Books and Readers in Ancient Rome

Books and Readers in Ancient Greece and Rome by F. C. Kenyon was published by Oxford University Press in 1932. A second edition (from 1951) was reprinted in the beginning of the 21st century. This old book is still quite interesting.

Frederic George Kenyon (1863-1952) was a British scholar, who specialised in the classical world and biblical history. After graduating from Oxford University he joined the British Museum where he held a series of positions, the last of which was Director and Principal Librarian (1909-1931).

The four chapters of this book are slightly expanded versions of three lectures which the University of London asked him to deliver at King’s College in March 1932. Here are the chapter headings:

I. The Use of Books in Ancient Greece

II. The Papyrus Roll

III. Books and Reading at Rome

IV. Vellum and the Codex

At the end of the book we find an appendix with illustrative passages from Latin authors and an index. There is no bibliography.

The text is illustrated with nine pictures and drawings, all in black-and-white. The illustrations are few but they are well-chosen. I like in particular the illustration on the plate facing page 56: “Teacher and Students with Rolls.”

This relief was discovered in Neumagen. Today it is on display in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier, Germany. It shows a school class: three persons are sitting in armchairs, the teacher (magister) flanked by two students (discipuli). On the right there is a student, who is late for class. He is standing, holding a small bag in his left hand. He raises his right hand in a greeting and says: “Good morning, teacher. I am sorry I am late.” This vivid scene shows us that education was an important part of life not only in Rome and in Italy but also in the provinces.

[See: Stanley Bonner, Education in Ancient Rome, paperback, 1977, 1992]

In chapter I about books in ancient Greece, Kenyon mentions an anecdote about Socrates (469-399 BC), which demonstrates that books were a common product at this time: Socrates says the works of the philosopher Anaxagoras could be bought by anyone for a drachma (page 20).

In chapter II about the papyrus roll, Kenyon mentions the ancient historian Charles Henry Oldfather (1887-1954) and his book The Greek Literary Texts from Greco-Roman Egypt, from 1923. This work is an important source for the information about the papyrus roll.

In chapter III about books in ancient Rome, Kenyon mentions Lucius Asinius Pollio - a friend of the poets Horace and Virgil – who was the founder of the first public library in Rome (pp. 79-80).

In chapter IV about the vellum codex, Kenyon mentions the conflict between Ptolemy V Epiphanes, ruler of Egypt ca. 204-ca. 180 BC, and Eumenes II, ruler of Pergamum 197-159 BC: 

“Eumenes tried to steal Ptolemy’s librarian, inviting Aristophanes of Byzantium, then chief of the great Alexandrian Library, to come to his court at Pergamum; whereupon Ptolemy put Aristophanes in prison.”

[pp. 87-88]

In this chapter Kenyon also explains the transition from roll to codex. The papyrus roll was a vehicle for the pagan writings of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, while the vellum codex was a vehicle for the writings of the Christian church.

The roll has an important disadvantage: it is quite difficult to locate a specific passage, because you are dealing with a long roll. The codex is more user-friendly: it is much easier to locate a specific passage, because you are dealing with individual pages.

In this chapter Kenyon gives us the long view: the papyrus roll was used for a thousand years (from ca. 600 BC to ca. AD 400), after which it was gradually replaced by the vellum codex, which was also used for a thousand years (from ca. 400 to ca. 1400), until it was replaced by the book printed on paper, which is now being replaced - or supplemented - by the digital book (obviously, the detail about the digital book does not come from Kenyon).

I like this book, but some sections are very technical; a bit too technical for my taste; in particular pp. 48-56 about the roll and pp. 106-109 about the codex. On page 109 the author admits as much: “I have dealt at length and in some detail with the form and history” of ancient books. Indeed he has! Kenyon was a palaeographer. He was very interested in ancient documents written on papyrus. I think this is why he sometimes gives us so much technical information.

The appendix at the end of the book contains a useful collection of illustrative passages from Latin authors which are divided into several categories: (1) the materials of books; (2) the form of books; (3) the end of the book; (4) the fate of bad books (they end up as wrapping paper); (5) book-boxes; (6) the book trade; (7) books and reading.

The first long excerpt from Pliny the Elder is given in Latin and in English, which is fine; unfortunately, the remaining short passages are only given in Latin.

Kenyon’s book is not perfect. Some minor flaws have already been mentioned above. To them I will add the following observation: I think he is too optimistic when discussing how early writing was used in ancient Greece and too pessimistic when discussing how late writing was used in ancient Rome. But most of this book is interesting and easy to read, even though it was written more than 80 years ago.

If you are interested in ancient history, in particular ancient libraries and ancient literacy, I think you will enjoy this slim volume from 1932.

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Frederick George Kenyon,

Books and Readers in Ancient Greece and Rome,

Oxford University Press, 1932, reprinted 1951, Read Books 2007, 160 pages

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PS. The original version from 1932 is available as an e-book on the internet.
You can read it online or download it to your computer.

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