ENGLISH

Everyday Writing in the Graeco-Roman East

By Roger S. Bagnall

Book information

Publisher
University of California Press
Year
2011
ISBN
0520267028, 9780520267022
Google Books ID
W1g3oYLFqiIC
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
2 MB (2224513 bytes)
Series
Sather Classical Lectures
Edition
1st Edition
Pages
122\122
Orientation
no
Scanned
no
Time added
2012-03-09 12:00:00

Description

Most of the everyday writing from the ancient world--that is, informal writing not intended for a long life or wide public distribution--has perished. Reinterpreting the silences and blanks of the historical record, leading papyrologist Roger S. Bagnall convincingly argues that ordinary people--from Britain to Egypt to Afghanistan--used writing in their daily lives far more extensively than has been recognized. Marshalling new and little-known evidence, including remarkable graffiti recently discovered in Smyrna, Bagnall presents a fascinating analysis of writing in different segments of society. His book offers a new picture of literacy in the ancient world in which Aramaic rivals Greek and Latin as a great international language, and in which many other local languages develop means of written expression alongside these metropolitan tongues.

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