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taking [him], entrusted to him what was to be done. But he, deceiving this man, took with him the most faithful and especially honored of his own chartularii and dictated the watchword in grand Roman phrases, entrusting to the most trustworthy and distinguished man from the bureau the task of bringing the indignant man before the tribunal as if on wings. But since the clemency of the emperor and the affection of the magistrates for their subjects deemed those who were denounced worthy of pardon, it was fitting for the one being freed to acknowledge that he owed thanks to the intermediaries through his very deeds. 19 And attached almost to the scrinium of the comites was the so-called instrumentarius, that is, the keeper of the archives 162 of the court, for the purpose of signing and executing the decisions; and a space has been assigned to him from ancient times in the Hippodrome, under the imperial tribunal, to the south, as far as the so-called Sphendone, and all the proceedings of the greatest courts from the reign of Valens are preserved there and are so ready for those who seek them, as if they had been transacted only yesterday. But the instrumentarius himself has also disappeared, and his seat remains empty, conceded only to servants waiting for their masters. For since there is no decision or any other business, as is likely, not even being moved in the court, how could he be considered necessary for affairs?

CONCERNING THE AB ACTIS 20 Ab actis is the name of the office, and according to interpretation it signifies the one in charge of matters concerning

money, just as a pigmentis [means] those in charge of perfumes and a secretis those in charge of secrets—for not adsecretis as the common people say, from ignorance, with the letter delta of the preposition being added—and a sabanis those in charge of the baths of the court. And since there are two of these ab actis, whom time, according to rank, summons from the shorthand writers, just as those before them, six venerable and most intelligent men, still vigorous from the corps of the Augustales, supposedly still assist now in name. Their task is to tractare, that is, to investigate, financial cases, and to bring them before the tribunal to be judged, with the nomenclatores assisting them, whom we have previously said were criers and conveners, 164 formerly of the senators, but now of the forensic orators. And there was a law—for it no longer exists, having just been overlooked out of foolishness or, to tell the truth, misfortune—that everything should be recorded by their attending chartularii, also from the shorthand writers, in the so-called regesta or cottidiana, that is, the daily records. The Romans are accustomed to call regesta the books in which they record what is done, because they wish res gestas to be the acts of the state, whence there is a convenient brevity in finding whatever was transacted for those who are seeking it at any time; for from the regesta themselves, also called cottidiana, the substance of the transactions was known. But the instrumentarius of the bureau, receiving [the documents] from the ab actis, noting the date and the consul in summary for the sake of quick recollection, was more quickly freed from his labors. And this wonderful mark of good order was done with diligence, and every occasion was recorded in the daily journals, with not even the idle days being omitted by those making the records, but they even recorded the reasons why it happened that they were idle. And this was wonderful, but the recording of the so-called personalia was justly considered better than all praise. For the most eloquent of the assistants would paraphrase the decisions in the Italian tongue in such detail, that, even if it ever happened that the decision was lost, the decision could be reconstituted again from the paraphrase alone as from a sketch. And I myself remember this happening. For when a decision was introduced

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λαμβάνων, τὸ πρακτέον ἐπέτρεπεν αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ λαθὼν τοῦτον τὸν πιστότατον ἅμα καὶ μάλιστα τετιμένον τῶν οἰκείων χαρτουλαρίων παραλαβὼν μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ ὑπηγόρευε Ῥωμαϊκῶν ὀγκῶν ῥημάτων τὸ σύνθημα, κατ' ὦπα τῶν ἐκ τάξεως πιστικωτάτῳ ἅμα καὶ διαπρέποντι καταπιστεύων ὥσπερ πτηνὸν τὸν ἀγανακτούμενον παριστᾶν τῷ βήματι. τῆς δὲ βασιλέως ἐπιεικείας καὶ τῆς τῶν ἀρχόντων ἔτι περὶ τοὺς ὑπηκόους στοργῆς συγγνώμης ἀξιουσῶν τοὺς καταρρηθέντας, εἰκὸς ἦν τὸν ἐλευθερούμενον εὐχαριστίας δι' αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων τοῖς μέσοις ὁμολογεῖν ὀφειλεῖν. 19 Καὶ συνῆπτο σχεδὸν τῷ σκρινίῳ τῶν κομμέντων ὁ καλούμενος ἰνστρουμεντάριος, ἀντὶ τοῦ χαρτοφύλαξ τῶν ἀρχείων 162 τοῦ δικαστηρίου, εἰς τὸ ὑπογράφειν καὶ πληροῦν τὰς ψήφους· καὶ χῶρος μὲν αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ἱπποδρομίῳ ὑπὸ τῷ τῆς βασιλείας βήματι ἐπὶ τὸν νότον ἄχρι τῆς καλουμένης Σφενδόνος ἐξ ἀρχαίου παρακεχώρηται, πάντα δὲ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλείας Οὐάλεντος ἐν τοῖς τότε μεγίστοις δικαστηρίοις πεπραγμένα αὐτόθι σῴζεται καὶ τοῖς ἐπιζητοῦσιν οὕτως ἐστὶν ἕτοιμα, ὡς εἰ χθὲς τυχὸν πεπραγμένα. ἀπώλετο δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἰνστρουμεντάριος καὶ ἔρημος ἡ καθέδρα μένει, μόνοις οἰκέταις ἀναμένουσι τοὺς κεκτημένους ἐγκεχωρημένη. διαγνώσεως γὰρ οὐκ οὔσης ἢ ἄλλου πρακτέου τινός, ὡς εἰκός, οὐδὲ κινουμένης ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, πῶς ἂν αὐτὸς ἀναγκαῖος εἶναι τοῖς πράγμασιν νομισθείη;

ΠΕΡῚ ΤΩ͂Ν ἈΒ ἌΚΤΙΣ 20 Ἀβ ἄκτις μὲν ὄνομα τῷ φροντίσματι, σημαίνει δὲ καθ' ἑρμηνείαν τὸν τοῖς ἐπὶ

χρήμασι πραττομένοις ἐφεστῶτα, ὡς ἀ πιγμέντις τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀρωμάτων καὶ ἀ σηκρήτις τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν σηκρήτων οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀδσηκρήτις κατὰ τοὺς ἰδιώτας, ἐξ ἀγνοίας μετὰ τοῦ δέλτα στοιχείου τῆς προθέσεως ἐπιβαλλομένης καὶ ἀ σαβάνις τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν βαλανείων τῆς αὐλῆς. δύο δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν ὄντων τῶν ἀβ ἄκτις, οὓς κατὰ βαθμὸν ὁ χρόνος ἀπὸ τῶν ταχυγράφων, καθάπερ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτῶν, καλεῖ, ἓξ ἄνδρες σεβαστοὶ καὶ νουνεχέστατοι καὶ σφριγῶντες ἔτι ἀπὸ τοῦ τάγματος τῶν Αὐγουσταλίων βοηθοῦσι δῆθεν ἔτι καὶ νῦν τῷ ὀνόματι. ἔργον δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰς χρηματικὰς ὑποθέσεις τρακτεύειν, ἀντὶ τοῦ διαψηλαφᾶν, καὶ εἰσφέρειν κριθησομένας τῷ βήματι, ὑπουργούντων αὐτοῖς τῶν νωμενκουλατώρων, οὓς ἀναφωνητὰς καὶ συναγωγεῖς, 164 πάλαι μὲν τῶν συγκλητικῶν, νῦν δὲ τῶν δικανικῶν ῥητόρων εἶναι προειρήκαμεν. νόμος δὲ ἦν καὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἄρτι παροφθεὶς ἐξ ἀβελτερίας ἤ, τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, κακοδαιμονίας πάντα διὰ τῶν παρόντων αὐτοῖς χαρτουλαρίων, καὶ αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ταχυγράφων, ἀναφαίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν λεγομένων ῥεγέστων ἢ κοττιδιανῶν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐφημέρων ῥέγεστα δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τὰς βίβλους, αἷς ἐνέγραφον τὰ πραττόμενα συνεῖδον ὀνομάζειν, ὅτι ῥῆς γέστας τὰς πράξεις τοῦ πολιτεύματος εἶναι βούλονται, ἔνθεν τοῖς ὅτε δή ποτε ζητοῦσι τὰ ὅτε δή ποτε πεπραγμένα συντόμως περὶ τὴν εὕρεσιν εὐκολία· ἐξ αὐτῶν γὰρ τῶν ῥεγέστων, τῶν καὶ κοττιδιανῶν, ἡ δύναμις τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐγινώσκετο. θᾶττον δὲ ὁ τῆς τάξεως ἰνστρουμεντάριος λαμβάνων ἀπὸ τῶν ἀβ ἄκτις, τὸν χρόνον καὶ τὸν ὕπατον ἐν ἐπιτόμῳ σημειούμενος πρὸς ταχεῖαν ἀνάμνησιν λόγῳ, θᾶττον ἀπηλλάττετο πόνων. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν τὸ θαυμαστὸν γνώρισμα τῆς εὐταξίας ἐπράττετο μετὰ σπουδῆς, καὶ πᾶς καιρὸς τοῖς ἐφημέροις ἐνεγράφετο, μηδὲ τῶν ἀπράκτων ἡμερῶν παραλιμπανομένων τοῖς ἀναγράφουσιν, ἀλλ' αὐτῶν ἔτι καὶ τὰς αἰτίας ὧν ἕνεκα ἀργὰς αὐτὰς εἶναι συνέβαινεν ἀναγραφόντων. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν θαυμαστὸν ἦν, ἡ δὲ τῶν λεγομένων περσωναλίων ἀναγραφὴ παντὸς ἐπαίνου κρείττων δικαίως ἐνομίζετο. τὰς γὰρ διαγνώσεις περιέφραζεν Ἰταλίδι ὁ τῶν βοηθούντων λογικώτατος οὕτω κατὰ λεπτόν, ὥστε, κἂν εἰ τυχὸν παραπολέσθαι τὴν διάγνωσιν συνέβη ποτέ, ἐξ αὐτῆς μόνης τῆς παραφράσεως καὶ ὡς ὑποτυπώσεως αὖθις δύνασθαι στῆναι τὴν διάγνωσιν. καὶ τοῦτο συμβὰν ἐγὼ αὐτὸς διαμέμνημαι. διαγνώσεως γὰρ εἰσαχθείσης