The Origins of Letters

In parts of Egypt especially, where in the deserts you get a lot of broken pots, they were used even for quite big messages. There are other things, Austra-ka, which are broken pottery. Letters really started to take off in the Roman world of the first Christians because literacy rates were increasing at exactly that time. By the time Pliny went to school, something like 10 to 20% of people could read and write.

Transcript

Play full episode

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!

Get the app