A study of inscribed material from Roman Britain : an inquiry into some aspects of literacy in Romano-British society
The aim of this thesis is to test the theory that literacy in Roman Britain was largely an achievement of a wealthy, educated social elite. Inscribed material from Roman Britain has been examined in connection with four areas of human activity: religion, working life, funerary practice and personal, social and domestic life. In each of these areas there has been an attempt to identify the writers or instigators of the inscriptions, the reasons for their literate output, and the practical and literate skills involved in producing the written record. There is also an appreciation of the style of production and the quality of the written Latin. Spelling tables are provided, at the end of each chapter, listing words in which the spelling deviates from normal Classical Latin forms and some other irregularities. It is clear that inscribed material which survives from Roman Britain can only be a tiny fraction of what was produced there. Furthermore, factors affecting survival mean that the archaeological record cannot be expected to be a representative sample of what was originally written. There are additional problems when examining literacy in a past society. Each written record is only evidence of the skill required
Raybould, Marilynne E.
Inscriptions ; Roman Britain ; Literacy in a past society ; Britannia ; Latin inscriptions ; History
A study of inscribed material from Roman Britain : an inquiry into some aspects of literacy in Romano-British society. The aim of this thesis is to test the theory that literacy in Roman Britain was largely an achievement of a wealthy, educated social elite. Inscribed material from Roman Britain has been examined in connection with four areas of human activity: religion, working life, funerary practice and personal, social and domestic life. In each of these areas there has been an attempt to identify the writers or instigators of the inscriptions, the reasons for their literate output, and the practical and literate skills involved in producing the written record. There is also an appreciation of the style of production and the quality of the written Latin. Spelling tables are provided, at the end of each chapter, listing words in which the spelling deviates from normal Classical Latin forms and some other irregularities. It is clear that inscribed material which survives from Roman Britain can only be a tiny fraction of what was produced there. Furthermore, factors affecting survival mean that the archaeological record cannot be expected to be a representative sample of what was originally written. There are additional problems when examining literacy in a past society. Each written record is only evidence of the skill required
study inscribe material roman_britain inquiry aspect literacy romano_british society aim_test theory literacy roman_britain largely achievement wealthy educate social elite inscribed material roman_britain examine_connection area human_activity religion work life funerary_practice personal_social domestic_life area attempt_identify writer inscription reason literate output practical literate skill involve produce write_record also appreciation style production quality write latin spelling table provide end list word spell deviate normal classical latin form clear inscribe material survives roman_britain tiny fraction produce there furthermore factor_affect survival mean archaeological_record expect representative_sample originally write additional problem examine literacy past_society write_record evidence skill require