ACTA DIURNA, called also Acta Populi, Acta Publica and simply Acta or Diurna, in imperial Rome a sort of daily gazette, containing an official narrative of noteworthy events at Rome. Its contents were partly official (court news, decrees, etc.), partly pri vate (notices of births, etc.). Thus to some extent it filled the place of the modern newspaper (q.v.). The Acta were originated by Julius Caesar, who ordered the keeping and publishing of the acts of the people by public officers. The Acta were exposed daily in a public place on a whitened board (see ALBUM). After remain ing there for a reasonable time they were taken down and pre served with other public docu ments, so that they might be available for reference.
The Acta differed from the Annals (discontinued in 133 B.c.) in that only the more im portant matters were given in the latter, while in the former things of less note were recorded. Their publication continued till the transference of the seat of the empire to Constantinople.
See Gaston Boissier, Tacitus and other Roman Studies (Eng. trans. W. G. Hutchison, 1906), p. 197-229.