People always read aloud until medieval (in Europe) times.... even worse, there often wasn't even punctuation or even spaces between words!

Tons of info about that all over the internet, but if you are especially interested in the history of original aural communication by poets such as Homer and his Asian equivalents shifting gradually into writing, then eventually into books, then even later into printing presses etc.....I recommend Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World by Irene Vallejo.

One of my favorite books everywhere -- AND you can get an audio version!