It’s already a very difficult thing to estimate at all, but I think it’s meant as 70% of the entire town’s population. There’s evidence for literacy amongst slaves, low-class prostitutes, and manual laborers in Pompeii, so while slaves were probably less likely than, say, male citizens to be literate, I think averaged out by the rest of the population it’s supposed to be around there.
That being said, 70% is definitely a high estimate. Most papers refuse to make a hard numerical estimate because of what a thorny topic it is.
It’s already a very difficult thing to estimate at all, but I think it’s meant as 70% of the entire town’s population. There’s evidence for literacy amongst slaves, low-class prostitutes, and manual laborers in Pompeii, so while slaves were probably less likely than, say, male citizens to be literate, I think averaged out by the rest of the population it’s supposed to be around there.
That being said, 70% is definitely a high estimate. Most papers refuse to make a hard numerical estimate because of what a thorny topic it is.