in the public 
 library performing various minor tasks, both clerical and literary. 
 The word librarius has the meanings "copyist" or "transcriber"; 
 "bookseller" (who had books copied); "slave librarian." Ser- 
 (vus) librar(ius) occurs in CIL, VI, 9520.' Doctus librarius, 
 
 1 See p. 14, n. 4. 
 
 * CIL, VI, 8907: DIS MANIBUS 
 
 CLAUDIAE EUTYCHIAE 
 
 CONIUGI SANCTISSIM 
 
 BENE MERENTI ET Q 
 
 DOMITIO HELICI TI CLAUDIUS 
 
 AUG L HYMENAEUS MEDICUS 
 
 A BYBLIOTHECIS ET DOMITIA PANNYCHES 
 
 » CIL, VI, 9520: 
 
 DIS MANIBUS 
 NICONI L IV 
 LI VESTINI 
 SER LIBRAR 
 MATER FEC 
 F CARISSIMO 
 
management: officials and duties 47 
 
 benignus librarius, and literatus Graecis et Latinis libraries are 
 variations of librarius in the inscriptions. 
 
 A woman is occasionally seen to have performed this sort of 
 duty. According to CIL, VI, 9525, 1 P. Rubrius Optatus dedicated 
 a monument to his wife — Pyrrke Rubriae Helviae Hbrariae. 
 
 In CIL, VI, 6314, 2 the expression librarius a manu doubtless 
 refers to a secretary on the library staff. The dignified sentiment 
 contained in the inscribed verses implies worth and ability on the 
 part of the deceased. 
 
 10. It is easily assumed that the public library of Rome required 
 not only the direction and oversight of high officials with the regular 
 corps of managers and their immediate subordinates, but also the 
 assistance of numerous secretaries, copyists, scribes, and clerks 
 in transacting the many incidental obligations demanded of it. 
 The necessity of having such clerical employees is indicated in 
 Suetonius' statement concerning Domitian:' "He neglected cul- 
 tural activities at the beginning of his administration, although 
 he saw to it that the libraries destroyed by fire were restored at 
 very great expense, duplicates of volumes being sought in all 
 directions and persons being sent to Alexandria to make copies and 
 emendations." 
 
 It is pertinent to note the efficiency of this type of library 
 assistant. A remarkably interesting instance of the enterprise 
 and capability of the Roman scribe, as sometimes displayed, is 
 found in the following description of a stenographic expert: 
 
 HOC CARMEN, HAEC ARA, HIC CINIS 
 
 PUERI SEPULCRUM XANTIA[E] ES[T] 
 
 QUI MORTE ACERBA RAPTUS EST 
 
 * CIL, VI, 9525: 
 
 PYRRHE RUBRIAE 
 HELVIAE LIBRARIAE 
 P RUBRIUS OPTATUS 
 CONTUBERNALI SUAE 
 
 2 CIL, VI, 6314: 
 
 NOTHI LIBRARI A MANU 
 NON OPTATA TIBI CONIUNX MONIMENTA LOCAVIT 
 
 ULTIMA IN AETERNIS SEDIBUS UT MANEANT 
 SPE FRUSTRA GAVISA NOTHI QUEM PRIMA FERENTEM 
 
 AETATIS PLUTON INVIDUS ERIPUIT 
 HUNC ETIAM FLEVIT QUAEQUALIS TURBA ET HONOREM 
 
 SUPREMUM DIGNE FUNERIS INPOSUIT 
 (Cf. 9523 and 9524 6.) 
 
 3 See p. 8, n. 1. 
 
48 PUBLIC LIBRARIES EST ANCIENT ROME 
 
 IAM DOCTUS IN COMPENDIA 
 
 TOT LITERARUM ET NOMINUM 
 
 NOTARE CURRENTI STILO 
 
 QUOD LINGUA CURRENS DICERET 
 
 IAM NEMO SUPERAT LEGENS 
 
 IAM VOCE ERLLI COEPERAT ■ 
 
 AD [OM]NE DICTATUM VOLANS 
 
 AUREM VOCARI AT PROXIMAM r 
 
 A woman is mentioned as a shorthand writer in Dessau, 7760. 
 A Greek stenographer is named in 7759; an amanuensis is described 
 in 7758 as notarum litteris erudito, and another in 7757, notario; 
 while a clerk of the same sort is termed servus notarms et actuarius. 
 In 7629 scrinarms is keeper of scrinaria. 
 
 The management of libraries having been considered up to 
 this point on the basis of inscriptional evidence, let us now con- 
 sider the evidence from Roman literature and examine the titles 
 applied to library officials, the type of individual described, the 
 training and culture of mind demanded, and consequent social 
 prestige. 
 
 The poetical designation used by Ovid, 2 custos praepositus, 
 denotes the chief official in a special library, equivalent to a 
 bibliotheca — in this instance, the library of Apollo. 
 
 Bibliothecarms is the title similarly applied to the head librarian 
 in the Domus Tiberiana, as shown in the letter of Aurelius to 
 Fronto.s 
 
 In associating Hyginus with the Palatine Library, praefuit is 
 the verb employed by Suetonius. 4 
 
 An epigram of Martial 5 connects Sextus officially with the same 
 library in these words: "O Sextus, thou eloquent devotee of 
 Palatine Minerva, who possessest intelligence approaching that 
 of a god " He is termed Palatinae cultor facunde Minervae. 
 
 In the selection of Varro to be organizer of public libraries at 
 Rome, Caesar set .a very high standard for later administrators. 
 
 " Dessau, Inscriptions Latinos Selectae, XVI, 7756. ' See p. 14, n. 2. 
 
 * See p. 5, n. 2, lines 67, 68. 4 See p. so, n. 1. 
 
 s Martial, Ep. v. 5: 
 
 Sexte, Palatinae cultor facunde Minervae, 
 
 Ingenio frueris qui propiore dei — 
 Nam tibi nascentes domim cognoscere curas 
 
 Et secreta ducis pectora nosse licet. 
 
management: officials and duties 49 
 
 Varro had been thoroughly educated, even receiving instruction in 
 philosophy at Athens. He won a corona navalis for valorous 
 service under Pompey, became a tribune, served as aedile with 
 Murena, was a partisan in the triumvirate dissensions and other 
 factional episodes; and yet, notwithstanding political opposition 
 to the future dictator, was appointed director of the proposed 
 imperial libraries. 1 At the age of seventy, he lost his valuable 
 estate through proscription under Antony and found himself 
 altogether unequal to the task of carrying forward his library plans. 
 Distinguished for unprecedented erudition and voluminous 
 authorship, he has been characterized by Cicero, 2 diligentissimus 
 investigator antiquitatis, and by Quintilian, 3 vir Romanorum erudi- 
 tissimus. 
 
 Asinius Polho, to whom the uncompleted task of Varro was 
 assigned, and by whom the first library was instituted, was a 
 literary man prominent in the arts of war and peace. Horace 4 
 exclaims, "O chief est stay of the accused in their troubles and of 
 the Senate chambers in its deliberations, my Polho, upon whom the 
 laurel of Dalmatian triumph has bestowed eternal honor!" In 
 44 B.C. he had been governor of Farther Spain, in 40 b.c. consul, 
 and in 39 B.C. leader against the Dalmatians. As noted orator 
 and learned historian, he became a patron of Virgil and Horace. 
 Such was the man selected by Augustus to found libraries at Rome. 
 
 Augustus made provisions for the library in the temple of 
 Apollo, but it appears that Pompeius Macer was intrusted with the 
 duty of setting it in order, along with other libraries. After men- 
 tioning the literary compositions of Julius Caesar, Suetonius' 
 adds: "Augustus forbade that all these works be made public, 
 in a very short and unpretentious letter which he sent to Pompeius 
 Macer, to whom he had delegated the work of setting the libraries 
 in order." One of the libraries was undoubtedly the Palatine. It 
 
 1 See. p. i, n. 1. 2 Cicero, Brutus 60. 3 Quintilian, x. 1. 95. 
 
 4 Horace, Odes ii. 1. 13-16: 
 
 Insigne maestis praesidium reis 
 Et consulenti, Pollio, curiae, 
 Cui laurus aeternos honores 
 Dalmatico peperit triumpho. 
 
 s Suetonius, Caesar 56: "Quos omnes libellos vetuit Augustus publican 
 in epistula, quam brevem admodum ac simplicem ad Pompeium Macrum, cui 
 ordinandas bibliothecas delegaverat, misit." 
 
50 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 is barely possible, though not probable, that the two divisions of 
 this library were viewed as separate libraries. It is more natural 
 to suppose that several libraries now unknown were included in 
 the task referred to. Furthermore, it is definitely stated by 
 Suetonius 1 that Hyginus had charge of the library of Apollo. 
 
 "C. Julius Hyginus," he records, "freedman of Augustus, a 
 Spaniard by birth (some think he was an Alexandrian and upon 
 the capture of Alexandria was brought by Caesar to Rome as a 
 
 boy), zealously heard and imitated Cornelius Alexander He 
 
 was set in charge of the Palatine library: none the less on this 
 account he instructed many; and he was a very intimate friend of 
 Ovid, the poet, and of C. Licinius, ex-consul, the historian who 
 reports that he died in absolute poverty and was generously 
 supported as long as he lived by the historian himself." 
 
 An additional excerpt from the writings of Suetonius 2 con- 
 tains the information that Augustus assigned to Caius Melissus the 
 duty of arranging libraries in the Porticus Octaviae, and that he 
 undertook the work. This statement associates Melissus with a 
 definite library, made up of Greek and Latin sections. Some of 
 the inscriptions already considered show that each section had 
 its own librarian. A native of Spoletum and free born, he was 
 exposed by reason of parental discord. Owing to the painstaking 
 
 1 Suetonius, De gram. 20: "C. Julius Hyginus, Augusti libertus, natione 
 Hispanus (nonnulli Alexandrinum putant et a Caesare puerum Romam adduc- 
 tum, Alexandria capta) studiose et audivit et imitatus est Comelium Alex- 
 
 andrum PraefuitPalatinaebibliothecae: nee eo secius plurimos docuit; 
 
 fuitque familiarissimus Ovidio poetae et C. Licinio consulari, historico qui eum 
 admodum pauperem decessisse tradit, et liberalitate sua, quoad vixerit, sus- 
 tentatum. Huius libertus fuit Julius Modestus, in studiis atque doctrina 
 vestigi apatroni secutus." 
 
 ' Ibid. 21: "C. Melissus, Spoleti natus ingenuus, sed ob discordiam paren- 
 tum expositus, cura et industria educatoris sui altiora studia percepit: ac 
 Maecenati pro grammatico muneri datus est. Cui cum se gratum et ac- 
 ceptum in modum amici videret, quamquam asserente matre, pennansit 
 tamen in statu servitutis praesentemque condicionem verae origini ante- 
 posuit. Quare cito manumissus, Augusto etiam insinuatus est: quo delegante, 
 curam ordinandarum bibliothecarum in Octaviae Porticu suscepit. Atque, 
 ut ipse tradit, sexagesimum aetatis annum agens, libellos Ineptiarum, qui nunc 
 Iocorurn inscribuntur, componere instituit absolvitque centum et quin- 
 quaginta, quibus et alios diversos postea addidit. Fecit et novum genus Toga- 
 tarum inscripsitque Trabeatas." 
 
management: officials and duties 51 
 
 care of his foster father, he learned to appreciate the higher 
 studies. He was presented to Maecenas as a grammarian. Find- 
 ing himself received on terms of friendship, he preferred to remain 
 with his patron rather than to assert his freedom when his 
 mother laid claim to him. But being soon after set free, he was 
 brought into close relationship with Augustus and promoted to the 
 librarianship. "While in his sixtieth year," Suetonius says, "he 
 began to compose little volumes of Ineptiae which are now termed 
 loci: and he completed one hundred and fifty, to which he later 
 added other [volumes] of different kinds. He originated a new 
 type of Togata and gave it the title of Trabeata." 
 
 While altogether very little information is available regarding 
 the personnel of library administration, all data that survive 
 warrant the conclusion that intellectuality, literary training, and 
 professional efficiency were characteristics demanded of the several 
 grades of administrators and attaches in the public libraries. 
 
 Of the several officials known by name, Varro and Pollio were 
 unsurpassed as men of literary activities; Melissus and Hyginus, 
 freedmen of Maecenas and Augustus respectively, showed 
 decided literary tendencies; Macer, the friend of Augustus, and 
 Sextus, famed for his broad intelligence, were interested patrons 
 of literature. 
 
 In the inscriptions cited, it has been seen that Vestinus was 
 imperial secretary, philologist, curator of the Alexandrian Museum, 
 as well as procurator of libraries at Rome; that Largus as pro- 
 curator of Augustus was thoroughly versed in public and private 
 law; that librarians were proficient in the literature both of the 
 Romans and of the Greeks; and that clerical assistants were well 
 qualified for their manifold duties. 
 
V. OBJECT: INCENTIVES AND ADVANTAGES 
 
 In analyzing the motives that actuated the Romans in estab- 
 lishing and maintaining public libraries, one wonders, not that 
 libraries were conducted so successfully nineteen centuries ago, 
 but rather that they were not inaugurated at an earlier period 
 in the history of the city. 
 
 A. Incentives 
 
 It is not difficult to recognize some of the chief incentives that 
 led the emperors and citizens of ancient Rome to seek a broader 
 intellectual activity and literary culture than had prevailed under 
 the Republic. 
 
 Upon the overthrow of the first triumvirate, the prospect of 
 a peaceful adjustment of affairs of state and the aggressive demands 
 of Julius Caesar were direct encouragement to the creation of new 
 civic ideals. Prominent among these was a growing appreciation 
 of literary and aesthetic interests. Such interests, held in abey- 
 ance up to this time by peculiar political conditions, were begin- 
 ning to expand. 
 
 Old-time prejudices against Hellenic culture and learning 
 had now disappeared and the potent influences of Greece, reinforced 
 by her contact with Egypt and other older civilizations, were 
 everywhere visible, and were becoming a vital factor in the intel- 
 lectual rejuvenation of the Romans. 1 
 
 Especially strong must have been those currents of inspiration 
 which came to Rome from the two great literary centers, Alex- 
 andria and Pergamum, with their remarkable libraries and dis- 
 tinguished scholars. 2 When the library at Alexandria was burned 
 in 47 B.C., seven hundred thousand volumes are said to have been 
 
 1 Cicero, Pro Archia, § 5: "Erat Italia turn plena Graecarum artium ac 
 disciplinarum, studiaque haec et in Latio vehementius turn colebantur quam 
 nunc isdem in oppidis, et hie Romae propter tranquillitatem rei publicae non 
 neglegebantur." 
 
 ' See pp. 21, 22, 65. 
 
 52 
 
object: incentives and advantages S3 
 
 contained in it. 1 When the library at Pergamum came into the 
 hands of the Romans and Antony presented it to Cleopatra, two 
 hundred thousand volumes formed its contents. 2 
 
 Aside from these foreign influences, the Romans, after so long 
 devotion to the building up of a powerful national life and so many 
 demands of a practical nature, were now in position to turn their 
 attention, in a way not hitherto possible, toward the attainment 
 of a higher intellectual standard. Caesar, as has been shown, con- 
 ceived the idea of founding libraries at Rome, to serve such a need 
 as this. The real nucleus of so worthy an idea was already in 
 existence at Rome — the historical and political archives. 
 
 Much of the miscellaneous memoranda and records of the 
 archives, which were regularly found in cities of ancient times, 
 formed the basis of historical research. On just such sources did 
 most ancient historians rely for authentic information. Such 
 archives, one must suppose, were diligently consulted by Herodo- 
 tus, Thucydides, Pausanias, Strabo, Plutarch, Arrian, Dio Cassius, 
 Livy, the Elder Pliny, Suetonius, Nepos, and many others. By 
 virtue of the importance attaching to Rome as the mistress of the 
 world, the governmental archives here established constituted 
 the true foundation upon which were developed those greater 
 agencies for the instruction of the people — the public libraries. 
 
 These were the direct and potent incentives for the establish- 
 ment of public libraries. 
 
 B. Advantages 
 
 As for advantages afforded, sufficient quotations from classi- 
 cal literature, conjectures by scholars, and evidence in archae- 
 ological finds have been presented to justify the conclusion that 
 the reasons for maintaining libraries in ancient Rome were three- 
 fold: (i) the preservation of books and records; (2) the instruction 
 of the public; (3) cultural influences. 
 
 To see that each of these motives was dominant in the minds 
 of the Romans, it is only necessary to refer to brief, and often 
 
 1 Gellius, N.A. vii. 17. 3: "Ingens postea numerus librorum in Aegypto ab 
 Ptolemaeis regibus vel conquisitus vel confectus est ad milia ferme volurninurn 
 septingenta; sed ea omnia bello priore Alexandrino, dum diripitur ea civitas, 
 non sponte neque opera consulta, sed a militibus forte auxiliariis incensa 
 sunt." 
 
 2 See p. 22, n. 3. 
 
54 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 casual, comments made by Latin writers. It is desirable that 
 we note these in their original form, especially since many of such 
 passages have been translated in our previous inquiry into other 
 phases of the public library. 
 
 I. THE PRESERVATION OF BOOKS AND RECORDS 
 
 Inquiry has been directed toward the contents of each public 
 library at Rome, in so far as evidence is available. If, now, on 
 the other hand, the contents of the various libraries are viewed 
 as a group of miscellaneous volumes, a ready classification of 
 subject-matter accessible to the citizens of Rome can be made. 
 This will show in summarized form the great variety of literature 
 and learning that was most carefully preserved. 
 
 i. Miscellaneous Collections: 
 
 a) Greek and Latin Divisions in — b) Large Deposits of Books in- 
 Atrium Libertatis 1 Atrium Libertatiss 
 
 Templum Apollinis 2 Templum Apollinis 6 
 
 Porticus Octaviae 3 Porticus Octaviae 7 
 
 Forum Traiani« Forum Traiani 8 
 
 c) Literature and Science — 
 
 . . . et tangere vitet 
 Scripta Palatinus quaecumque recepit Apollo. 
 
 — Horace, Ep. i. 3, 16, 17. 
 Quaeque viri docto veteres cepere novique 
 Pectore lecturis inspicienda patent. 
 
 — Ovid, Tris. iii. 1. 63, 64. 
 Lectites Graecos, linteos etiam libros requiras, quos Ulpia 
 tibi bibliotheca cum volueris ministrabit. — Vopiscus, Aurel. 
 i (end). 
 
 Curabo autem ut tibi ex Ulpia bibliotheca et libri lintei 
 prof erantur .... accepi libros Graecos, et omnia mihi neces- 
 saria in manum sumpsi. — Ibid. 1. 
 2. Special Varieties: 
 a) Sibylline Books — 
 
 Libros Sibyllinos condidit duobus forulis auratis sub 
 Palatini Apollinis basi. — Suetonius, Aug. 31. 
 
 1 See p. 4, n. 6. s See p. 31. 
 
 2 See p. 6, n. 3. 6 See p. 32. 
 s See pp. 44, 45. 'Seep. 33. 
 
 * See pp. 18, 38, 39. 8 See p. 14, n. 4; p. 18, n. 4. 
 
object: incentives and advantages 55 
 
 .... ubi, ni multiplex iuvisset auxilium, etiam Cumana 
 carmina consumpserat magnitudo flammarum. — Ammianus 
 Marcellinus, xxiii. 3.3. 
 b) Unusual Volumes — 
 
 .... id nos, aliquot veteribus libris inspectis, explora- 
 vimus. — Gellius, Noct. Att. ix. 14. 1. Corruptos autem quosdam 
 libros repperi. — Ibid. ix. 14. 2. 
 
 3. Poetry: 
 
 Fecit et Graeca poemata, imitatus Euphorionem et Arrianum 
 et Parthenium: quibus poetis admodum delectatus, scripta 
 eorum et imagines publicis bibliothecis inter veteres et praecipuos 
 auctores dedicavit. — Suetonius, Tiber. 70. 
 
 Sit locus et nostris aliqua tibi parte libellis 
 
 Qua Pedo, qua Marsus, quaque Catullus erit. 
 Ad Capitolini caelestia carmina belli 
 
 Grande cothumati pone Maronis opus. — Martial, 
 Ep. v. 5. 
 
 4. Law: 
 
 . . . . ius civile ad certum modum redigere, atque ex immensa 
 diffusaque legum copia optima quaeque et necessaria in paucissi- 
 mos conferre libros. — Suetonius, Caes. 44. 
 
 Sportula deinde forum iurisque peritus Apollo. — Juvenal, 
 Sat. i. 128. 
 
 5. History: 
 
 Sed et Vergilii et Titi Livii scripta et imagines, paullum abfuit 
 quin ex omnibus bibliothecis amoverit. — Suetonius, Calig. 34. 
 
 Cornelium Taciturn, scriptorem historiae Augustae (quod 
 parentem suum eundem diceret), in omnibus bibliothecis collocari 
 iussit. — Vopiscus, Tacit. 10 (middle). 
 
 6. Biography: 
 
 Haec ego et a gravibus viris comperi et in Ulpiae bibliothecae 
 
 libris relegi et pro maiestate Apollonii magis credidi Ille 
 
 mortuis reddidit vitam, ille multa ultra homines et fecit et dixit: 
 quae qui velit nosse, Graecos legat libros, qui de eius vita con- 
 scripti sunt. — Vopiscus, Aurel. 24 (end). 
 
 Multa huius feruntur, sed longum est ea in litteras mittere; 
 quod si quis omnia de hoc viro cupit scire, legat Suetonium Opta- 
 tianum, qui eius vitam adfatim scripsit. — Vopiscus, Tacit, n (end). 
 
 7. Oratory: 
 
 Huius oratio fertur ad senatum missa tantum habuisse 
 eloquentiae ut illi statua, non quasi Caesari, sed quasi rhetori 
 
56 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 decerneretur, ponenda in bibliotheca Ulpia — Vopiscus, 
 
 Numerian n. 3. 
 
 Legi Catonis orationem de bonis Dulciae, et aliam qua tribuno 
 diem dixit. "Io," inquis puero tuo; "vade quantum potes, de 
 Apollinis bibliotheca has mihi orationes adporta." — Aurelius, 
 Ad Frontonem iv. 5. 
 
 8. Grammar: 
 
 Quod autem supra scriptum est in Q. Claudi verbis: 'propter 
 magnitudinem atque immanitatem facies,' id nos, aliquot veteri- 
 bus libris inspectis, exploravimus atque ita esse, ut scriptum est, 
 comperimus. Sic enim pleraque aetas veterum declinavit: 'haec 
 facies, huius facies,' quod nunc propter rationem grammaticam 
 'faciei' dicitur. — Gellius, Noct. Att. ix. 14. 1. 
 
 Turn .... quae M. Varro alias 'profata,' alias 'proloquia' 
 appellat, Commentarium de Proloquiis L. Aelii, docti hominis, qui 
 magister Varronis fuit, studiose quaesivimus eumque in Pacis 
 bibliotheca repertum legimus. — Ibid. xvi. 8. 2. 
 
 9. Private Memoranda: 
 
 a) Historical Data — 
 
 Et tamen, si bene novi, . ephemeridas illius viri scriptas 
 habemus, etiam bella, charactere historico digesta, quae velim 
 accipias, et per ordinem scribas additis quae ad vitam pertinent. 
 
 Quae omnia ex libris linteis, in quibus ipse cotidiana sua 
 scribi praeceperat, pro tua sedulitate condisces. — Vopiscus, 
 Aurelian 1. 1. 
 
 b) Imperial Corrrespondence — 
 
 Ne quid denique deesset cognitioni, plerasque huiusmodi 
 epistolas in fine libri posui, et cum cupiditate et sine fastidio, 
 ut existimo, perlegendas. — Vopiscus, Tacit. 12 (end). 
 10. Public Documents: 
 a) Edicts — 
 
 Edicta veterum praetorum, sedentibus forte nobis in 
 bibliotheca templi Traiani et aliud quid quaerentibus, cum 
 in manus incidissent, legere atque cognoscere libitum est. 
 
 Turn in quodam edicto antiquiore ita scriptum invenimus: 
 
 Qui flumina retanda publice redempta habent, si quis eorum 
 
 ad me eductus fuerit, qui dicatur, quod eum ex lege locationis 
 
 facere oportuerit, non fecisse. — Gellius, Noct. Att. xi. 17. 1, 2. 
 
 6) Decrees — 
 
 Ac ne quis me Graecorum alicui vel Latinorum existimet 
 temere credidisse, habet bibliotheca Ulpia in armario sexto 
 librum elephantinum, in quo hoc senatus consultum per- 
 
object: incentives and advantages 57 
 
 scriptum est, cui Tacitus ipse manu sua subscripsit: nam diu 
 haec senatus consulta, quae ad principes pertinebant, in libris 
 elephantinis scribebantur. — Vopiscus, Tacit. 8. i. 
 
 c) Public Acts — 
 
 Et quos turn Claudius terminos posuerit, facile cognitu 
 et publicis in actis perscriptum [est]. — Tacitus, Annal. xii. 24. 
 
 Usus etiam ex regestis scribarum porticus Porphyreticae, 
 actis etiam senatus ac populi. — Vopiscus, Probus 2. 1. 
 
 d) Daily Acts — < 
 
 Matrem Antoniam non apud auctores rerum, non in diurna 
 actorum scriptura reperio ullo insigni officio functam, cum 
 super Agrippinam et Drusum et Claudium ceteri quoque consan- 
 guinei nominatim perscripti sint Tacitus, Annal. iii. 3. 
 
 e) Treaties: 
 
 In the Capitoline library (see p. 20). 
 In the temple of Juno Moneta: 
 
 Licinius Macer auctor est etiam in foedere Ardeatino et 
 in linteis libris ad Monetae ea inventa. — Livy, iv. 7. 12. 
 
 f) Sacred Rights: 
 
 . . . . ibi ex libro vetere linteo sacrificatum sacerdote 
 Ovio Paccio quodam. — Livy, x. 38. 6. 
 
 g) State Records — 
 
 In Domus Tiberiana, where were the scrinia praefec- 
 • turae urbanae (see p. 35, n. 3). Cf. Dio Cassius, lxxii. 24; 
 P- i5> n- 3- 
 h) City Surveys: 
 
 Cf. Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, p. 211. 
 
 Miscellaneous manuscripts incorporating various important 
 records of the government, both under the Republic and under 
 the Empire, necessarily formed no slight portion of the con- 
 tents of archives and repositories; and these valuable col- 
 lections of state papers were doubtless frequently deposited 
 for safest preservation in the public libraries most convenient 
 for this purpose. Occasional references in literature suffice to 
 show that the library, specifically, or some archive contained 
 such documents. 
 
 II. INSTRUCTION OF THE PUBLIC 
 
 The plan of Caesar "to make men's talents public property" 
 assumed three forms: (1) reading in the library; (2) reference 
 
58 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 and research; (3) withdrawal of books. The most direct advan- 
 tage afforded was that of — 
 
 1. Reading m the library. — Of numerous available illustrations, 
 only a few need be considered as evidence: 
 
 Quaeque viri docto veteres cepere novique 
 
 Pectore, lecturis inspicienda patent. — Ovid, Trist. iii. 1. 63, 64. 
 
 . . . . et, ne lectorum incuria deperiret, librum per annos singulos 
 decies scribi publicitus in civicis archiis iussit et in bibliothecis poni. — 
 Vopiscus, Aurelian 24 (end). 
 
 Haec Sulpicius Apollinaris audientibus nobis dixit. Quae postea 
 ita esse, uti dixerat, cognovimus, cum et laudationes funebres et lib- 
 rum commentarium de familia Porcia legeremus. — Gellius, Noct. Att. 
 xiii. 20. 17. (Cf. ibid. xiii. 20. 1.) 
 
 A decidedly important feature of the public library at Rome, 
 in addition to that of reading for entertainment, was the opportu- 
 nity extended to the Roman citizen for — 
 
 2. Reference and research. — This phase of library facilities 
 proved a special advantage to the student of literature, the gram- 
 marian, and the historian. 
 
 The poet-plagiarist who was wont to consult the works in the 
 Palatine library with considerable frequency is enjoined by 
 another poet — 
 
 . . . . et tangere vitet 
 Scripta Palatinus quaecumque recepit Apollo. 
 
 — Horace, Ep. i. 3. 16, 17. 
 
 Besides the library in Apollo's temple, those in the Palace of 
 Tiberius, in the temple of Peace, and in the Forum of Trajan 
 each offered the investigator ready access to its volumes and 
 documents, as is seen in statements by Gellius and Vopiscus: 
 
 .... Commentarium de Proloquiis L. Aelii .... studiose 
 quaesivimus eumque in Pacis bibliotheca repertum legimus. — Gellius, 
 Noct. Att. xvi. 8. 2. 
 
 .... id nos, aliquot veteribus libris inspectis, exploravimus 
 atque ita esse, ut scriptum est, comperimus. — Ibid. ix. 14. 1. (cf. ibid. 
 ix. 14- 3)- 
 
 .... et si hoc contentus non fueris, lectites Graecos, linteos 
 etiam libros requiras, quos Ulpia tibi bibliotheca cum volueris 
 ministrabit. — Vopiscus, Aurelian 1 (end). 
 
 Usus autem sum .... praecipue libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, 
 aetate mea thermis Diocletianis; item ex domo Tiberiana. — Vopiscus, 
 Probus 2. 1. 
 
object: incentives and advantages 59 
 
 Moreover, it is definitely established that the reader and the 
 student were accorded, under certain regulations not now ascer- 
 tainable, the additional privilege of — 
 
 3. Withdrawal of books. — There is no other inference to be 
 deduced from the following excerpts: 
 
 "Io," inquis puero tuo; "vade quantum potes, de Apollinis bib- 
 liotheca has mihi orationes adporta." Frustra mittis; nam et isti 
 libri me secuti sunt. Igitur Tiberianus bibliothecarius tibi subigitan- 
 dus est. — Aurelius, Ad Frontonem iv. 5. 
 
 "Curabo autem ut tibi ex Ulpia bibliotheca et libri lintei proferan- 
 tur." .... accepi libros Graecos, et omnia mihi necessaria in manum 
 sumpsi: ex quibus et quae digna erant memoratu in unum libellum 
 contuli. — Vopiscus, Aurelian 1. 
 
 It is to be noted that not only Latin, but also Greek 
 works and miscellaneous volumes were allowed to leave the 
 library. 
 
 This Roman custom of borrowing books from the public 
 library is reflected in the incident previously cited where a copy 
 of one of Aristotle's works was procured from the library at Tibur, 
 the significant phraseology being — 
 
 Sed .... promit e bibliotheca Tiburti .... Aristotelis librum 
 eumque ad nos adfert — Gellius, Noct. Att. xix. 5. 4. 
 
 The emperor sometimes removed from the libraries any 
 volumes failing to meet with his approval, as described by Sue- 
 tonius in his account of Caligula: 
 
 Cogitavit etiam de Homeri carminibus abolendis; "cur enim, 
 sibi non licere," dicens, "quod Platoni licuisset, qui eum e civitate, 
 quam constituebat, eiecerit ? " Sed et Vergilii et Titi Livii scripta et 
 imagines paullum abfuit quin ex omnibus bibliothecis amoverit. — 
 Suetonius, Calig. 34. 
 
 HI. CULTURAL INFLUENCES 
 
 The cultural value of libraries was clearly recognized by the 
 Romans when they located them regularly in close proximity to 
 porticoes, temples, and other ornate structures. 
 
 This was emphasized also in the custom, already considered, 
 of adorning the interior of the library with worthy specimens of 
 art: paintings, inscriptions, quotations, statues, busts, and 
 medallions. 
 
60 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 A further indication of their cultural function was the utili- 
 zation of the library as an appropriate center for social, literary, and 
 even political gatherings. 
 
 a) Social. — 
 
 Nemo in templo Pacis dicturus est me feminas inter tyrannos, 
 tyrannas videlicet vel tyrranides, ut ipsi de me solent cum risu et 
 ioco iactitare, posuisse. — Trebellius Pollio, Trig. Tyr. xxxi. 10. 
 
 Cum in domus Tiberianae bibliotheca sederemus ego et Apollinaris 
 Sulpicius et quidam alii mihi aut ill! familiares, prolatus forte liber 
 est ita inscriptus "M. Catonis Nepotis." — Gellius, Noct. Att. xiii. 20. 1. 
 
 b) Literary.— 
 
 Edicta veterum praetorum, sedentibus forte nobis in bibliotheca 
 templi Traiani et aliud quid quaerentibus, cum in manus incidis- 
 sent, legere atque cognoscere libitum est. — Gellius, Noct. Att. xi. 17. 1. 
 
 Turn .... Commentarium de Proloquiis L. Aelii, docti hominis, 
 qui magister Varronis fuit, studiose quaesivimus eumque in Pacis 
 bibliotheca repertum legimus. — Ibid. xvi. 8. 2. 
 
 c) Political. — 
 
 Igitur quattuor filiis ante limen curiae adstantibus, loco senten- 
 tiae, cum in Palatio senatus haberetur, modo Hortensii inter oratores 
 sitam imaginem, modo Augusti intuens, ad mine modum coepit. — 
 Tacitus, Annal. ii. 37. 
 
 Addidit porticus cum bibiliotheca Latina Graecaque, quo loco 
 iam senior saepe etiam senatum habuit decuriasque iudicum recog- 
 novit. — Suetonius, August. 29. 
 
VI. LITERARY CULTURE OF THE EARLY EMPIRE 
 
 In addition to the public libraries, there were of course other 
 potent factors in the intellectual life of Rome. 
 
 Among them may be enumerated: (i) schools; (2) bookshops; 
 (3) public baths; (4) literary circles; (5) private libraries. 
 
 The influence of these, combined with that of the various 
 public libraries of the city, may be considered as constituting the 
 
 Roman ideal of culture. 
 
 i 
 
 I. SCHOOLS 
 
 A detailed discussion of Roman schools is not necessary here; 
 only their relation to citizenship and culture need be mentioned. 
 
 Education of the child, especially the boy, was viewed pri- 
 marily as a duty to the state. After the training of the elementary 
 schools in the customary rudiments came that of a formal literary 
 type which emphasized the needs of public life. Under the Repub- 
 lic, Greek literature, especially the poets and orators, had received 
 close study, while in the early days of the Empire the works of 
 Latin writers were also utilized to considerable advantage. Both 
 involved the appreciation of language, grammar, style, meter, and 
 content, as Cicero has shown. 1 
 
 Aside from the purely technical study of literature, subject- 
 matter as practical information was highly valued. Wise saws 
 and favorite maxims were viewed as excellent educative material. 2 
 
 History was compiled for the young that they might learn of 
 the notable deeds of ancestors and the worthy customs of national 
 life. Roman history, from any source, was important. 3 
 
 Attainment of success in oratory continued a prime motive 
 in the work of the schools, as is stressed by both Cicero 4 and Tacitus, 5 
 representing respectively the Republic and the Empire. 
 
 In such ways did literature have a direct bearing on practical 
 life and help prepare the Roman youth for the demands of 
 citizenship. 
 
 1 Cicero, De oralore i. 41. 187. 
 
 2 Seneca, Controversiae vii. 38. * Cicero, Pro Caelio xxxi. 74. 
 
 3 Livy and Nepos are typical. s Tacitus, Dial. 37. 
 
 61 
 
62 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 2. BOOKSHOPS 
 
 The Roman bookseller's business expanded in proportion as 
 the literary tendencies of the citizens developed. The growing 
 popularity of private libraries vitally affected the book trade. 
 It is believed by modern scholars that books were by no means 
 rare in Rome among the well-to-do classes and must usually have 
 sold at very moderate prices; and that books in the early days 
 of the Empire probably cost less than books at the present time 
 containing an equal amount of subject-matter. This was made 
 possible through the exceedingly cheap labor rendered by numer- 
 ous slaves of high intelligence. 
 
 At the beginning of the Empire the publication and sale of 
 books at Rome had become well established. The names of several 
 very successful and enterprising publishers are recorded in the 
 writings of Latin authors, as: Atticus, 1 the worthy friend of 
 Cicero; the Sosii brothers," well known through Horace and Ovid; 
 Tryphon,' who issued the works of Martial and Quintilian; and 
 Dorus, 4 referred to by Seneca. Their well-educated slaves are 
 represented as copying manuscripts, probably through dictation, 
 with astonishing cleverness. 5 Such copies, however, were not 
 always free from errors. 6 Sometimes a writer published his own 
 works by employing the slaves of his household. 7 
 
 The bookshop and the publishing plant were sometimes com- 
 bined in the same business, as, for instance, by Atticus and the 
 Sosii. At any rate, the output of the publisher was made accessible 
 to the public through the bookshop. Placards containing an- 
 nouncements of books in stock, and even samples of works ready 
 for sale, were exhibited at the doors of the shops or on the columns 
 of the porticoes. 8 
 
 The shops of the Hbrarii, 9 or bibliopolae, were located especially 
 in the Argiletum 10 and the Vicus Sandalarius, 11 which were the head- 
 quarters of the book trade; but they were found also in other 
 business streets. In such tabernae the citizens of Rome were wont 
 
 1 Cicero, Ad Atticum xii. 6. » Horace, De arte poetica 345, 346. 
 
 > Martial, Ep. iv. 72; Quintilian, Inst. Praef. 
 
 4 Seneca, De bene/, vii. 6. 8 Martial, Ep. i. 117. 
 
 s Pliny, Epist. iv. 7. » See p. 46, § 9. 
 
 6 Martial, Ep. ii. 8. ,0 See p. 63, n. 2. 
 
 ' Nepos, Atticus 13. n Galen, De libris suis iv. 361. 
 
LITERARY CULTURE OF THE EARLY EMPIRE 63 
 
 to congregate. "I looked for you," Catullus 1 explains to his 
 friend Camerius, "in the lesser campus, in the circus, in all the 
 bookshops, in the sacred temple of great Jupiter." The bookshop 
 was the natural and appropriate resort for those on the watch for 
 the regular official bulletins of the government or for the latest 
 literary publication. Subjects of interest to the devotees of liter- 
 ature were here frequently discussed. The attention of less 
 cultured bystanders would readily be drawn to such themes. A 
 scene of this sort is well described by Gellius. 2 
 
 3. PUBLIC BATHS 
 
 It appears almost incongruous to include the thermae of 
 ancient Rome among those agencies that tended to develop cur- 
 rent intellectual life and to provide mental recreation, so regularly 
 associated are these with only the social and physical relations of 
 life. Yet very conclusive evidence is at hand to show that libraries 
 formed in some instances, at least, a valued part of the advan- 
 tages of the public baths. Certainly the two most celebrated 
 thermae of the city included libraries among their many attractions. 
 
 Referring to the source of historical data that he had consulted, 
 Vopiscus 3 has been quoted as saying he used books in the Ulpian 
 Library, parenthetically observing that these had been removed 
 in his time to the Thermae Diocletianae. 
 
 Recent discoveries in Rome bring to light, among the exca- 
 vated ruins of the Thermae Caracallae, an apartment clearly 
 devoted to the purposes of a library. Niches in the walls give 
 clear proof of the use of shelves and reading desks. 
 
 All the great baths of Rome provided similar quarters easily 
 adapted to the use of libraries, though specific information regard- 
 ing collections of books deposited in them has not survived. 
 
 It is well to recall also at this point the inscription which 
 demonstrated, as has been seen, 4 that a slave librarian was em- 
 ployed in the thermae rather than that he was given the duty of 
 caring for the hermae. 
 
 It is to be concluded, therefore, that the idle hours of the 
 Roman citizen frequenting the thermae for sport and recreation 
 could also fittingly be devoted to the pastime of reading. 
 
 1 Catullus, lv. 3-5. 3 See p. 14, n. 4. 
 
 'N.A. xviii. 4. 1, .... 7, 8, 9. 4 See pp. 45, 46, § 7. 
 
64 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 4. LITERARY CIRCLES 
 
 Groups of literary friends exerted strong influence within a 
 comparatively limited area. The emperor is to be regarded as 
 the chief patron, usually, in the more celebrated circles. In this 
 respect one thinks instinctively of the far-reaching influence of 
 Augustus. In closest co-operation, too, was the professional 
 patron, excellently represented in the person of Maecenas. Such 
 encouragement as was accorded Virgil, Horace, and Varius, giving 
 them greater confidence in their endeavors, is tangible evidence 
 that the literary circle greatly furthered the cause of letters. 
 
 A youthful writer trying to impress himself and his work upon 
 the literary public gained two special advantages in appearing 
 before such a gathering: he was sure of an audience, however 
 critical, and he was enabled thereby, if reasonably promising as an 
 author, to make his writings known to a larger following. 
 
 The readings, to be sure, were often wearisome and uninter- 
 esting. Horace complains of the "troublesome reader," while 
 Juvenal classes the recital "among the baneful things of urban 
 residence." Pliny has vividly described an occasion of this kind, 
 saying that auditors frequently come forth with the complaint 
 that the day has been lost. Martial states that the poet's club 
 would be altogether desirable but for the drawback that they had 
 to listen to each other's verses, and that some of the readers 
 required nearly a whole day; nevertheless he could not absent 
 himself, as he expected others to attend his own recital. 
 
 But the fact remains, notwithstanding frequent playful satire, 
 that the literary groups, with their public recitals, afforded the 
 best opportunity obtainable for acquainting a considerable portion 
 of the populace with the important literary works appearing from 
 time to time. In addition to the efforts of the booksellers and 
 the publishers, the recital must have proved an effective advertising 
 medium. Private, as well as public, libraries would soon add to 
 their contents any work eliciting commendation from such an 
 authoritative source. 1 
 
 5. PRIVATE LIBRARIES 
 
 As bookshops facilitated the growth of private libraries, so 
 private libraries aided materially in the spread of culture and pre- 
 1 Ovid, Tristia iii. 1. 63-72. 
 
LITERARY CULTURE OF THE EARLY EMPIRE 65 
 
 pared the way for the establishment of public libraries. The 
 archives of the city, forming the basis on which public libraries 
 were directly developed, were at the outset virtually private 
 libraries of the government. 
 
 The well-known story of Crates, 1 the professional schoolmaster 
 of Pergamum, is associated with the beginning of private libraries 
 at Rome. Having come on some political mission and being 
 delayed by a mishap, he utilized this interval in lecturing to the 
 Romans on literary themes. It is likely that he imparted to them 
 helpful information regarding the great library in his own city. 
 At any rate, it was during this very period, the first half of the 
 second century B.C., that the Romans began to make collections 
 of foreign works, either seizing them as booty or purchasing them. 
 
 Aemilius Paulus* was enabled, by his victory over Perseus, 
 king of Macedonia, to bring to Rome a considerable number of 
 books. Lucullus, 3 likewise, got possession of the books he found 
 in Pontus, transferring them to Rome and making them accessible 
 to his friends. Sulla 4 seized a large number of volumes which 
 included the library of Aristotle. A little later, Atticus, 5 the 
 publisher, had collected a valuable library. Cicero often men- 
 tioned his own extensive library 6 and made occasional reference to 
 a good library owned by Quintus. 7 It is recorded that the private 
 library of Varro 8 was partially destroyed when his entire estate 
 was proscribed. 
 
 The possession of such private libraries as these reflects the 
 attitude of various individuals in the last two centuries of the 
 Republic. It is natural that under the Empire this inclination 
 should have developed and that private libraries should have 
 become more popular than formerly. Numerous illustrations of 
 the prevalence of the private library are available. 9 
 
 As is shown in the criticism of Seneca, 10 there was often great 
 affectation of the literary life; but this itself may indicate a gen- 
 erally prevalent literary taste. The mention of Trimalchio's 
 
 1 Suetonius, De gram. 2. s Cicero, Ad Att. iv. 14. 1. 
 
 2 Plutarch, Aem. Paulus xxviii. 6 Ibid. ii. 1. 12; ii. 6. 1; etc. 
 
 3 Plutarch, Lucullus xlii. 1 Cicero, Ad Quint. Fr. iii. 4. 5. 
 « Plutarch, Sulla xxvi. 8 Gellius, iii. 10. 17. 
 
 » Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyc, "Bibliotheken," VII. » See p. 28, n. 1. 
 
66 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Greek and Latin libraries 1 is not simply satirical: it is indicative of 
 a sort of cultural ideal common in imperial times. It is significant 
 that Vitruvius* regularly included the bibliotheca in his archi- 
 tectural plans for the Roman house. Furthermore, the library 
 containing eighteen hundred rolls found at Herculaneum is con- 
 sidered by some as a type of the library in the home of the average 
 prosperous Roman of the earlier Empire. 
 
 Martial has referred in suggestive terms to the suburban library: 
 
 Runs bibliotheca delicati, 
 
 Vicinam videt unde lector urbem, 
 
 Inter carmina sanctiora si quis 
 
 Lascivae fuerit locus Thaliae, 
 
 Hos nido licet inseras vel imo, 
 
 Septem quos tibi misimus libellos 
 
 Auctoris calamo sui notatos: 
 
 Haec illis pretium facit litura. 
 
 At tu munere delicata parvo 
 
 Quae cantaberis orbe nota toto, 
 
 Pignus pectoris hoc mei tuere, 
 
 Iuli bibliotheca Martialis. 3 
 
 CULTURE AND LIBRARIES 
 
 We may now appropriately seek an answer to the queries — 
 
 To what extent did literary culture permeate the life and 
 thought of ancient Rome under the early Empire ? 
 
 Did the establishment of public libraries throughout the city 
 sustain a direct relation to the education and culture of her citizens ? 
 
 The term culture is difficult to define, especially when asso- 
 ciated with so distant an epoch. But there are ample traces of 
 a cultural ideal among the ancient Romans which is worthy to be 
 set beside the ideals of other great ages. 
 
 The literary and aesthetic tastes of the Romans have too 
 long been underestimated. The more minutely this phase of 
 Roman life is studied, the more favorable are the conclusions 
 reached. Testimony surviving in literature is necessarily only a 
 partial test. 
 
 "It is simple and has a show of system to say that the Greeks 
 had aesthetic qualities but no political steadiness: that the 
 Romans showed marvelous political genius, but lacked an appre- 
 
 1 Petronius, Cena Trimal. 48. * See p. 23, n. 1. > Martial, vii. 17. 
 
LITERARY CULTURE OF THE EARLY EMPIRE 67 
 
 ciation of the finer things of life. Our estimate of the Romans in 
 this matter has suffered from both these tendencies to contrast and 
 to classify. So far as our judgment of them is concerned, it was 
 unfortunate that fate did not put Rome 1,000 years earlier or 
 later and thus save us from the temptation of using such light 
 and dark colors respectively in drawing our outlines of the two 
 peoples. It was this unkindness of fate, I fancy, which is partly 
 responsible for the common belief that the Romans were Philistines 
 in art and literature, for the feeling, for instance, that Mummius, 
 the conqueror of Corinth, was a typical Roman." 1 
 
 The plays of Plautus and Terence afford ample opportunity 
 to see that the Roman people of the second century B.C. possessed 
 a discriminating taste in the domain of literature. The theater 
 of the Republic had served as an educative agency, and presupposed 
 a fair familiarity with literature on the part of its auditors. 2 
 
 The claims of eloquence, though lacking the power of repub- 
 lican days, must still, under the earlier emperors, at least, have 
 played an important part in stirring the imagination and proved 
 a strong incentive in the matter of reading. Public speeches must 
 have been to the plebeian what the exclusive literary circle was to 
 the more highly cultured. There can be no doubt, moreover, that 
 the young men and boys who were accompanied to the forum by 
 their elders and there heard eulogies on deceased Romans of note 
 were inspired to emulate them in the qualities that stood for cul- 
 ture. 3 
 
 Latin literature furnishes here and there certain glimpses of 
 a large reading public. 
 
 If it were feasible to cite full evidence concerning the atti- 
 tude of the emperors toward education and literature, especially 
 through the first century and a half of the Empire, a distinctly 
 vigorous interest would in the main be apparent. Passing over 
 the noteworthy encouragement manifested by Augustus, we may 
 note that Caligula, as Suetonius 4 says, realized it would be to 
 his advantage to deliver to posterity the transactions of former 
 times and hence permitted the writings of Titus Labienus " to be 
 drawn from obscurity and universally read." Such productions 
 were doubtless made accessible to the reading public through the 
 
 1 Abbott, Society and Politics in Ancient Some, pp. 161, 162. 
 
 2 Ibid., 164-68. 3 Polybius vi. S3- 4 Suetonius, Caligula 8. 
 
68 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 bookshops and libraries. We find, again, in the case of Emperor 
 Tacitus, that he had the works of Cornelius Tacitus placed in all 
 the libraries that the interest of readers might not wane, as 
 Vopiscus 1 explains. 
 
 Likewise would detailed study of the Latin poets and prose 
 writers give ample opportunity to appreciate the degree of intelli- 
 gence and refinement prevailing through the city. It is well to 
 recall in this connection, that the heterogeneous population within 
 the walls of Rome at the beginning of the Empire could hardly 
 have been less than 800,000. Significant, indeed, should be an 
 expression like Martial's: 
 
 Laudat, amat, cantat nostros mea Roma libellos: 
 Meque sinus omnis, me manus omnis habet.* 
 
 Again, the attitude of the citizens toward the official bulletins 
 regularly issued by the emperor, or the Senate, or other dele- 
 gated authority, is not without interest as an evidence of popular 
 reading habits. 
 
 These Records, or Acta, consisted of three varieties: (a) Acta 
 Publica; (b) Acta Populi; (c) Acta Diurna Urbis. 
 
 The publishing of the Acta of the Senate and of the people in 
 their assemblies was inaugurated by Julius Caesar during his 
 consulship. 3 Though discontinued under Augustus, it was later 
 revived. The editing of material for these Acta required the 
 special service of the Actuarius or other scribes selected from the 
 Senate. 4 They gradually assumed the form of a daily journal. 
 Not only speeches and official transactions relating to governmental 
 policies and procedures, but miscellaneous items of considerable 
 interest to the average citizen were included. Authorities for such 
 information are Juvenal, Seneca, the Younger Pliny, Petronius, 
 Tacitus, and Suetonius. 
 
 The A eta Diurna were considered of particular interest through- 
 out the city. To all appearances, these bulletins performed in 
 a limited way the function of the modern daily newspaper, and 
 show a striking resemblance to it as a vehicle for news. They were 
 not only posted at the bookshops and other public places s in the 
 city, but were also widely distributed through the provinces. 6 
 
 1 Vopiscus, Tacitus 10; see p. 40, n. 4. « Tacitus, Annates v. 4. 
 
 ' Martial, vi. 61. 5 See p. 62, 11. 8. 
 
 3 Suetonius, Caesar 20. 6 Tacitus, Annates xvi. 22. 
 
LITERARY CULTURE OF THE EARLY EMPIRE 69 
 
 Provincial governors are represented as having scribes in Rome to 
 make duplicates of the Acta Diurna and transmit them by mes- 
 sengers with all haste. 
 
 The information contained in the daily budgets recorded, 
 particularly, births, deaths, marriages, divorces, fires, murders, 
 and court proceedings. For instance, the important bearing of the 
 Lex Julia and the Lex Papia Poppaea 1 upon the marriage relation 
 emphasized the need for public announcement of such data. 
 Moreover, miscellaneous news-items of urban life appeared in the 
 bulletins and were eagerly read by all possessing sufficient edu- 
 cation. Merely the desire of perusing these popular bulletins was 
 doubtless an inspiration to youthful Romans to acquire the art of 
 reading. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the Acta served not only the function 
 of disseminating information among the people while it still had 
 an actual news value, but that, upon being filed away or stored in 
 the archives and libraries, private and public, they served also the 
 function of providing, at a later date, valuable material for the 
 student or the historian. 2 
 
 SUMMARY 
 
 To correlate the Roman public library with other intellectual 
 influences, it may be said to have been inseparable from the liter- 
 ary culture of the Empire. 
 
 The value of public libraries in the life of Rome has been 
 greatly underestimated: they were a powerful reflector of Rome's 
 literary ideals; they assisted very appreciably in furthering the 
 literary interests of the Empire; they were directly serviceable in 
 furnishing material for both cultural improvement and research. 
 
 Finally, the libraries of Rome were the chief means of pre- 
 serving to mediaeval and modern times many works of antiquity; 
 they transmitted to modern civilization all the best features of 
 the libraries of ancient times; and they illustrate anew that "we are 
 debtors both to the Greeks and the barbarians." 
 
 1 Tacitus, Annates ii. 50; iii. 25. 
 
 2 Ibid., iii. 3; xii. 24. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 A. GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS 
 
 i. Aurelius, Marcus 
 
 21. 
 
 Ovid 
 
 2. Boethius 
 
 22. 
 
 Paterculus, Velleius 
 
 3. Cassius, Dio 
 
 23- 
 
 Pausanias 
 
 4. Catullus 
 
 24. 
 
 Petronius 
 
 5. Cicero 
 
 25- 
 
 Pliny, the Elder 
 
 6. Epiphanius 
 
 26. 
 
 Pliny, the Younger 
 
 7. Festus (Paulus Diaconus) 
 
 27. 
 
 Plutarch 
 
 8. Galen 
 
 28. 
 
 Pollio, Trebellius 
 
 9. Gellius 
 
 29. 
 
 Polybius 
 
 10. Herodianus 
 
 3°- 
 
 Procopius 
 
 11. Horace 
 
 3i- 
 
 Propertius 
 
 12. Isidorus 
 
 32. 
 
 Quintilian 
 
 13. Jerome, St. 
 
 33- 
 
 Seneca, the Elder 
 
 14. Josephus 
 
 34- 
 
 Seneca, the Younger 
 
 15. Juvenal 
 
 35- 
 
 Sidonius, Apollinaris 
 
 16. Livy 
 
 36. 
 
 Strabo 
 
 17. Marcellinus, Ammianus 
 
 37- 
 
 Suetonius 
 
 18. Martial 
 
 38. 
 
 Tacitus 
 
 19. Nepos 
 
 39- 
 
 Vitruvius 
 
 20. Orosius 
 
 40. 
 
 Vopiscus 
 
 B. ADDITIONAL CLASSICAL SOURCES 
 
 41. Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum 
 
 42. Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 
 
 43. Inscriptiones Latinoe Se/eefoe, XVI: Dessau 
 
 44. Mirabilia Romae 
 
 45. Monumentum Ancyratmm 
 
 46. Notitia et Curiosum Urbis Romae Regionum XIV cum Breviariis 
 Suis: Appendixes to the Regionary Catalogues 
 
 C. OTHER REFERENCES 
 
 47. Abbott, Society and Politics in Ancient Rome 
 
 48. Baumeister, Denkmtiler des klassischen Altertums: " Bibliotheken " 
 
 49. Birt, Das Antike Buckwesen 
 
 50. , "Zur Geschichte des antiken Buchwesens," Centralblatt 
 
 fiir BibHothekwesen, XVII, 545 fi. 
 
 70 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 7 1 
 
 51. Cagnat, Les Bibliotheques municipales 
 
 52. Capes, The Early Empire 
 
 53. Glark, Care of Books 
 
 54. Conze, "Die pergamenische Bibliothek," Sitzungsberkhte der 
 
 Konigl. Preuss. Akad. der Wiss. zu Berlin, 1884, II, 1259 ff. 
 
 55. Curwen, History of Booksellers 
 
 56. Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries 
 
 57. Fowler, Social Life at Rome 
 
 58. Friedlander, Sittengeschkhte 
 
 59. Garbelli, Le Biblioteche in Italia all' Epoca Romana 
 
 60. Haenny, Schriftsteller und Buchhandler 
 
 61. Huelsen, The Roman Forum (Carter),, second edition, Loescher, 1909 
 
 62. Ihm, "Die Bibliotheken im alten Rom," Centralblatt fiir Biblio- 
 tkekwesen, XIII, 503 fi. 
 
 63. Jordan, Topographie der Stadt Rom 
 
 64. Kenyon, The Palaeography of Greek Papyri 
 
 65. Lanciani, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries 
 
 66. , Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome 
 
 67. Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon 
 
 68. Marquardt, Das Privatleben der Romer 
 
 69. Merivale, History of the Romans under the Empire 
 
 70. Middleton, Illustrated Manuscripts 
 
 71. , Remains of Ancient Rome 
 
 72. Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadie: "Bibliotheken" (Dziatzko) 
 
 73. Platner, Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, second edition, 
 Allyn and Bacon, 191 1 
 
 74. Preller, Die Regionen der Stadt Rom 
 
 75. Putnam, Authors and Their Public in Ancient Times 
 
 76. Richardson, Some Old Egyptian Librarians 
 
 77. Richter, Topographie der Stadt Rom 
 
 78. Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship 
 
 79. — — , A Companion to Latin Studies 
 
 80. Taylor, Transmission of Books 
 
 81. Teufiel-Scbwabe, History of Roman Literature 
 
 82. Thompson, Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography 
 
 83. Whibley, A Companion to Greek Studies 
 
 84. Wilkins, Roman Education 
 
 85. Woefflin, Sitzungsberkhte Akad. Miinchen, 1&91 
 
INDEX 
 
 a bibliotheca, 43-43, 48. 
 
 Abbot, 67. 
 
 Acta diurna urbis, 68, 69. 
 
 — populi, 68. 
 
 — publico., 68. 
 Aedes Libertatis, 4. 
 Aegyptus, 7. 
 Aelius, 36. 
 
 Alexander, Cornelius, 50. 
 Alexandria, 21, 22, 24, 28, 34, 41, 47, 50, 
 
 52- 
 Antony, 49, 53. 
 
 Apollo, 5, 6, 7, 13, 32, 33, 35, 49, 50. 
 Apollodorus, 19. 
 
 archaeologists, 11, 15, 17, 29, 37. 
 archives, 16, 35, 40, 53, 65, 69. 
 Argiletum, 62. 
 Aristotle, 21, 26, 30, 59, 65. 
 armarium, 27, 28. 
 Arrian, 53. 
 
 art, works of, 7, 10, 16, 24, 59. 
 Asia Minor, 1. 
 Assurbanipal, 21. 
 Athenaeum, 19. 
 Athens, 22, 49. 
 Atrium Libertatis. See Bibliotheca in — , linen, 38, 39, 54, 58. 
 
 Atrio Libertatis. — , preservation of, S3, 54~57- 
 
 Atticus, 62, 65. — , Sibylline, 8, 33, 54. 
 
 Augusta, 10. — , stores of, 6, 33, $4- 
 
 Augusteum. See Bibliotheca Templi — ; storing of, 27-29. 
 
 Augusti. __ withdrawal of, 30, 32, 58, 59 
 
 Augustus, 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 24, 26, 31, bridge, Caligula's, 12. 
 
 32, 33, 46, 49, so, si, 64, 67, 68. bustSj 4) l8; 24> 2S> 20> SQ- 
 
 Aurelianus, 38, 39. 
 Aurelius, 14, 32, 34, 48, 56, 59. 
 Aventine, 4. 
 
 — in Atrio Libertatis, $-$, 23, 24, 31. 
 
 — in Capitolio, 3, 19, 20, 23, 24, 39. 
 
 — in Foro Traiani, 3, 17-19, 23, 37-39. 
 
 — in Templo Aesculapii, 3, 20, 23, 24, 39. 
 
 — in Templo Pacis, 3, 16, 17, 23, 24, 36, 
 
 37- 
 
 — Porticus Octaviae, 3, 8-10, 23, 31, 33, 
 
 34, 44, 45, S°- 
 
 — Templi Apollinis, 3, 5-8, 23, 24, 25, 
 
 31, 32, 33, 44, So. 
 
 — Templi Augusti, 3, 10-14, i5> 2 3> 34- 
 bibUothecae, 3. 
 bibliothecarius, 14, 35, 48. 
 Boethius, 26. 
 book rolls, 27. 
 booksellers, 62, 64. 
 book shelves, 27, 28, 63. 
 bookshops, 61-63, 68. 
 book stacks, 28-30. 
 books, cataloguing of, 27-30. 
 — , Greek, 38, 39. 
 — , ivory, 29, 39. 
 — , Jewish, 16. 
 — , Latin, 27-40, 52-60. 
 — , legal, 1, 33. 
 
 Basilica Ulpia, 18. 
 Baths of Diocletian, 3s, 38, 46. 
 — , public, 61, 63. 
 
 Bibliotheca Domus Tiberianae, 3, 14, 15, 
 23, 24, 34, 35, 38, 48. 
 
 Caesar, 1, 2, 4, 5, 31, 33, 40, 48, 49, 5°, 52, 
 
 53, 68. 
 
 Caligula, 10, n, 12, 40, 59, 6 7- 
 Camerius, 63. 
 Capito, 36. 
 
 Capitoline, 8, 12, 19, 20 23, 24, 39. 
 capsa, 27. 
 
 73 
 
74 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Caracalla, 10, 16, 63. 
 
 Cartularium. See Bibliotheca in Templo 
 
 Aesculapii. 
 Cassius, Dio, 6, 9, io, 11, 15, 17, 18, 32, 
 
 37, S3. S7- 
 Cato, 14, 32, 35. 
 Catullus, 27, 63. 
 ceilings, 26. 
 Cethegus, 4. 
 
 Christian Fathers, 26, 29. 
 Chrysippus, 26. 
 - Cicero, M., 4, 49, 52, 61, 62, 65. 
 
 — , Q-, 6s. 
 
 Clark, 21, 26, 29. 
 Cleanthes, 26. 
 Cleopatra, 22, 53. 
 clerks, 47. 
 Clivus Tuscus, 11. 
 
 — Victoriae, 11. 
 Commodus, 15, 17, 19. 
 Constantius, 19. 
 Conze, 28. 
 copyists, 47. 
 Corinth, 67. 
 
 cornua, 27. 
 
 Crates, 65. 
 
 curia, 4, 8, 9. 
 
 Curiosum Urbis Romae, 3. 
 
 custos praepositus, 48. 
 
 Dalmatians, 49. 
 
 Danaus, 7. 
 
 Delphi, 26. 
 
 Dessau, 48. 
 
 Diaconus, Paulus, 3. 
 
 Diana, 7. 
 
 Domitian, 8, 10, 13, 33, 47. 
 
 Domus Germanici, 15. 
 
 — Tiberiana. See Bibliotheca Domus 
 Tiberianae. 
 
 Dorus, 62. 
 Dziatzko, 29. 
 
 Egypt, 1, 21, 52. 
 Epicureanism, 29. 
 Epicurus, 29. 
 Epiphanius, 21 
 
 Eumenes II, 22. 
 Euripides, 29. 
 excavations, 11, 17. 
 
 Festus, 3. 
 
 fire, 80 A.D., 9, 10, 34. 
 
 — , 191 A.D., 15, 19. 
 
 — , 363 A.D., 8. 
 
 floors, 26. 
 
 Forma Urbis Romae, 8. 
 
 fortdus, 27. 
 
 forum, 4. 
 
 Forum August!, 16. 
 
 — Facis. See Bibliotheca in Templo 
 Pacis. 
 
 — Traiani. See Bibliotheca in Foro 
 Traiani. 
 
 frescoing, 26. 
 
 frontes, 27. 
 
 Fronto, 14, 32, 34, 48. 
 
 Galen, 15, 62. 
 
 Garbelli, 13, 15, 36, 37- 
 
 Gauls, 7. 
 
 Gellius, 14, 17, 18, 22, 30, 35, 36, 37, S3, 
 
 55, 5&, 58, 59.60,63. 
 glass, 26. 
 Gracchus, 4. 
 Greece, 1, 22, 52. 
 Greeks, 51, 66, 69. 
 
 Hadrian, 18, 41. 
 
 Hebrew codices, 36. 
 
 Henzen, 43. 
 
 Herculaneum, 28, 29, 66. 
 
 Herodianus, 17. 
 
 Herodotus, 53. 
 
 Hirschfeld, 41, 43, 46. 
 
 historians, 53. 
 
 Horace, 32, 49, S4, 58, 62, 64. • 
 
 House of the Papyri, 28. 
 
 Huelsen, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14. 
 
 Hyginus, 48, 50, 51. 
 
 Hymenaeus, 46. 
 
 Thm, Max, 13. 
 
 index, 29. 
 
 Inept iae, 51. 
 
 inscriptions, 9, 10, 18, 25, 26, 40-48, 51. 
 
INDEX 
 
 75 
 
 instruction of public, 53, 57-39. 
 loci, 51. 
 
 Isidores, 4, 22, 26. 
 Italicus, Silius, 25. 
 ivory, 26. 
 
 Jerome, St., 19. 
 Jerusalem, 16, 36, 37. 
 Josephus, 16, 36. 
 Juno, 8, 9. 
 Jupiter, s, 8, 9, 63. 
 Juvenal, 25, 32, 55, 64, 68. 
 
 Kenyon, 27. 
 
 Labienus, 67. 
 
 Lanciani, 10, 25, 28, 35, 36. 57- 
 
 Largus, 42, 51. 
 
 Layard, 21. 
 
 Lex Julia, 69. n 
 
 — Papia Poppaea, 69. 
 libelli, 27. 
 
 libraries, "city," 45. 
 — , contents of, 31-40. 
 
 — , eastern exposure of, 12, 24. 
 
 — , equipment of, 21-30. 
 
 — , Greek and Latin, 9, 12, 18, 25, 34. 
 
 — , management of, 41-51. 
 
 — , "memorial," 9, 10, 33. 
 
 — , municipal, 30. 
 
 — , object of, 52-60. 
 
 — , private, 24, 61, 64-66. 
 
 — , public, 1-20. 
 
 — , suburban, 66. 
 
 — , value of, 69. 
 
 Ubrarius, 46, 47. 
 
 — a manu, 47. 
 
 Library at Alexandria, 1, 21, 22, 24, 28, 
 
 52- 
 
 — at Nineveh, 21, 22, 24. 
 
 — at Pergamum, 21, 22, 24, 28, 52, 53. 
 
 — of Atrium Libertatis. See Bibliotheca. 
 
 — of Capitolium. See Bibliotheca. 
 
 — of Domus Tiberiana. See Bibliotheca. 
 
 — of Forum Traiani. See Bibliotheca. 
 
 — of Porticus Octaviae. See Bibliotheca. 
 
 — of Templum Aesculapii. See Biblio- 
 theca. 
 
 — of Templum Apollinis. See Biblio- 
 theca. 
 
 — of Templum August!. See Biblio- 
 theca. 
 
 — of Templum Pads. See Bibliotheca. 
 libri, 27. 
 
 librorum repositio, 1. 
 
 Licinius, C, 50. 
 
 literary affectation, 28, 65. 
 
 — centers, 1, 21, 52, 53. 
 
 — circles, 61, 64. 
 
 — culture, 2, 51, 52, 53, 59, 60, 61-69. 
 Livia, 10, 11. 
 
 Livy, 4, 40, 57, 61 • 
 loculamentum, 27. 
 lora, 27. 
 Lucullus, 65. 
 
 Macedonia, 8, 65. 
 
 Macer, 49, 51. 
 
 Maecenas, 51, 64. 
 
 magister a bibliotheca, 43. 
 
 maps of city, 16, 36. 
 
 marble, 26. 
 
 Marble Plan, 8, 18. 
 
 Marcellinus, 2, 8, 19, 22, 33, 55. 
 
 Marcellus, 9, 33. 
 
 Martial, 12, 27, 34, 48, 55, 62, 64, 66, 68. 
 
 medallions, 24, 25, 59. 
 
 medicine, 15. 
 
 medicus a bibliotheca, 46. 
 
 Melissus, 50, 51. 
 
 membrana, 27. 
 
 Merivale, 4. 
 
 Metellus, 8, 9. 
 
 Middleton, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 Minerva, 13, 26, 34, 48. 
 
 military diplomas, 13, 34. 
 
 Mirabilia Romae, 3, 20. 
 
 Mommsen, 41, 42, 43. 
 
 Monumentum Ancyranum, 6. 
 
 mosaics, 26. 
 
 Mummius, 67. 
 
 Murena, 49. 
 
 Museum, Alexandrian, 41, 51. 
 
7 6 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT ROME 
 
 Napoleon 1, 17. 
 
 Nepos, Cato, 4, 35. 
 
 — , Cornelius, S3, 61, 62. 
 
 Nero, 8. 
 
 news items, 68, 69. 
 
 newspapers, 68. 
 
 nidus, 17. 
 
 Nineveh, 21, 22, 24. 
 
 Niobe, 7. 
 
 Nolitia, 3. 
 
 Octavia, 9, 10, 33. 
 
 Octavian buildings, 9, 10. 
 
 Onesimus, 46. 
 
 Opera Octaviae, 8. 
 
 Orosius, 19, 39. 
 
 Ovid, 5, 31, 32, 33, 48, So. S4, 58, 62. 
 
 Paetus, 4. 
 
 Palace of Tiberius, 14. 
 
 Palatine, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 19. 
 
 papyrus, 27, 29. 
 
 parchment, 27. 
 
 Paterculus, 6, 8, 11. 
 
 Paulus, Aemilius, 65. 
 
 Pauly-Wissowa, 29, 65. 
 
 Pausanias, 19, 53. 
 
 Pergamum, 22, 24, 28, 52, 53, 65. 
 
 Perseus, 65. 
 
 Petrograd, 29. 
 
 Petronius, 66, 68. 
 
 Philadelphus II, 21. 
 
 Pisistratus, 22. 
 
 Pittacus, 26. 
 
 Pius, 14. 
 
 plagiarist, 32, 58. 
 
 Platner, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16. 
 
 Plautus, 67. 
 
 Pliny the Elder, 4, 10, 13, 16, 24, 26, 53. 
 
 — the Younger, 25, 29, 62, 64, 68. 
 
 Plotina, 17. 
 
 Plutarch, 9, 22, 53, 65. 
 
 pluteus, 28. 
 
 poets' club, 64. 
 
 Pollio, C. Asinius, 2, 4, 5, 24, 31, 49, 51. 
 
 — , Trebellius, 60. 
 
 Polybius, 67. 
 
 Pompeii, 26. 
 
 Pompey, 6, 49, 63. 
 
 Pontus, 65. 
 
 porticoes, 6, 7, 10, 18, 19, 62. 
 
 Porticus Metelli, 9. 
 
 — Octaviae. See Bibliotheca Porticus 
 
 Octaviae. 
 Preller, 3, 20. 
 Probus, 35. 
 Procopius, 17. 
 procurator a bibliothecis, 43. 
 procurator bibliothecarum, 41, 42, 43. 
 Propertius, 7. 
 propylaea, 8, 10. 
 Ptolemies, 2r. 
 publishers, 62, 64. 
 
 Quindecimviri, 33. 
 Quintilian, 29, 49, 62. 
 
 reading, 57-59, 67-69. 
 reading-desks, 28, 63. 
 reading-rooms, 14, 17, 18, 28. 
 Reed, 20. 
 
 Regionary Catalogues, 3. 
 registers, 14, 40. 
 
 salary of procurator, 43. 
 
 Saturninus, 25. 
 
 schola, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 schools, 61. 
 
 scribes, 47. 
 
 scrinarius, 48. 
 
 scrinmm, 27, 48. 
 
 secretaries, 47. 
 
 secretarium, 4. 
 
 Seneca, the Elder, 61. 
 
 Seneca, the Younger, 28, 62, 65, 68. 
 
 Senate, 7, 8, n, 25, 60, 68. 
 
 servi publici, 43. 
 
 servus notarius, 48. 
 
 Severus, 8, 10, 16. 
 
 Sextus, 48, 51. 
 
 Sicily, 6. 
 
 Sidonius, Apollinaris, 18, 37. 
 
 soothsayers, 6. 
 
 Sosii, 62. 
 
INDEX 
 
 77 
 
 spoils of war, 4, 17. 
 — , Judaean, 17. 
 Spain, Farther, 49. 
 Spoletum, 50. 
 
 statues, 7, 12, 13, 18, 24, 25, 59. 
 stenographers, 47 48,; 
 Strabo, 21, 53. 
 
 Suetonius, 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 32, 
 33> 40, 47, 48, 49, S°, 5*, S3, 54, SS, 
 
 59, 6°, 65, 67, 68. 
 Sulla, 65. 
 
 Sulpicius, Apollinaris, 35. 
 surveys of city, 57. 
 Syracuse, 13. 
 
 Tacitus, Cornelius, n, 15, 25, 33, 4°, 57, 
 
 60, 61, 68, 69. 
 
 — , Emperor, 39, 40, 68. 
 Temple of the Sun, 38. 
 temples, proximity of, 23. 
 Templum Aesculapii. See Bibliotheca 
 in Templo Aesculapii. 
 
 — Apollinis. See Bibliotheca Templi 
 Apollinis. 
 
 — Augusti. See Bibliotheca Templi 
 Augusti. 
 
 — Jovis, 8, 63. 
 
 — Junonis, 8. 
 
 — Pacis. See Bibliotheca in Templo 
 Pacis. 
 
 — Sacrae Urbis, 16, 23, 24, 36. 
 
 — Traiani. See Bibliotheca in Foro 
 Traiani. 
 
 Terence, 67. 
 
 Theater of Marcellus, 8, 9. 
 
 — of Pompey, 11. 
 Theodoric, 4. 
 Thermae Caracallae, 63. 
 
 — Diocletianae, 63. 
 
 Thucydides, 53. 
 
 Thyanus, Apollonius, 25. 
 
 Tiber, 8. 
 
 Tiberianus, 38. 
 
 Tiberius, 10, 11, 12, 13, 35, 40. 
 
 Tibur, 30, 59. 
 
 Tiroboschi, 36. 
 
 tihdus, 27. 
 
 Titus, 9, 10, 16, 33, 34, 36. 
 
 toga, 27. 
 
 Togata, 51. 
 
 Trabeata, 51. 
 
 Trajan, 18, 25, 37. 
 
 Trimalchio, 65. 
 
 Tryphon, 62. 
 
 umbilicus, 27. 
 
 Valerianus, 39. 
 Varius, 64. 
 
 Varro, 1, 2, 4, 5, 24, 36, 48, 49, 51, 65. 
 Vatican, 28. 
 Vespasian, 16. 
 Vestinus, 41, 42, 51. 
 Via Sacra, 7, 36. 
 Vicus Apollinis, 7. 
 — Sandalarius, 62. 
 vilicus, 45. 
 
 Virgil, 25, 26, 40, 49, 64. 
 Vitruvius, 12, 22, 23, 66. 
 wlumina, 27. 
 
 Vopiscus, 14, 18, 29, 3S, 37, 38, 39, 40, 
 46, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 63, 68. 
 
 wall paintings, 26. 
 walls, 26. 
 Woefflin, 35. 
 wood, 26.