Cities Full of Words: Illiteracy and Epigraphy in Lucian of Samosata
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Inger N. I. Kuin
Abstract
Even as the ancient cityscape surrounded Greeks and Romans with texts, interactions with these texts and their authority varied based on the degree of literacy of the observer. Lucian’s use of inscriptions, and the challenges that they present in his fictions, provide a starting point for reconstructing the lived experiences of illiterate individuals in the cities of the Greek-speaking Roman East. The differing receptions that realistic and fantastical inscriptions receive in the Lucianic corpus reveal a paradox in Lucian’s documentary messaging: though illiteracy hardly marginalized Greek-speakers economically or politically, it did render them vulnerable to deceptions, since even those who could read had to learn to fear the snares and seductions of written records. Unease with (seemingly) authoritative, public writing is, for Lucian, justified and can be shared among those who cannot read by themselves and those who can.
Abstract
Even as the ancient cityscape surrounded Greeks and Romans with texts, interactions with these texts and their authority varied based on the degree of literacy of the observer. Lucian’s use of inscriptions, and the challenges that they present in his fictions, provide a starting point for reconstructing the lived experiences of illiterate individuals in the cities of the Greek-speaking Roman East. The differing receptions that realistic and fantastical inscriptions receive in the Lucianic corpus reveal a paradox in Lucian’s documentary messaging: though illiteracy hardly marginalized Greek-speakers economically or politically, it did render them vulnerable to deceptions, since even those who could read had to learn to fear the snares and seductions of written records. Unease with (seemingly) authoritative, public writing is, for Lucian, justified and can be shared among those who cannot read by themselves and those who can.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Abbreviations IX
- List of Figures XI
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Approaches to Ancient Documentality
- Documenting Identity in the Early Roman Empire 35
- Copying the Canon: Imperial School Texts as Documentary Traces 57
- Documenting Wonderland: Lucian’s True Stories and the Documentary imaginaire 79
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Part II: Documentary Communities and Landscapes
- Cities Full of Words: Illiteracy and Epigraphy in Lucian of Samosata 107
- Documenting the oikoumenê: What “Documents” Supported the Description of the Inhabited World in the Hellenistic and Early Imperial Periods? 133
- A Community Set in Stone? Monumental Decrees as Instruments of Greek Interactions 153
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Part III: Between Documents and Literature
- Dead Letters, Documentality, and the Noctes Atticae of Aulus Gellius 181
- The Relationship between Documents and Literature in Late Antiquity: The Case of the Petition, between Document, Adaptation and Literary Creation 209
- When the Letter Speaks Up: Living and Lifeless Letters 233
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Epilogue
- The Ancient Historian and His Documents: Reader, Interpreter, and/or Author? 253
- List of Contributors 279
- Index Locorum 281
- Index Rerum 285
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Abbreviations IX
- List of Figures XI
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Approaches to Ancient Documentality
- Documenting Identity in the Early Roman Empire 35
- Copying the Canon: Imperial School Texts as Documentary Traces 57
- Documenting Wonderland: Lucian’s True Stories and the Documentary imaginaire 79
-
Part II: Documentary Communities and Landscapes
- Cities Full of Words: Illiteracy and Epigraphy in Lucian of Samosata 107
- Documenting the oikoumenê: What “Documents” Supported the Description of the Inhabited World in the Hellenistic and Early Imperial Periods? 133
- A Community Set in Stone? Monumental Decrees as Instruments of Greek Interactions 153
-
Part III: Between Documents and Literature
- Dead Letters, Documentality, and the Noctes Atticae of Aulus Gellius 181
- The Relationship between Documents and Literature in Late Antiquity: The Case of the Petition, between Document, Adaptation and Literary Creation 209
- When the Letter Speaks Up: Living and Lifeless Letters 233
-
Epilogue
- The Ancient Historian and His Documents: Reader, Interpreter, and/or Author? 253
- List of Contributors 279
- Index Locorum 281
- Index Rerum 285
