The Roman empire was one of the most powerful ancient civilizations of all time. They also created the earliest form of a newspaper called the Acta.
One might think this newspaper would be filled with great stories like gladiators or crime. Instead it was just a few short selections from the Senate each day.
The original Acta was called the Acta Senatus under emperor Augustus. The emperor did not let anyone see these. That was until his successor Tiberius came around and kept them in private libraries. Select people were allowed to view these writings.
Under Julius Caesar’s reign, the Acta Diurna was born. This daily gazette was posted outside in public places for anyone to see the proceedings in the Senate.
The Romans probably had no idea what this little thing would actually lead to. You could even argue that the Acta helped pave the way for me to be writing this post. Even if print journalism does die out, it has had a much longer tenure than the Acta did. At least progress is being made and who knows what will be next after online journalism gets old!
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