Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

The Roman Book, EPUB eBook

The Roman Book EPUB

Part of the Classical Literature and Society series

EPUB

Please note: eBooks can only be purchased with a UK issued credit card and all our eBooks (ePub and PDF) are DRM protected.

Description

The publishing of Roman books has long and often been misrepresented by false analogies with modern publishing.

This comprehensive new study examines, by appeal to what Roman authors themselves tell us, both the raw materials and aesthetic criteria of the Roman book (a papyrus scroll) and the process of literary composition.

What was the 'scribal art' of the time? What was the role of bookshops and libraries? What control did an author have over his creation? How were new books received and used by readers? To answer these questions Roman publishing is placed firmly in the context of a society that, despite the omnipresence of writing, was still predominantly oral.

This context helps to explain how some books and authors became politically dangerous, and how the Roman book could be both a cultural icon and integral part of the self-definition of Rome's governing elite and a direct contributor to popular culture through the mass medium of the Roman theatre.

Information

Other Formats

Information

Also in the Classical Literature and Society series  |  View all