The Scribes of Rome
The Scribes of Rome
In a society in which only a fraction of the population was literate and numerate, being one of the few specialists in reading, writing and reckoning meant the possession of an invaluable asset. The fact that the Roman state heavily relied on these professional scribes in financial and legal administration led to their holding a unique position and status. By gathering and analysing the available source material on the Roman scribae, Benjamin Hartmann traces the history of Rome's public scribes from the early Republic to the Later Roman Empire. He tells the story of men of low social origin, who, by means of their specialised knowledge, found themselves at the heart of the Roman polity, in close proximity to the powerful and responsible for the written arcana of the state – a story of knowledge and power, corruption and contested social mobility.
- The first book-length treatment of the subject
- Adopts a thematic rather than a chronological approach
- Focuses on cultural and social history within an overarching theoretical framework
Reviews & endorsements
'Hartmann's important, fundamental overview of the social position and mobility of the scribes, their work and the institutional framework will hopefully stimulate further worthwhile research.' Alexander Reis, Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde
Product details
September 2021Paperback
9781108713740
250 pages
229 × 152 × 13 mm
0.343kg
8 b/w illus. 1 table
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Imagining the Roman scriba
- 2. The human archive
- 3. The attendant
- 4. The profiteer
- 5. The parvenu
- 6. The Roman scriba reimagined
- Appendix The Roman scribae
- Bibliography
- General index
- Index locorum.
