5 - The Parvenu

Summary

The chapter reconstructs the grand themes of the social history of the Roman scribae. It tells stories of low social origin and subsequent high social mobility, of social upstarts entering the senate and the equestrian order, and of local notables acting as generous patrons of their hometowns. It analyses known lives and careers of scribae to arrive at a picture of social opportunities and possibilities of scribae in any given period.