Abstract
The article examines the role of the reader in the framework of a specific form of public reading that was the Roman recitatio. Although there are three roles present - the author (recitator), the reader (lector) and the audience (auditor), there are only two persons necessary to carry out a recitatio, the author and the listener.
The aim is to describe the functions of lector and of recitator and to define their respective positions. While lector is only a voice without name dependent on the master - the author, recitator becomes a persona, marked out as the author among the audience.