So I was scrolling through TikTok this morning drinking bad coffee when someone asked if ancient Romans could even read like us. Got me thinking – those marble dudes in togas, could they actually read street signs or scribble shopping lists? Down the rabbit hole I went.
Step 1: Grabbed Dusty History Books
First thing, I yanked my old college textbooks off the shelf. Blew off actual cobwebs – no joke. Started flipping pages like a madman searching for numbers. Found a paragraph mentioning graffiti. Real graffiti, like dudes scratching “Marcus sucks at dice” on tavern walls. Sounded familiar, like Twitter beef but carved in stone.
Step 2: Crunched the Sketchy Numbers
Alright, numbers time. Scholars guess maybe 10-15% tops in Rome could kinda, sorta read. That’s it! Imagine your whole city block – only one or two guys recognizing letters. Mind blown. Compared that to now:
- Now: Roughly 86% of adults worldwide got basic literacy. Thanks, public schools.
- Romans: Mostly elites, merchants, army brass. Your average farmer? Nah.
Saw scribbles like “IOU” on tombstones though – guess debt collectors were eternal.
Step 3: Watched Documentaries… Skeptically
Fired up streaming, found documentaries showing fancy Romans reading scrolls. Felt too clean. Dug deeper into academic papers (ugh). Realized:
- Literacy ≠ fluency. Maybe they decoded basic stuff like “INN → Cheap Wine Here” but not Plato’s deep thoughts.
- Writing materials sucked. Wax tablets, broken pottery – not exactly Moleskine notebooks.
The Big Realization
Here’s the kicker: Roman literacy worked totally different. They relied on oral culture – town criers, gossip chains, watching plays. Writing was expensive paperwork for taxes or legions. Not for memes or diary entries.
Finished my cold coffee thinking: We’re flooded with text every damn second – billboards, apps, cereal boxes. But back then? If you weren’t rich or dealing with bureaucrats, you just… didn’t need it. Felt kinda wild realizing how reading went from exclusive club skill to something we complain about doing too much of.
drops mic
