Marcus Tullius Tiro
You might think to yourself, "Who the hell is Marcus Tullius Tiro and why should I even care?" I assure you... you will find this short read worthy of your time. Marcus Tullius Tiro, most commonly known as Tiro, has been immortalized. Why and how has he gained eternal fame? Please allow me to show you.
Tiro is not a king or a famous warrior like Achilles was. Tiro was born a slave! Unfortunately, historians have not been able to accurately pinpoint where and when he was born. It was estimated, by extrapolating info from primary sources like notes from Jerome that he was born around 103 B.C.but Cicero's papers seem to make Tiro out to be much younger. It is also assumed that Tiro was born in Cicero's household in Arpinum.
Cicero was known as one of the greatest orators of all time in Roman history. His path to fame wasn't a lonely one. Tiro was fortunate that Cicero's father recognized Tiro's aptitude for learning. What Cicero's father did was send Tiro along with Cicero to his lessons. Sometimes these lessons sent Cicero and Tiro far away from Arpinum to study under Stoics and other philosophers. All of these lessons taught Cicero and Tiro how to write, think, and captivate the public by applying several body language tricks. If you pay attention to USA politics, you will notice that every POTUS has their own style of hand gestures that they use while speaking to the camera or the public.
Tiro did not let these lessons go to waste. He worked with Cicero ceaselessly and it comes as no surprise that the two developed a tight bond. Cicero trusted Tiro absolutely to the point where Tiro would sit in on Cicero's meetings and take notes verbatim. These meetings were often hosted by the Rome's elite members who objected to Tiro's presence (slaves were not welcome at the table), so Tiro would sit behind a wall in which he could comfortably eavesdrop and take notes. Other meetings were obviously at Cicero's residence. Tiro later built such a reputation as a meticulous note taker that he was no longer required to sit behind walls but nearby the table or situation. I recall reading one time that Tiro was challenged by Cicero's colleagues to recall word-for-word what had just been said for the past 15 minutes. Tiro looked at his paper and read it all back to them with absolute accuracy. It stunned them all, so they didn't really mind his presence since he wasn't an uneducated slave but Cicero's right hand man.
Imagine yourself writing furiously, trying to keep up with a conversation. Tiro found himself incapable of keeping up comfortably so he made up a short hand writing system called Tironian Notation.
Tironian Notation was proven so effective that monks in the 11th century used it and expanded the 4-5000 symbols to 13,000 "scribal abbreviations." Tiro died around 4 BC and his notation system existed for over a thousand years after his death! Tironian Notation's widespread use ended around 1600s but it still exists today.
On this parking sign you will see a "7" on the first line. That is Tiro's shorthand for "et." STILL ALIVE! Tip your collective hats to Tiro for an incredible rags-to-riches story. Cicero freed Tiro and gave him a farm of his dreams to live the rest of his days. However, Tiro still worked for Cicero until Cicero's death. Tiro, profoundly loyal to Cicero, collected all of Cicero's works and had them published.
You the man, Tiro.
Until next time on Small Samples of History,
Ryan
Tiro is not a king or a famous warrior like Achilles was. Tiro was born a slave! Unfortunately, historians have not been able to accurately pinpoint where and when he was born. It was estimated, by extrapolating info from primary sources like notes from Jerome that he was born around 103 B.C.but Cicero's papers seem to make Tiro out to be much younger. It is also assumed that Tiro was born in Cicero's household in Arpinum.
Cicero was known as one of the greatest orators of all time in Roman history. His path to fame wasn't a lonely one. Tiro was fortunate that Cicero's father recognized Tiro's aptitude for learning. What Cicero's father did was send Tiro along with Cicero to his lessons. Sometimes these lessons sent Cicero and Tiro far away from Arpinum to study under Stoics and other philosophers. All of these lessons taught Cicero and Tiro how to write, think, and captivate the public by applying several body language tricks. If you pay attention to USA politics, you will notice that every POTUS has their own style of hand gestures that they use while speaking to the camera or the public.
Tiro did not let these lessons go to waste. He worked with Cicero ceaselessly and it comes as no surprise that the two developed a tight bond. Cicero trusted Tiro absolutely to the point where Tiro would sit in on Cicero's meetings and take notes verbatim. These meetings were often hosted by the Rome's elite members who objected to Tiro's presence (slaves were not welcome at the table), so Tiro would sit behind a wall in which he could comfortably eavesdrop and take notes. Other meetings were obviously at Cicero's residence. Tiro later built such a reputation as a meticulous note taker that he was no longer required to sit behind walls but nearby the table or situation. I recall reading one time that Tiro was challenged by Cicero's colleagues to recall word-for-word what had just been said for the past 15 minutes. Tiro looked at his paper and read it all back to them with absolute accuracy. It stunned them all, so they didn't really mind his presence since he wasn't an uneducated slave but Cicero's right hand man.
Imagine yourself writing furiously, trying to keep up with a conversation. Tiro found himself incapable of keeping up comfortably so he made up a short hand writing system called Tironian Notation.
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| Tironian Notation |
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| Modern day use of Tironian Notation in Ireland |
You the man, Tiro.
Until next time on Small Samples of History,
Ryan
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