La correspondance privée dans la Méditerranée antique : sociétés en miroir

The private letter, conserved in a more or less perishable material medium, enables communication between individuals and groups who share the same interests: family, friends and partners. It is meant to be read by the recipient alone or by a small circle and to have an impact on them. The media employed vary (papyrus, ostraka, unbaked clay or wooden tablets, lead) and cover the entire ancient Mediterranean: the Mesopotamian, Assyrian and Persian East, the Greek world integrating the areas concerned by the archaic colonization and by the conquest of Alexander the Great, Rome and its empire. With its wide spatial and temporal sweep, this volume offers a comparative perspective concerning the use of the media but also the practices shared in these spaces. We highlight the evolution of the epistolary form, for which transfers have been made from one space to another, but also the interests of the social circles to which the correspondents belonged. The letters we focus on were exchanged between correspondents unknown to history, revealing their sometimes extensive networks. This volume aims to shed new light on ancient societies from a particular angle, that of correspondence, but with a view to contributing to social, economic and cultural history, including gender analyses and micro-history.