Abecedari su papiro, alfabeti latini

Five papyri, all dated between the first and fifth centuries A.D., have given us more or less fragmentary Latin alphabets (O.Deir Rumi inv. OEA 314; P.Ant. 1; P.Chester Beatty inv. AC 1499; P.Oxy. X 1315; P.Worp 1), representing the first step in the educational process in learning the Latin language in a bilingual environment. Among the seven alphabets in these papyri we can distinguish three different types: two have only sequences of Latin letters, in three others Latin and Greek letters are placed side by side, and in two other alphabets an attempt at phonetic transcription in Greek script is given above the Latin letters. This group of papyri is significant for our understanding of ancient education and the learning of Latin grammar and language, as well as offering insight into the poorly-understood history of the Latin letter names.