The claim that 1 percent of the Romans could read is not a supportable number. The number is likely to be at least 5 percent and may be closer to 10 percent of the Roman population.
This is supported by at least two things
1 - In the Roman Empire - religion was not the only source of writings - there were literary works, philosophy, and other casual writings mentioned
2 - The Roman Empire had a large network of Libraries - for the public to use. No reason to have them if no one could read.
Reading did fall off during the dark ages again in the world - down to below 5% of the population - but it was higher than that in the Golden age of Rome.
This is supported by at least two things
1 - In the Roman Empire - religion was not the only source of writings - there were literary works, philosophy, and other casual writings mentioned
2 - The Roman Empire had a large network of Libraries - for the public to use. No reason to have them if no one could read.
Reading did fall off during the dark ages again in the world - down to below 5% of the population - but it was higher than that in the Golden age of Rome.
