Was Silent Reading Unusual During Augustine's Time?

Augustine’s Confessions (6.3.3.) record that his mentor, Archbishop Ambrose, read silently, a practice described as rare in Augustine’s era. William A. Johnson cites this passage to argue that oral reading dominated ancient literary culture, while Alberto Manguel’s 1996 *A History of Reading* expands on the norm of reading aloud. The first printed edition of Augustine’s Confessions appeared no later than 1470, and a 2013 digital facsimile is held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.