Literacy
and Power in the Ancient World edited by Alan K. Bowman and Greg Woolf was
published by Cambridge University Press in 1994 (hardcover) and 1996 (paperback).
In 2005 it was transferred to digital printing, which means it is still
available.
First a few
words about the editors:
** Alan K.
Bowman was, at the time of publication, a lecturer in ancient history, University of Oxford. I can add the following
information: he is the author of several books, including Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: The People of Vindolanda (first edition 1994, second
edition 1998, third edition 2003).
** Greg
Woolf was, at the time of publication, a fellow of Brasenose College, University of Oxford. I can add the following
information: he is the author of Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial
Civilization in Gaul
(hardcover 1998, paperback 2000) and the co-editor of Ancient Libraries
(2013).
The papers
presented in this volume are the product of a conference held at Oxford in 1992. This volume contains 13
contributions by 12 classical scholars, including the editors. Here is the
table of contents [the affiliation of each scholar at the time of publication is
added in square brackets]:
CHAPTER 1
Literacy
and power in the ancient world
By the editors
By the editors
CHAPTER 2
The Persepolis Tablets: speech, seal and script
By D. M. Lewis
[Christ Church, Oxford]
By D. M. Lewis
[Christ Church, Oxford]
CHAPTER 3
Literacy
and the city-state in archaic and classical Greece
By Rosalind Thomas
By Rosalind Thomas
[Royal
Holloway, University of London]
CHAPTER 4
Literacy
and language in Egypt in the Late and Persian Periods
By John Ray
[Selwyn College, Cambridge]
CHAPTER 5
Literacy
and power in Ptolemaic Egypt
By Dorothy
J. Thompson
[Girton College, Cambridge]
CHAPTER 6
Power and
the spread of writing in the West
By Greg
Woolf
CHAPTER 7
Texts,
scribes and power in Roman Judaea
By M. D.
Goodman
[Oriental
Institute and Wolfson College, Oxford]
CHAPTER 8
The Roman
imperial army: letters and literacy on the northern frontier
By Alan K.
Bowman
CHAPTER 9
Literacy
and power in early Christianity
By Robin
Lane Fox
[New
College, Oxford]
CHAPTER 10
Greek and
Syriac in Late Antique Syria
By S. P.
Brock
[Oriental
Institute and Wolfson College, Oxford]
CHAPTER 11
Later Roman
bureaucracy: going through the files
By C. M.
Kelly
[Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Royal Holloway, University of London]
CHAPTER 12
Literacy
and power in the migration period
By Peter
Heather
[University College, London]
CHAPTER 13
Texts as
weapons: polemic in the Byzantine dark ages
By Averil
Cameron
[King’s College,
London]
References
are given in footnotes at the bottom of the page (very user-friendly). At the
end of the book we find a bibliography - divided into 13 sections, one for each
chapter (also very user-friendly) - and an index.
What about
illustrations? There are only five pictures in black-and-white. Since the
number is so low, I can mention all of them here:
** Figure 1
– A tablet from Persepolis in Elamite language and modified Akkadian
cuneiform (page 22)
** Figure 2
– A demotic papyrus showing an initial year sign (page 81)
** Figure
3a – Vindolanda tablet II 248: a letter from Niger and Brocchus to Flavius Cerialis
(page 114)
** Figure
3b – Vindolanda tablet II 181: a cash account from Vindolanda (page 115)
** Figure 4
– Chamber in the Sphendone of the Hippodrome at Constantinople (page 162)
The number
is rather low and so is the quality, in particular figure 4. It would have been
nice to have more illustrations. Since this book is about reading and writing
in the ancient world, the contributors could (and should) have shown us what
this writing looked like. They present and discuss many ancient inscriptions,
but in most cases they do not show them: a missed opportunity.
This volume
is not a general history of the ancient world. The authors assume the reader
has a basic knowledge of this subject. Therefore this volume is not recommended
for the beginner.
If, on the
other hand, you are already familiar with the subject and you wish to learn about
the topics discussed here – literacy and power in the ancient world – then this
collection may be the right one for you.
When you
read the papers presented here, you will get a chance to see how a classical
scholar can work. You will get a chance to find out what we how and how we know
it; or (in some cases) how little we know, because the evidence is quite
limited.
As you can
see from the table of contents, this book covers the Mediterranean world and
much of northern Europe during a period of more than a millennium (from ca. 600 BC to ca. AD 800).
For the record: Asia
is not included. There is nothing about the ancient history of China or Japan.
The authors
deploy an impressive range of materials: inscriptions written on stone and
bronze, tablets of wood and lead, and coins, as well as graffiti written on
walls and pottery.
The authors
are careful. They do not jump to conclusions. They present and discuss the
ancient evidence as well as relevant modern scholarship. When they draw a
conclusion, it is based on the evidence and not on speculation.
Bowman and
Woolf got some good reviews: on the back cover of the paperback version there
are excerpts from two reviews of the hardcover version:
** The
Classical Review:
“Bowman and Woolf’s collection has many virtues – not least
putting Greek and Roman experience into a wider ancient context. All
classicists must read it to broaden their range and enlarge their operating
framework.”
** JACT
Review:
“This book is highly informative and always interesting.”
[The four
letters JACT stand for: Joint Association of Classical Teachers]
If you ask
me, the positive reviews are justified. I like these essays. I like, in
particular, chapter 9 “Literacy and power in early Christianity” by Robin Lane
Fox, who has a lively style of writing.
Cyprian of
Carthage, whose full name is Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, is presented in this
chapter (pp. 135-139). He was born around AD 200; he was bishop of Carthage from 249 and died as a martyr in
258. Fox talks about “the richest of all our sources, the letters preserved in Cyprian’s
correspondence, radiating in and out of Carthage in the 240s and 250s.” He adds: “G.
W. Clarke’s admirable edition helps historians to see literacy and power at
work in a major bishop’s life.”
Clarke’s
edition of Cyprian’s letters was published in four volumes 1984-1987. Since Fox
wrote his essay, new studies of the man and the role he played have appeared: Cyprian the Bishop by J. P. Burns Jr. was published in 2001; Cyprian and Roman
Carthage by Allen Brent was published in 2010; and The Complete Works of
Saint Cyprian of Carthage edited by Philip Campbell was published in
2013.
Caesarius
of Arles is also presented in this chapter (page 146). He was born in 468/469/470.
Fox writes: “in the early sixth century, Caesarius, bishop of Arles from 503 to 543, was a tireless
circulator of sermons and texts, excelling even Cyprian and leaving a lasting
mark on the complex manuscript tradition of his own writings.”
Since Fox
wrote his essay, a new study of the man and the role he played has appeared: Caesarius
of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul by William
E. Klingshirn (Cambridge University Press, hardcover 1994, paperback 2004); see
also Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testament, Letters edited and translated by
William E. Klingshirn (Liverpool University Press, 1994).
Incidentally,
Cyprian is listed in the index, but Caesarius is not. He is considered a minor
character. In my opinion, he deserves to be mentioned. This is one case where
the index is incomplete.
Literacy
and Power in the Ancient World is an academic work: not suitable for the
beginner, but recommended for the serious student. The editors have produced an
important contribution to modern scholarship about the history of the Roman Empire and some of its neighbours. Sadly,
there is a negative point: as stated above, the number of illustrations is rather
low, and so is their quality.
PS. For
more information about this topic, see the following publications from the
Journal of Roman Archaeology: Literacy in the Roman World, special supplement
# 3, 1991, and Becoming Roman, Writing Latin? special supplement # 48, 2002.
Bowman is a contributor to the former, while Woolf is a contributor to the
latter.
* * *
Alan K. Bowman
and Greg Woolf,
Literacy
and Power in the Ancient World,
Cambridge
University Press, hardcover 1994, paperback 1996,
Transferred
to digital printing in 2005, 249 pages
* * *
