notarii

NOTA´RIIshorthand writers, were slaves or freedmen (see preceding article) whom wealthy Romans kept in their service and often took about with them on their travels (Plin. Ep. 3.5, 9.36-Z2; Mart. 10.62). They were employed for taking notes in the law-courts (Mart. 5.51, &c.), and were sometimes called actuarii (Suet. Jul. 55). They were also employed by the emperors (Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 28, Aurel. 36; Trebell. Claud. 14), and in course of time the title of notarii was exclusively applied to the private secretaries of the emperors, who, of course, were no longer slaves, but persons of high rank. The shorthand writers were now called exceptores. On the re-organisation of the empire by Constantine, the notarii were constituted into a kind of imperial chancery, who, in addition to their regular duties, were frequently employed by the emperor on important public missions. The first of them in rank was called Primicerius Notariorum, and the second, Secundicerius Notariorum. Others were called tribuni et notarii, and another class domestici et notarii, who probably acted specially as private secretaries of the emperors. Others again who served under the Praefecti Praetorii were called Notarii Praetoriani (Cod. Theod. 6, tit. 10; Cassiod. Var. 6.16; Pauly, Real Encycl. s. v.; Becker-Göll, Gallus, 1.62; Walter, Gesch. des römischen Rechts, § 345, 2nd ed.)

Short-hand writers. See notae.