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| "In a society, in which only a fraction of the population was literate and numerate, being one of few specialists in reading, writing and reckoning meant an invaluable asset. The fact that the Roman state heavily relied on these professional scribes in financial and legal administration entailed a unique position and status. By gathering and analysing the available source material on the Roman scribae, the book 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, find 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"-- |
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