Female Literacy

[aurora_nebulosa]

I'm wondering, does anyone have any good/reliable resources (preferably online) or can anyone give me a brief run-down of what female literacy rates were like within the classical world (central and peripheral) among Roman citizens from about the 1st to the 3rd centuries A.D.? What percentage of women, and, indeed, what type of women were literate

Comments

[helenatroy]

Wow - it's been a long time since I've been to the ancient world. There are actually a number of books written on the topic, like "Literacy and Power in the Ancient World" by Bowman and Wolfe, and "Ancient Literacy" by V. Harris.

Hold on ...

Yep I own 'Literacy and Power' - scratch that one, it has very little info about women's literacy. I'd suggest the other, which I haven't read ...

It would be a fair bet to say that wealthy and aristocratic women were literate by Roman times. One of Augustus' sons - trouble remembering the name now - his wife went on campaigns with him and was said to be of great assistance. Hard to imagine how unless she was managing written information. You also have Hypatia, a great scholar (about 200 yrs later..)

I see that you did ask for on-line. Doesn't look like there's much. I think this one might call for a trip to the library.