This was a class-based society, Danny. The overwhelming majority of people were peasant farmers who not only could not read, they had no use for reading and could not have afforded books in any case. Literacy, even today, is an expensive skill to acquire and unless there is a damn good reason for doing so no society is going to waste resources on it.
Then there is the question of "degree" of literacy. Even today a person who scrapes by high school is not going to be able to comprehend an advanced science text or <shudder> philosophical text. OMG CUL8ER uses letters but it doesn't rise to the level of neo-platonist scholars.
Then there is the question of "degree" of literacy. Even today a person who scrapes by high school is not going to be able to comprehend an advanced science text or <shudder> philosophical text. OMG CUL8ER uses letters but it doesn't rise to the level of neo-platonist scholars.
