scriba

scriba is a Latin noun meaning scribe or clerk, designating a professional writer who performed administrative and documentary tasks in ancient and medieval contexts. The term is the ancestor of the English scribe and appears in Romance languages as escriba in Spanish and scriba in Italian and other forms.

In ancient Rome, scribae served as public scribes within magistrates’ offices, the treasury, and provincial administrations. They drafted decrees, kept records, prepared accounts, and handled official correspondence. The position was often occupied by freedmen or other literate workers who gained influence through reliability and familiarity with legal formulas. Scribae operated under the supervision of higher officials, and their careers depended on bureaucratic service rather than popular prestige.

During the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, scriba remained a Latin occupational title. In monastic scriptoria, scribae copied manuscripts, prepared texts, and produced liturgical books. In secular administration and law, scribae functioned as notaries or clerks who drew up charters, records, and legal acts. The term persisted in ecclesiastical Latin and in historical descriptions of administration, gradually giving way to vernacular terms.

In contemporary usage, scriba is mainly encountered in scholarly or historical writing about ancient Rome, medieval society, or the Latin language. The English derivative scribe is the common term in modern contexts, while the word appears in inherited forms in some Romance languages. See also: Scribe.