The Scribes of Rome: A Cultural and Social History of the Scribae [Hardcover]

How social and political underdogs, yet literate professionals at the heart of the Roman state, exploited their expertise and influence.Explores the lives of Rome's public scribes, the scribae. In analysing a wide range of source material, it examines the cultural significance of these literate experts and their work and its implication for their position in Roman society and the state.Explores the lives of Rome's public scribes, the scribae. In analysing a wide range of source material, it examines the cultural significance of these literate experts and their work and its implication for their position in Roman society and the state.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.1. Imagining the Roman scriba; 2. The human archive; 3. The attendant; 4. The pro
teer; 5. The parvenu; 6. The Roman scriba reimagined; Appendix The Roman scribae; Bibliography; General index; Index locorum.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