Editing Marcus Tullius Tiro

{{Short description|Secretary and personal assistant to Marcus Tullius Cicero}}

'''Marcus Tullius Tiro''' (died 4&nbsp;BC) was first a [[Roman slave|slave]], then a [[freedman]], of [[Cicero]] from whom he received his [[Nomen gentilicium|nomen]] and [[praenomen]]. He is frequently mentioned in Cicero's letters. After Cicero's death Tiro published his former master's collected works of letters and speeches. He also wrote a considerable number of books himself, and is thought to have invented an early form of [[shorthand]].

==Life==
The year of Tiro's birth is uncertain. Groebe, in the [[Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft|''Realencyclopädie'']], places it at 103&nbsp;BC per a statement in [[Jerome]] that Tiro died in his hundredth year; this dating, however, is unlikely given that Cicero's letters imply that he was much younger.<ref>{{harnvb|Tempest|2012}}, citing {{harnvb|Groebe|1943|loc=col. 1319}}, itself citing Euseb. ''Chron.'' Olymp. 194. {{harvnb|McDermott|1972|p=263}}, citing, Cic. ''Att.'' 6.7.2 (calling Tiro {{lang|la|adulescens}} in 50&nbsp;BC).</ref> Moreover, because valuable slaves usually received their freedom within a few years, Kathryn Tempest in the ''Encyclopedia of Ancient History'', along with William McDermott in ''Historia'', place his birth {{circa|80&nbsp;BC}}.{{sfnm|Tempest|2012|McDermott|1972|2p=264}}

There is no clear evidence of Tiro's parents or of his status as ''verna'' (slave born into a master's household).{{sfn|McDermott|1972|p=264}} That said, he was probably ''verna'' and various scholars have speculated as to his birth parents. Groebe suggested he could have been born into Cicero's grandfather's household by a prisoner; others have suggested he could have been Cicero's son by a slave mistress, but this "should not be taken too seriously".{{sfnm|McDermott|1972|1pp=264–65|1ps=, citing {{harvnb|Groebe|1943|loc=col. 1319}}|Tempest|2012|2ps=, suggestion of illegitimacy "should not be taken too seriously".}} Literary evidence of Tiro's activities grows, due to Cicero's letters, for Tiro's later life. Cicero frequently refers to Tiro in his letters (more than sixty such letters, with the whole 16th book of Cicero's letters to friends included).{{sfn|Tempest|2012}} His duties included taking dictation, deciphering Cicero's handwriting and managing his table,<ref>Cic. ''Fam.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+11.22 11.22]</ref> as well as his garden<ref>Cic. ''Fam.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Atext%3DF%3Abook%3D16%3Aletter%3D20 16.20]</ref> and financial affairs.<ref>Cic. ''Fam.'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20071004201142/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin//ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.23 16.23], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.24 16.24]</ref>

Tiro's first appearance in the Ciceronean corpus is when Cicero seconded him to his brother [[Quintus Tullius Cicero]] to write political reports in 54&nbsp;BC. Some date his manumission to this year, but it is more likely that he was [[Manumission|manumitted]] the next year in April 53&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2012}}, citing {{cite book |last1=Tyrell |first1=RY |last2=Purser |first2=LC |title=The correspondence of M Tullius Cicero |year=1933 |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Longmans |at=Cic. ''Fam.'' 16.13}}</ref> When Tiro was freed, with much celebration, he adopted Cicero's ''praenomen'' (''Marcus'') and ''nomen'' (''Tullius'');{{sfn|Beard|2015|p=285}} A letter from Cicero to Quintus describing the ceremony is lost, but letters from Quintus commending Cicero for his decision survive.<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2012|ps=, adding "Quintus later commended Cicero on [manumitting Tiro], for [Quintus] thought that Tiro was a friend rather than a slave to the family".}}</ref> It is possible that [[Pompey]] was present in an official capacity.

Afterwards, he accompanied Cicero to [[Cilicia]] during Cicero's governorship there.<ref>Cicero, ''Letters to Atticus'' [http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=PerseusLatinTexts&getid=1&query=Cic.%20Att.%206.7 6.7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721191413/http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=PerseusLatinTexts&getid=1&query=Cic.%20Att.%206.7 |date=2015-07-21 }}</ref> On his return from Cilicia in 51&nbsp;BC, Tiro fell seriously ill; Cicero's letters show the strength of their friendship and how Cicero regularly wrote to check on Tiro's health.{{sfnm|Tempest|2012|Badian|2012}} Many of Cicero's letters refer with concern to his illnesses.<ref>e.g. Cicero, ''Letters to Atticus'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin////ptext?lookup=Cic.+Att.+6.7 6.7]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}; ''Letters to Friends'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.8 16.8],  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.9 16.9], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Aid%3Dsa1c4 16.10]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.11 16.11], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.13 16.13], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Aid%3Dsa1c3 16.15]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Tiro not only assisted Cicero in secretarial work, but also helped to proofread manuscripts, supervise copyists, and also help in private and financial matters. In 47&nbsp;BC, for example, Tiro managed the leasing out of Cicero's gardens in [[Tusculum]], oversaw the provision of water to the villa, catalogued the books at Cicero's estate, and tried to reconcile Cicero's daughter [[Tullia (daughter of Cicero)|Tullia]] with her husband. He also was the point of contact for Cicero's financial matters: when Cicero divorced [[Terentia]], his friend [[Titus Pomponius Atticus]] wrote to Tiro about repayment of Terentia's [[dowry]].{{sfn|Tempest|2012}}

He also pursued private ventures: letters to that effect describe such ventures in 44&nbsp;BC, when he also bought a small farm probably near [[Pozzuoli|Puteoli]],{{sfn|Tempest|2012}} where Jerome says he died in 4&nbsp;BC in "his hundredth year".<ref>Cicero, ''Letters to Friends'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+16.21 16.21]; Jerome, ''Chronological Tables'' [http://www.attalus.org/translate/jerome2.html 194.1]; William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061207013811/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3486.html vol. 3 p. 1182]}}</ref>

==Writings==
[[File:Notes tironiennes (édition Wilhelm Schmitz, 1893).jpg|thumb]]
After Cicero's death, Tiro published some of his patron's speeches and letters, along with a collection of jokes and a biography; scholars believe the biography was later used as a main source in the historical works of [[Plutarch]], [[Tacitus]], and [[Aulus Gellius]].{{sfnm|Badian|2012|Tempest|2012}} He had started collecting and editing Cicero's correspondence by 46 or 45&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Tempest|2012}} It seems Tiro also was a prolific writer himself: several ancient writers refer to works of Tiro, including a book on grammar.{{sfn|Badian|2012}} [[Aulus Gellius]] says, "[he] wrote several books on the usage and theory of the Latin language and on miscellaneous questions of various kinds," and quotes him on the difference between Greek and Latin names for certain stars.<ref>[[Aulus Gellius]], ''Attic Nights'' 13.9 (Loeb edition, translated by John C. Rolfe, 1961)</ref> [[Asconius Pedianus]], in his commentaries on Cicero's speeches, refers to a biography of Cicero by Tiro in at least four books,<ref>[[Asconius Pedianus]], ''In Milone'' 38</ref> and [[Plutarch]] refers to him as a source for two incidents in Cicero's life.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Cicero'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cicero*.html#41 41], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cicero*.html#49 49]</ref> 

He is credited with inventing the [[shorthand]] system of [[Tironian notes]], later used by [[medieval monks]], among others. There is no clear evidence that he did, although Plutarch credits Cicero's clerks as the first Romans to record speeches in shorthand.<ref>Plutarch, ''[[Cato the Younger]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cato_Minor*.html#23.3 23.3]</ref>

==Tiro in fiction==
* Tiro appears as a recurring character in [[Steven Saylor]]'s ''[[Roma Sub Rosa]]'' crime fiction series, where he occupies the role of sometime sidekick to Saylor's investigator hero, [[Gordianus the Finder]].
* He is the first-person narrator in the three books of [[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]]'s biographical-fiction trilogy of Cicero: ''[[Imperium (Harris novel)|Imperium]]'' (2006), ''[[Lustrum (novel)|Lustrum]]'' (2009, published in the US as ''[[Conspirata (novel)|Conspirata]]''), and ''[[Dictator (Harris novel)|Dictator]]'' (2015). 
* Tiro appears in several books in the [[SPQR series]] by [[John Maddox Roberts]].{{CN|date=October 2016}}
* Tiro (spelled Tyro) appears in the television historical drama ''[[Rome (TV series)|Rome]]'', played by [[Clive Riche]] in the episodes "[[Son of Hades]]", "[[These Being the Words of Marcus Tullius Cicero]]", "[[Heroes of the Republic]]", and "[[Philippi (Rome)|Philippi]]". This version of Tiro appears to be older than Cicero, and is only freed in Cicero's will.

==See also==
*[[List of slaves]]
*[[Slavery in Ancient Rome]]

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{reflist|15em}}

'''Sources'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Badian |first=Ernst |title=Tullius (''RE'' 52) Tiro, Marcus |encyclopedia=The Oxford classical dictionary |year=2012 |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first3=Esther |editor-last3=Eidinow |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |oclc=959667246 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=1520 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.6602 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Beard |first=Mary |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/902661394 |title=SPQR: a history of ancient Rome |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-87140-423-7 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=902661394 |publisher=Liveright Publishing}}
* {{cite wikisource |last=Groebe |first=P |wslink=RE:Tullius 52 |title=Tullius 52 |encyclopedia=Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft |year=1943 |volume=VII A,2 |publisher=Butcher |location=Stuttgart |wslanguage=de |at=cols. 1319–25 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=McDermott |first=William C |date=1972 |title=M Cicero and M Tiro |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435264 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=259–286 |jstor=4435264 |issn=0018-2311}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Tempest |first=Kathryn |title=Tiro, Marcus Tullius |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Ancient History |year=2012 |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20134 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9781444338386 }}
{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiro, Marcus Tullius}}
[[Category:4 BC deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:Republican era slaves and freedmen]]
[[Category:Creators of writing systems]]
[[Category:Tullii]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Cicero]]