“The classic pen was not a point, it was an edge; and a stiffish one too, and was not pressed upon appreciably. . . .

This tool was certainly established by the third century B.C, and was most usually made of reed (though metal pens of Roman make have been found), or of quill. . . .

Preceding either was no doubt a tool for scratching or cutting stone or bone, which became that chisel with which the magnificent Greek and Roman inscriptions were executed. . . . In only one detail of their draughtmanship is the chisel’s effect now evident, in what we call the serifs, or little finishing touches to heads and feet. . . . There was no occasion for the chisel to make strokes thin and thick except to conform to the standard set by the pen; and, indeed, we see that in the earlier Greek inscriptions, before this standard was acknowledged, the strokes are . . . fairly uniform in thickness.”

—Graily Hewitt, Lettering For Students & Craftsmen, 1930. Figure 9: “Rustic” Roman capitals from the third or fourth century.