Literacy, books, and education Roman Empire
1 literacy, books, , education 1.1 primary education 1.2 secondary education 1.3 educated women 1.4 decline of literacy literacy, books, , education pride in literacy displayed in portraiture through emblems of reading , writing, in example of couple pompeii (portrait of paquius proculo) estimates of average literacy rate in empire range 5 30% or higher, depending in part on definition of literacy . roman obsession documents , public inscriptions indicates high value placed on written word. imperial bureaucracy dependent on writing babylonian talmud declared if seas ink, reeds pen, skies parchment, , men scribes, unable set down full scope of roman government s concerns. laws , edicts posted in writing read out. illiterate roman subjects have such government scribe (scriba) read or write official documents them. public art , religious ceremonies ways communicate imperial ideology regardless of ability read. although romans not people of book , had extensive priestly archive, , insc