Epistle

An epistle (/ɪˈpɪsəl/; from Ancient Greek ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ) 'letter') is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter.

The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum.

Egyptologist Edward Wente (1990) speculates that the Fifth-dynasty Pharaoh Djedkare Isesi—in his many letters sent to his viziers—was a pioneer in the epistolary genre.

Epistle letters were also written to the dead, and, by the Ramesside Period, to the gods; the latter became even more widespread during the eras of Persian and Greek domination.

The letters of Cicero are one of the most important sources on the history of the late Roman Republic and preserve features of colloquial Latin not always in evidence in his speeches and treatises.

The letters of Pliny the Younger likewise are studied as both examples of Latin prose with self-conscious literary qualities and sources for historical information.

The Epistle to the Hebrews, although it does not bear his name, was traditionally considered Pauline (although Origen questioned its authorship in the 3rd century CE), but from the 16th century onwards opinion steadily moved against Pauline authorship and few scholars now ascribe it to Paul, mostly because it does not read like any of his other epistles in style and content.

[4] According to some scholars, Paul wrote these letters with the help of a secretary, or amanuensis,[5] who would have influenced their style, if not their theological content.

These daily Epistle readings are a part of the Paschal cycle, being ultimately dependent upon the date of Pascha (Easter).

During the Middle Ages, the art of letter writing was taught in numerous manuals, and the ars dictaminis became an important genre of instructional discourse.

The necessity for letter writing was in large part due to the general deterioration of civil life and the decay of the Roman road system in the early Middle Ages, factors that obliged literate people with business to transact to send letters instead of travel themselves.

[21] A vast number of letters and letter-writing manuals were written in the period's lingua franca, Latin.