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  1. Home
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  3. The Scribes of Rome
  • Cited by 11
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
September 2020
Print publication year:
2020
Online ISBN:
9781108656917
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108656917
Subjects:
Ancient History, Classical Studies
Information

Book description

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.

Reviews

‘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 Source: Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde

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