Academic literature on the topic 'Vindolanda tablets'

SummaryAt the beginning of my paper I have explained why I could not use the new finds of the Vindolanda Tablets. In this regard I quoted the letter I sent to Professor Bowman and the kind answer he gave me. Then I took into account three elements of the Vindolanda Tablets until now published that deserve attention, namely (1) the conflation of second and third conjugation of Latin verb, which is considered a feature of Vulgar Latin, (2) the presence of official language in distinguishing the familiar puer from the formal servus to mention a slave, and (3) the use of rogo (or similar verbs) + ut or the simple subjunctive. In all these cases the presumption of Vulgar Latin in Vindolanda tablets must be reduced. As to the first I actually challenged in some cases the supposed conflation of second and third conjugation. I demonstrated that the expression qui debunt (instead of debent) must be read qui debent, because the letter V of debunt is a false reading for E written in the cursive form employed not only in Vindolanda tablets but also in a letter sent by Cl. Terentianus to his father, Cl. Tiberianus, in P. Mich. VIII 468. 40. The closing greetings Valu fratur (Vindolanda Tablet 301 Plate XXIII), which of course must be read Vale frater is a proof that in the cursive formula of final greetings, written in a kind of currente calamo, a cursive script was employed and the conflation of second and third conjugation must be reduced in some cases to a cursive (and regular) script. Also as to the difference between puer and servus, and rogo + subj. (with ut or without ut) the Vindolanda’s Latin was not so vulgar as could be supposed if we consider Octavius’ and Chrautius’ Latinitas. In particular the construction of rogo + subj. (with ut or withour ut) was object of study because Latin speaker showed a great attention in choosing one or the other construction as happened in a couple of letters sent by Brutus and Cassius to Mark Antony. Maybe this depended upon the action of military scribes, as Adams right supposed. On the other hand, if we consider the role played by Brittain Latin in the Carolingian Renaissance, every defence of correct Latin in this region requires a larger investigation. Therefore the use of the new Vindolanda Letters should have a great weight.

Excavations were resumed at Vindolanda in the pre-Hadrianic section of the site in the summer of 1985. The prediction that the area was likely to contain further deposits of writing-tablets was strikingly confirmed and it can now be confidently stated that the publication, by the present authors, of the tablets discovered in 1973-5 was only the first instalment. It is as yet unclear when the full publication of the new finds can be expected or what precise form it will take. This is the justification, if any is needed, for presenting this summary account of the 1985 material. The inventory numbers under which the new tablets are catalogued run to almost 340; many contain several fragments; most, but not all, have at least traces of writing. It is at present envisaged that three more seasons of excavation will be undertaken in 1986, 1987 and 1988, investigating an area which extends some 15–20 metres to the north of the present terminus. There is some reason to think that the writing-tablet deposit may cover the whole or a substantial part of this area and it is therefore possible that the subsequent seasons may yield as many tablets as that of 1985.

ABSTRACTThis article contains full editions with commentaries of the first instalment of the approximately 37 ink writing-tablets from Vindolanda discovered in the excavation seasons of 2001, 2002 and 2003. The editions are numbered continuously from 854, following the sequence in A.K. Bowman and J.D. Thomas, The Vindolanda Writing-Tablets (Tabulae Vindolandenses III) (2003), and are grouped in the following categories: Literary Texts, Military Documents, Accounts, Letters. The second instalment, to be published in 2011, will contain the remaining Letters and Descripta.

The text here published has a claim to be the most important military document ever discovered in Britain. It was found during the 1988 season of excavation of the pre-Hadrianic area at Vindolanda. The archaeological context in which it was found is the earliest level in which tablets are present; it was located in the ditch by the west wall of the earliest phase of the fort, beneath four successive buildings of the later periods. The ditch appears to have been filled by A.D. 90/92 and the tablet is therefore most probably to be dated c. A.D. 90 (unless it was part of a deposit of rubbish put into the Period I ditch by the builders of the Period II structures). It would thus reflect the situation at Vindolanda only a few years after Agricola's departure from Britain, presumably just before the enlargement of the fort which made this area the site of the praetorium in the southern sector of the central range of buildings. The small amount of relevant evidence from other writing-tablets confuses rather than clarifies the picture. The commanding officer named in the strength report is Iulius Verecundus and there are five or six other texts associated with a man named Verecundus who may or may not be the same person (in only one case is the gentilicium (Iulius) preserved).

ABSTRACTThe economic aspects of metallurgy in the distant past have been relatively little studied, largely owing to the absence of detailed records for periods preceding medieval times. This paper takes advantage of a rare survival, an account from the Vindolanda tablets in which a price for iron is recorded, to explore some of the economic characteristics of the metal during the first and second centuries a.d. in Britain. The inherent difficulties in employing evidence of this kind are examined before looking at the price information from the rest of the Vindolanda tablets to assess the value of iron relative to other commodities at the fort. The value of the metal is then examined compared with that of labour, thus illuminating the potential economic opportunities that became available to iron producers following the establishment of Roman rule in Britain.