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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 7311533, member: 99554&quot;]What a pleasure to sit in my favorite velour La-Z-Boy after work, with a chamomile tea with a drop of honey added, and <b>read</b> the interesting new threads posted by the dear members of CT. Have you ever imagined what your life would be like without the ability to <b>read</b> and write fluently ? According to word atlas, the USA has a literacy rate of 86 percent and is number 125 on a list of 197 countries. But what was the situation of the Roman people 2000 years ago ?</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1278081[/ATTACH]</p><p>Young girl <b>reading. </b>Roman bronze statuette, 1st Century AD. Paris.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to William Harris&#039; study, the <b>literacy</b> rate in the Roman world during the High Empire is estimated between 5-10 % of the adult population, with a maximum of 20 %. It was probably higher in the cities than in the countryside. Other scholars believe that a 30 % rate in more realistic. Harris also used the relative density of inscriptions to produce what he deems &quot;a quite accurate ranking of provinces by literacy&quot;. You won&#039;t be surprised to learn that the &quot;barbaric&quot; citizens of the provinces of the empire were often unable to <b>read</b> or write a basic text. Anyways, in ancient Rome, boys and girls learned to <b>read</b> and write from a <i>magister ludi</i>, also called a <i>litterator</i> because the basis of his teaching consists in having the names of letters recited by heart. From <i>grammaticus</i>, they are then introduced to literature (for those who can attend secondary school), then to rhetoric (for those who access higher education).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1278082[/ATTACH]</p><p>Roman school, 2nd Century AD, found in Treveri.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;If many funeral representations present an image of the deceased accompanied by a writing tablet or scrolls of parchment, this is undoubtedly a sign that <b>writing</b> remains a privileged source of prestige. They often take on a religious significance inspired by the idea that the intellectual life could assure the deceased a participation in the divine and make him accede to true immortality.</p><p><br /></p><p>In my opinion, one of the most interesting area of ancient coins collecting is trying to gather specimens with &quot;TYPOs&quot;, or legend&#039;s errors. Is it possible that some workers in the different mints were <b>illiterate</b>, explaining the mistakes made during the coins production ? Or maybe Latin wasn&#039;t their mother tongue so spelling errors could occur from time to time ? I&#039;m very curious to see your own examples. <b>Please show us your &quot;TYPO&quot; coins !</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>My favorite Victorinus barbarous imitation. I think it&#039;s stylish after all, but someone had a problem with the &quot;N&quot; (also the reverse is showing Providentia, but the legend reads VICTORIA...)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1278084[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Talking about Victorinus and Providentia, here&#039;s an official issue but the goddess was rename PROVIDENTA...</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1278083[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Another barbarous (aureus) imitating a Probus issue. I do not dare to try to read the legend, but I believe it contains the whole Latin alphabet !</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1278085[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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