Reading In and Out of Order in the Roman Mediterranean

What did it mean to read ‘in order’ in the Roman Mediterranean? Readers in the early centuries CE used a variety of conceptual strategies (e.g., pedagogy, sortilege, lectionaries) and material technologies (e.g., sectioning, tables of contents, cross-references) to orient encounters with written texts. These practices invite us to interrogate broader ideas of ‘order’—of language, of time, of cosmos, of society—that shaped textuality and knowledge in Mediterranean antiquity. This workshop brings together scholars of classics, early Judaism, and early Christianity. To facilitate a rich discussion, written materials will be precirculated to registered participants.