06.05.2013 Views

Kenney_and_Clausen B.M.W.(eds.) - Get a Free Blog

Kenney_and_Clausen B.M.W.(eds.) - Get a Free Blog

Kenney_and_Clausen B.M.W.(eds.) - Get a Free Blog

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

BOOKS AND READERS IN THE ROMAN WORLD<br />

books made of it were already common in the first century B.C. It was merely a<br />

question of time before this h<strong>and</strong>y combination of format <strong>and</strong> material was<br />

applied to book production. In the event the time was curiously slow in coming.<br />

In a well-known group of poems Martial refers to presents in the form of<br />

parchment codices, evidently miniatures, containing literary texts. 1 It seems<br />

a commendable innovation, but it •was not generally taken up. The change<br />

from roll to codex, when it did come, -was connected with the eventual triumph<br />

of Christianity in the Roman empire. For reasons which are not entirely clear<br />

Christian literature, especially the Bible, was from the first, whether written on<br />

papyrus or parchment, circulated in «?

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!