[Teaser] Did the Romans Read?

Here's a preview of our upcoming video Did the Romans Read?, a video collaboration with Daniel Greene!

Introduction:

Contrary to popular belief, the ancient world was not as primitive and illiterate as we make it out to be. In fact, as we explore the Roman period we uncover a surprisingly rich landscape of literature filled with works of fiction and non-fiction with genres ranging from adventure to romance, comedy, proto-science fiction, and more. So today, let’s explore what the Romans were reading and have our friend Daniel Greene share his thoughts on one of these works!

Literacy Rates

Before we look at what the Romans were reading I’d like to talk about WHO was reading in the first place. However even today, estimating literacy rates can be quite difficult to pin down. This is even more true when it comes to antiquity. Much academic debate surrounds the subject of literacy in the Roman world with ranges varying greatly from low model estimates of around 1% to high model estimates of around 20%. Naturally these figures will rise and fall depending on definitions, time periods, locations, and demographics.

Probably the most influential historian in this field is William Harris, who wrote the book “Ancient Literacy” in 1989. In this work he turns to many sources including rural literacy data from the 19th century to construct a model for the past. One of his main conclusions is that quote “the likely range for the overall literacy level of the Roman Empire under the principate is almost certain to have been under 10%. Even in the most advanced cities the level of literacy, including women and country people, is far below 50%.” Yet while Harris’s work is certainly a solid way to begin exploring this topic it should be noted that it is missing the more recent developments in how the academic world looks at literacy.

As is always the case, when crafting hypotheses about such nebulous topics there is much debate. Simply defining what literacy means can be difficult. Do you have to read AND write? To what level of proficiency? In what quantities or frequency? How do oral traditions factor in? Even if you do agree on criteria the evidence we have is limited, anecdotal, and open to interpretation. Is graffiti in a public restroom proof of literacy? How about the use of seat numbers on sporting tickets, writing spells in curse tablets, writing spells in curse tablets or the signing of names on military rosters? And what of the reported practice that children learned their letters from recitations of literature such as Vergil’s Aeneid and that often? As you can see it's easy to start going down a rabbit hole here.

Proponents of higher literacy rates certainly do have a case to make and it will be worth discussing this briefly. One popular example is the examination of graffiti in the city of Pompeii. Its scratched out on virtually all surfaces with everything from jokes, to insults, ads for prostitution, and rewards for the return of stolen good. But this sort of everyday writing isn't just limited to bits written passingly by the locals or by tourists either: there are painted posters advertising games, political campaigns, and shop signs everywhere. Given their sheer ubiquity and reliance on text it certainly seems like their creators were writing for an audience which they expected to be literate and even multi-lingual. Such a mindset also appears when we look at Roman laws and decrees. In many cases they include clauses requiring their public display. Here is a relevant excerpt from the Lex Irnitana - this law must be “inscribed in bronze and affixed in the most highly trafficked area of the city so that it might be easily read from the ground level." On top of this you can look at trends of bureaucratization, socio-economic factors, and more. Honestly we could get mired in debates over literacy rates for quite a while.

For the sake of this video we can leave things here with the understanding that literacy was likely higher than we might expect at the outset. This included not just the elite ruling men but women, commoners, and even slaves. So what kinds of things were people reading?