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Books & Writing in Ancient Rome

At school, the students practiced writing by using a pointed metal pen called a stylus to scratch onto a tablet of wood coated with wax. Some pupils scratched writing exercises on pieces of broken pottery, while other students were allowed to write on papyrus with pens made of reed or metal. The ink was made from gum and soot. When papyrus was not available, washed animal skin was used instead. Later, parchment or vellum was used as a writing material.

The Romans were fond of books, and there were many bookshops and publishers in large cities such as Rome and Alexandria. A lot of people treasured their books, and had large collections of them. The state, and also a few rich individuals built libraries for the public. By the late Empire, there were 29 libraries altogether in Rome.

Books took an extremely long time to publish, as each book had to be written by hand. Publishers would employ a man to read the original book to a team of scribes, who were often Greek slaves. The scribes each wrote a copy of the book as it was read out to them. The scribes sat by desks, on which the scrolls were spread out with the ends to the scribe's right and left. The text was written in columns, and after a column was finished, the next column started on the right.

The scrolls varied in length, but were often about ten metres long. A lot of them were beautifully illustrated, and had parchment covers. These scrolls were usually stored in a leather casket.

Here is an external link with more information on writing and books in Ancient Rome and Writing Materials used by the Romans.