Note 110 — LIFE OF CAIUS GRACCHUS.

The Roman stilus, which Plutarch translates by graphium (γραφεῖον), “a writing instrument,” was of metal, iron or brass, sharp at one end and flat at the other. The point was used for writing on tablets which were smeared with wax: the other end was used for erasing what was written and making the surface even again. The word was often used by the best Roman writers in a metaphorical sense to express the manner and character of a written composition, and from them it has passed into some of the modern languages of Europe, our own among the rest: thus we speak of a good style, a bad style of writing, and so on.