Transformations de la Gaule sous l’Empire romain : une culture de l’écrit au service de la production de masse

Mullen, Alex

Abstract

The rise of Rome brought with it the creation and spread of a culture of writing across Gaul. Another major transformation of the Roman period was the advent of mass production. These two developments coincided in the large potteries to produce local literate administrative practices used in their organization. The pottery of La Graufesenque produced a vast amount of samian ware in the first and second centuries AD. We consider the practicalities and personnel involved in running this operation and how the so-called firing lists may have been created and functioned. The lists are found in Latin, Gaulish and a mixture and reflect fluid societal bilingualism, though not necessarily individual bilingualism given the mechanical compilation processes that may have been employed in their creation. We look beyond the famous dossier from the Aveyron to note that the same types of administrative practices were apparently in use at several other potteries. These texts bear witness to the importance of production, trade and commerce in the spread and intermixing of languages and literacies.

Citation

Mullen, A. (2023). Transformations de la Gaule sous l’Empire romain : une culture de l’écrit au service de la production de masse. In M. Coltelloni-Trannoy, & N. Moncunill Marti (Eds.), La culture de l'écrit en Méditerranée occidentale à travers les pratiques épigraphiques (Gaule, Ibérie, Afrique du Nord). Peeters

• Publication Date: 2023-03
• Deposit Date: Jul 23, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 30, 2023
• Publisher: Peeters
• Series Title: Orient & Méditerranée
• Series Number: 41
• Book Title: La culture de l'écrit en Méditerranée occidentale à travers les pratiques épigraphiques (Gaule, Ibérie, Afrique du Nord)
• ISBN: 9789042950429
• Keywords: La Graufesenque ; Roman Gaul ; bilingualism ; administration ; mass production ; graffiti ; terra sigillata
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2333703
• Related Public URLs: https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042950429&series_number_str=41&lang=en
• Contract Date: May 28, 2019