Many people point to Augustine’s anecdote in Confessions to show that ancient people could not read silently. But in Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, Alexander’s private physician does exactly that.
In Robert Alter’s commentary on the Pentateuch, in a discussion about the Law, he points out Gideon meets a boy in Judges 8 who not only knows the names of the leaders of Succoth, but is able to write out all their names.#literacy