Acta Diurna (Latin for Daily Acts, sometimes translated as Daily Public Records or as Daily Gazette) were daily Roman official notices, a sort of daily gazette. They were carved on stone or metal and presented in message boards in public places such as the Forum of Rome. They also were called simply Acta. In many ways, they functioned like an early newspaper for the Roman citizenry. The Acta were begun in 59 BC and continued until AD 222.
History
Acta Diurna, also called Acta Populi, Acta Publica, and simply Acta or Diurna, in ancient Rome was a sort of daily government gazette, containing an officially authorized narrative of noteworthy events at Rome. Its contents were partly official (court news, decrees of the Roman emperor, Roman Senate, and Roman magistrates), and partly private (notices of births, marriages, and deaths). Thus, to some extent it filled the place of the modern newspaper.