Everyday Writing in the Graeco-Roman East: Volume 69 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780520267022)

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.

Author: Roger S. Bagnall
ISBN-10: 0520267028
ISBN-13: 9780520267022
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 01/05/2011
Pages: 200
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.10w x 0.80d