The following is authorized by the publishing house and excerpted from the "Secret History of Books", author: [Spain] Irine Vallejo, translator: Li Jing, Boji Tianjuan| Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, April 2022.
Writers with no money, readers with money
In ancient Rome, the ability to get books mainly depended on connections. The ancients formed unique views on the intellectual world, and these views were based entirely on who knew whom.
Ancient literature never established a book industry and book market like our today, and the circulation of books depended on friends and scribes. In the era of private libraries, rich people who wanted ancient books would first borrow them from friends—if any friend had one, then let people copy one, sometimes find a slave to copy, sometimes find a scribe in the workshop who is willing to take over the work. If they want a new book, they have to give it away. At that time, there was no publishing house, and after the author wrote a book, he would find someone to copy several copies and give them away. Therefore, whether the new book is popular depends on the breadth and popularity of the circle of friends, depending on how many peers and customers are willing to read it out of affection or commitment. It is said that there was an orator named Regulo who came from a well-to-do family and wrote a book about his late son, which was very bad. Pliny Sr. commented viciously: "It's more like a child written than written by a child." Regulo ordered a thousand copies to be copied and given to acquaintances throughout the Provinces of Italy. In addition, he contacted several dozen of the ancient Roman legions, and he paid for good soldiers to organize public readings of works in different parts of the empire— the equivalent of book promotion meetings. The task of recommending and disseminating literary works fell entirely to the author—if financial resources permitted, such as Regulo—or to the patron of the nobility, for the author was often a troubled foreigner.
Of course, there will be people who want to read a newly published book, but they don't know the author himself and are therefore not on the list of gifts. In this case, he could only ask for help from insiders and borrow a book to copy a copy. Once the author "distributes" the new work, the book becomes a public edition book, and anyone can take it and copy another one. The Latin verb edere is translated as "editor," but it actually means more closely to "to donate" or "to abandon," meaning to fend for itself. At that time, there was no such thing as intellectual property or copyright. On the book promotion chain, only the scribes (not domestic slaves) would be paid by the number of lines, similar to the number of sheets charged when we go to copy today.
Text on papyrus from the Roman period.
Dr. Johnson, the great English scholar, said: Whoever writes a book is to make money, except for fools. We don't know what materials the ancient writers' brain melons were made of, but all of them knew from the beginning that they couldn't make a penny by selling books. In the 1st century, the humorist Matthial complained: "My books can only be liked by free." When the Billy Biris came to Rome, he experienced firsthand that literature was not profitable, and even successful writers were not spared. He said that once, an unknown monopoly saw him on the street, stared at him, pointed at him, like the people chasing celebrity selfies today, and said, "Aren't you...?" That's right, you're the Matthial who laughs, makes bad, and writes books that everyone reads. Then he asked, "How do you wear such a tattered coat?" "Because I'm a crappy writer." Matthiar replied, the implication was the first of its kind in Aragonese irony.
What does someone like Cicero do with so many copies of his speeches and essays? It is out of political ambition, the desire to become more famous, to expand their social influence, but also out of selfishness, trying to build a public image and ensure that friends and enemies understand their achievements. They are similar to the patrons of poor talents, and they are nothing more than glory, display, and compliment. For some, books can first establish or consolidate prestige. Literary works circulate freely, and the author voluntarily passes the work to interested people in the form of gifts or loans, so as to circle a small group of cultural elites, a small circle of rich people. These people were willing to accept and shelter low-born, talented freedmen or slaves. If you are treated coldly, if you do not have friends in high positions, readers or authors, you will not be able to survive.
Ancient Roman literature began with foreigners and slaves, and gradually produced a few native writers, but they wrote only prose on grand themes such as history, war, law, agriculture, or morality. Cicero and Caesar were two of the most famous dignitaries of the first generation of writers of the Roman Republic. In contrast to the slave poets brought back from ancient Greek territory, they were ancient Roman citizens who wrote literature on serious subjects. Foreigners were not allowed to write works about ancient Roman law or traditions, and roman citizens of good backgrounds who took the time to write poetry were considered unorthodox. Just like in our time, when the nation's first priority is to write the lyrics of popular songs, many people will find it outrageous.
Statue of Cicero.
Thus, for a long time, two kinds of literature existed at the same time, developing separately. On the one hand, ancient Greek slaves or freed slaves wrote poems to please the cultured nobles who sheltered them; on the other hand, literary lovers among the respected citizens of ancient Rome wrote prose. "The status of poetry is not noble, and if someone writes poetry, everyone will call him Hanako." Cato Sr. wrote. Since then, from Caravaggio to Van Gogh, from Shakespeare and Cervantes to Genes, jugglers, musicians and artists have always been of low status.
Ancient Roman citizens with legitimate interests could engage in literary and artistic activities if they so wished, provided they did so occasionally, and above all for profit. On the contrary, for rich and noble families, it is not decent to make a living from words. As long as knowledge is associated with profit, it immediately becomes a bad thing that damages reputation. As mentioned earlier, even purely intellectual trades that require a lot of knowledge, such as architecture, medicine, or education, are done by inferior people. Most of the teachers in ancient schools were slaves or freed slaves, had low jobs, and were looked down upon. "He didn't come from a good background." Tacitus said this about a foreigner who has just started a lowly profession as a teacher. The nobles respected knowledge and culture, but despised teaching. The paradox is that if learning is noble, teaching is not noble.
Unexpectedly, in the era of the great digital revolution, the ancient idea that culture is just a pastime for enthusiasts has regained its vitality. The old tune began to repeat itself, saying that if writers, playwrights, musicians, actors, and filmmakers wanted to support themselves, they should go to a serious job. Art is a thing that you can do in your spare time. In the neoliberal framework and networked world, as in ancient Rome, where the nobility and slaves lived, people were required to provide creative work for free.
Could women in ancient Rome read and learn to write?
When culture began to take root in the wealthy upper class, women emerged among the bibliophiles. Through Cicero's epistles, we get to know Caerellia. She is an avid reader and has a private philosophical library. The noblewoman used some means—perhaps a bribe—to obtain a copy of Cicero's Treatise on the Most Good and the Most Evil. At the time, the book was not yet in circulation. Indignant, Cicero wrote sarcastically: "There is no doubt that Caleria is very interested in philosophy. ”
This impatient female reader is no exception. In the upper class families of ancient Rome, learned women were common. In the 2nd century BC, the mother of the Gracchus brothers, Cornelia, personally instructed her sons in their studies and selected the most suitable teachers for them. In addition, she hosted several literary gatherings, where politicians and writers of the year came together as a prelude to Madame Starr's Salon of French Literature. Severia was the mother of Brutus, who later assassinated Caesar, and enjoyed reading Latin and Greek. Cicero said his daughter Tulia was very knowledgeable. One of Pompey's wives—not at the same time—was very fond of literature, geography, and lira music, and, like Caleria, was "willing to participate in philosophical discussions."
The Roman nobility often had their daughters educated, and instead of sending them to school, they hired tutors to teach them at home to keep a constant watchful eye and ensure their virginity. The ancients were always worried that the children of aristocratic families would encounter danger on the streets. In an era when child molestation is prevalent, it is not too much to watch out. Therefore, they would send a special house slave to transport the young master to and from school every day. They are called paedagogus, which means "educators", and the original meaning is only "escorting the person who accompanies the child". However, there are also dangers of being locked up at home. In the 1st century BC, the famous teacher Kuntis Kequilius Epirotta gave lessons to the daughter of the master's family, and the relationship between teacher and student was ambiguous, which attracted countless gossip. The freed slave, who was born debauched, was eventually exiled.
The highest steps of knowledge are off-limits for women – higher education is open only to men. Women are also not allowed to study in Athens or Rhodes for a year, as men do, which is equivalent to the Erasmus Scholarship program of that year. The daughters of good people do not take rhetoric classes, do not go to Greece to study languages, do not travel to the Acropolis, and do not stay away from their parents to taste the taste of freedom. While the brothers in the family are admiring Greek statues and enjoying Greek love, the girls are busy looking for a husband, and they will be married to mature men early. The ancients believed that marriage to women, as war to men, is in line with their true nature.
Over the centuries, we have found lively discussions about the pros and cons of getting women to learn culture, and nightlife has played a crucial and decisive role in this controversy. Ancient Greek men used to leave women at home, go to dinner parties alone, and spend money to keep high-class prostitutes waiting until dawn. Instead, roman women could go out of their homes and go to dinner. It is important for the husband to be able to converse wisely with other visitors. Thus, in the aristocratic families of ancient Rome, there was no shortage of women who were proud of their knowledge, wit, and conversation.
We find a poignant satire of cultural women in the poems of Euviñalis. At the end of the 1st century, the comedian poet claimed to have started writing poetry out of anger. The reactionary and conservative humorist is nostalgic for the past, so he likes to complain. It is no accident that so many medieval manuscripts of his work, The Satirical Poem, have survived. The poem's indictment of the depravity of human nature is unsurpassed. The priests were overjoyed to read these poems, for they were unparalleled material for preaching and exhorting. In one of his poems, he reminds men of all kinds of tribulations after marriage, and lists all kinds of "evil deeds" of women: indulging in gladiators, cheating with dirty foreigners - "You will have an Ethiopian son, and soon a black heir will come to fight for your inheritance, in broad daylight, you can't see his people", spending money indiscriminately, cruelly treating slaves, superstition, no face, bad temper, jealousy... And cultured (at the beginning of the evening, women began to quote Virgil, and it was really annoying to compare him with Homer. The masters retreated, the teachers lost, the lawyers, the newspapers, and everyone was silent. I hate women who think they are knowledgeable, who are very familiar with grammar and who speak according to various language rules. I have never heard of the poems they like, and they still love to correct the expression mistakes of their uncultured female friends, which husband will care about those mistakes? ）。
Satirical poetry is so vicious to women that experts can't help but wonder: is Euvinares a microphone for conservatives, or is he deliberately ridiculing them with the most extreme arguments? Is he serious, or is he joking? Twenty centuries later, it is almost impossible for us to judge. In any case, if there is not a trace of truth behind the ridicule, his humor will not be widely popular. There is no doubt that after the Common Era, the pleasure of reading has taken root in the hearts of many ancient Roman women. Some women love language and literature so much that they dwarf their husbands. For the first time in aristocratic families, there were scenes of cultured mothers and daughters reading and talking to each other. They are free to read and know how to use the indestructible power of words "like gods or diamonds."
Irene Vallejo, author of The Secret History of the Books. Born in Zaragoza, Spain in 1979, he studied classical linguistics as a child because of his fascination with Greek and Roman mythology, and later obtained a doctorate from the University of Zaragoza and the University of Florence in Italy. He was awarded a research grant to study at oxford university in the United Kingdom, and over the years he has been teaching, researching and writing, as well as writing columns for newspapers and magazines. He is the author of several novels, essays and children's books.
The violence and bloodshed on the road to learning
We think that the aesthetics of blood and the obsession with extreme violence are new to modern times, but they have had followers as early as ancient Rome. Ancient Greek mythology recorded a series of atrocities—rape, eye-cutting, vultures pecking at people's internal organs, skinning people alive. But the atrocities that culminated in the atrocities were undoubtedly the stories of Christian martyrs, in which they carefully described all kinds of torture, dismemberment, dismemberment, bloodshed, and a lot of blood.
One of the most terrifying and perverted sadists was born in Hispania in the mid-4th century, probably in Cessa Augusta. That is, his childhood should have been the same as mine, we blew the same wind and saw the same river. Aurelius Prudencius Clemans, who bore his parents a beautiful name, worked as a civil servant in various stable positions in the Roman Empire. Behind the repetitive appearance, however, lies the ancient Roman ancestors of Quentin Tarantino or Dario Aquido. At the age of nearly half a hundred, the peaceful Hispanian suddenly developed a strong desire to create, so he resigned from public office and wrote twenty thousand fanatical poems in seven years. One of the collections of poems, titled In Greek: The Crown of the Martyrs (The Crown of the Martyrs), tells the story of the torture of fourteen martyrs and their betrayal of their faith. He spoke in great detail, full of scenes of torture in the ultimate style.
Saint Cassian was one of them, and his morbid torment shocked Prudenseus. The chronicle of his death is one of the most gruesome chapters in Latin literature, but it has also unexpectedly become an unusual historical record that gives us a terrifying insight into the daily life of ancient schools and the stationery used by our ancient Roman ancestors. Prudensius said: Cassian was a primary school teacher, he did not have a good attitude towards students, he taught the youngest children, he let them dictate, often punished them fiercely. The students were beaten every day, angry and afraid, and developed dangerous violent tendencies, like the group of blonde children with cold eyes and straight hair in Haneke's film "White Ribbon".
Stills from the movie "White Ribbon".
It was a dark time of religious persecution. When the ruling authorities set off their first innumerable wave of persecution of Christians, they arrested Cassian for his refusal to believe in pagan deities. According to Prudencius' description, the authorities decided to strip him naked, tie his hands behind his back, and hand him over to the elementary school students in the class to be executioners. The previous stories are not difficult to predict, but from here it suddenly becomes dark. Death and cruelty have grown into the face of a child. "Everyone can't wait to release the pain and hatred that they have accumulated in the silence, and smash the fragile blackboard into the teacher's face, and the blackboard is broken; the teaching whip is poked in his forehead with the teaching whip, and the teaching whip bounces up; the writing wax board is also thrown over, and the wooden board is cracked, and it is red and stained with blood. Others used the iron tip of the pen to write on the wax board to poke the teacher, and two hundred hands stabbed at the same time, some stabbed into the internal organs, and some ripped off the skin. ”
Prudenseus wanted to impress and impress the reader and strengthen his faith. He skillfully uses a variety of means to create an atmosphere of horror: elongating scenes, amplifying details, movements, sounds, and impacts, turning everyday objects into weapons, exploring the possibilities of them causing pain. He made us discover that the pen that wrote on the wax board was as sharp as a knife, and the pen with a sharp point like a dagger symbolized the violence of the ancient Roman school, and knowledge and blood were inseparable. Thus, Prudencius's poem absurdly became a defense of the darkest and darkest, and was used against corporal punishment of students. All the students seem to have been beaten and ridiculed by the teachers, and the terrible stories of the students' revenge force us to look directly at the process of the students becoming executioners and the innocent becoming murderers. It was a disturbing scene, a scene of moral corruption. "What are you complaining about?" One child cruelly asked the miserable teacher, "You gave us the pen and let us hold it in our hands." Now, we're giving you back what you've done to us thousands of times when you were teaching. You shouldn't be angry when we write. When we want to rest, beg you so many times that you say no, for fear that we will steal a little laziness! Come, exercise your authority, you have the right to punish the laziest students." The end of the poem is terrifying. The children happily let the teacher suffer, and let the heat of life pass away from his battered body little by little.
Although Prudencius was meant to indict the persecution of Christians, the murderous story also reveals the dark side of school life. Another Hispanian, Kun Tilian, was born in Gallaguris in the mid-1st century , now Karahora — and was one of the first writers to question the brutality of education. In his Principles of Speech, he pointed out that the desire to learn depends only on the will of the individual and "should not include external violence". He objected to the humiliating punishment imposed by schools, saying that "those practices apply only to slaves", showing that there are exceptions and deficiencies in his humanitarian thinking. He writes that children who are often beaten feel fear, pain, shame, and shame to the point where childhood happiness disappears. He may have written this thinking of his own childhood of being beaten and scolded. As a result, he also writes, children are vulnerable in childhood. They have no ability to protect themselves, and no one should have unlimited rights to override them at this time.
Cassian's heinous story seems to tell us that corporal punishment never disappeared in the ancient Roman classroom, but we can also find warm and bright places in the cold and cold background. Shortly after the Common Era, defenders of benevolent education and edutainment appeared. They prefer to substitute rewards for punishment and strive to awaken children's curiosity. We know that some teachers start making teaching toys for their students; in order to reward the students for the stumbling phonics they just started, the students learned what letters, and the teachers gave them what letter-shaped snacks and cookies to eat. Seeing such a tolerant scene, people who abide by the old rules immediately jumped out. One of the characters in Petronius's Satilikon lashed out at the corrupt, moderate practices of Nero's reign in the 1st century, predicting: "Wait and see!" If children were to learn and play, Rome would have to go downhill. It seems that the dispute between the new school and the old school has existed since ancient times.
Written by | [Spanish] Elaine Vallejo
Excerpt from | Li Yongbo
Introduction Proofreading | Liu Baoqing