We often think that the best information from the Roman world comes from Egypt, where the dryness preserves papyri. However, in…

We often think that the best information from the Roman world comes from Egypt, where the dryness preserves papyri. However, in Britain the reverse conditions occur. At Vindolanda – a Roman fort located two miles behind Hadrian’s Wall – the humidity preserved wooden writing tablets that were thrown into a bonfire when the fort was evacuated in CE 105.

These wooden tablets were one of the most important discoveries made in Roman Britain in the 20th century.

They were used not for grand writings but for memoranda and accounts, so they provide the best insight into life in the Roman army found anywhere in the world. One of the tablets says:

Octavius to Candidus: “I need money. I have bought 5,000 bushels of grain, and unless you send me some money, I shall lose my deposit and be embarrassed”.

(Adaptado de http://www.archaeology.co.uk/specials/the-timeline-ofbritain/vindolanda-2.htm. Acessado em 28/08/2016.)

Os documentos descobertos em Vindolanda