Fact · Dictation
2scribes kept busy at once (at least)
Plutarch reports that Caesar practiced dictating letters on horseback while keeping two scribes busy at once, or more.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“And in the Gallic campaigns he practiced dictating letters on horseback and keeping two scribes at once busy, or, as Oppius says, even more.”
Plutarch, Life of Caesar 17 (Perrin translation, Perseus Digital Library), Plutarch, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, c. 100, Section 17 of the Life of Caesar, Perrin translation.
Open the original- What it measures
- The passage describes Caesar's campaigns in Gaul in the 50s BC, when he was dictating letters to several scribes.
- What it does not show
- Plutarch wrote about a century later and relies on named reports, including Oppius, so the number is a reported figure, not a record.