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Acta
KAJA HARTER-UIBOPUU

Acta in a legal and technical sense were written

records of actions and decisions of magistrates,
courts, and other public authorities; by Late
Antiquity they could also include private
documents if these were read into the acta,
which would have occurred to ensure enforcement, verification, and proof (Steinwenter
1915: 38).
Among the records of public authorities the
acta senatus could have been a very important
historical source for ancient historians like
Tacitus, although none before Late Antiquity
survive to us (Wenger 1953: 38895). Caesar
allegedly ordered the complete minutes of the
meetings to be published in the acta diurna
(Suet. Iul. 20.1, but see White 1997). These
protocols of the sessions of the Senate, even
when functioning as a court, were recorded
and preserved through Late Antiquity (CT
praef.). There is still discussion about the content and legal status of the acta Caesaris,
unpublished documents that Caesar had
drawn up which had not been posted officially and were ratified only after his death
(Matijevic 2006). In the same way all the
decisions of the emperor (see CONSTITUTIONES)
were registered and filed in archives (Wenger
1953: 4389). If necessary, they could be
rescinded after the death or the deposition of
an emperor (acta rescindere, Suet. Div.Iul. 82.4;
acta subvertere, Tac. Ann. 13.5; still one has to
bear in mind the possibility that these terms
were used in a nontechnical sense). Further

acta are attested for the provincial governors

(Euseb. Hist. eccl. 5.18.9; Haensch 1992),
municipal authorities (CIL VIII Suppl. 15497;
CIL XI 3614), and procuratores.
All documents produced as evidence during
a court hearing and thus having been read
into the protocol as well as the protocol of
the hearing itself, the written version of a
verdict, and any private transaction that had
been certified by a court this way could be
called acta as well, although from the third
century CE the term GESTA was more common.
The acta urbis, which informed the public
regularly about civic and court events and
other news of the day, by contrast developed
no legal significance. Kept by the procurator ab
actis, they existed until the third century CE
(Kubitschek 1895: 2905).
SEE ALSO:

Commentariis, a.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Haensch, R. (1992) Das Statthalterarchiv.
Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur
Rechtsgeschichte (Romanistische Abteilung) 109:
209317.
Kubitschek, W. (1895) Acta. RE I 1: 285301.
Stuttgart.
Matijevic, K. (2006) Cicero, Antonius und die
acta Caesaris. Historia 55: 42650.
Steinwenter, A. (1915) Beitrage zum offentlichen
Urkundenwesen der Romer. Graz.
Wenger, L. (1953) Die Quellen des romischen
Rechts. Vienna.
White, P. (1997) Julius Caesar and the
publication of acta in late republican Rome.
Chiron 27: 738.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print page 52.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah13003