The Romans wrote only in capital letters. It was easier to carve the letters into stone and wood as it was neater and clearer to read. This font became known as ROMAN.
In 1931, The Times, a London newspaper, commissioned Victor Lardent to formalise the font for the newspaper to use. It became known as TIMES ROMAN. In 1932 the revised version of the font appeared and was called TIMES NEW ROMAN.
(It is still hotly debated as to who actually came up with the font, and what exactly it was based on. But this seems to be the theory most historians tend to support).
Centuries later, a style, easier to write, which was more flowing and joined-up emerged in Venice in Italy. This became known as ITALICA, or as we call it ITALIC.
