Vindolanda tablets

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The Vindolanda tablets are fragments of half-burnt wooden leaf-tablets with writing in ink containing messages to and from members of the garrison of Vindolanda Roman fort, their families, and their slaves. For example there is a famous letter written around 100 from Sulpicia Lepidina, the wife of the commander of a nearby fort to Claudia Severa, wife of the commandant of Vindolanda, inviting her to a birthday party. First discovered by Robin Birley in the 1970s, they continue to be found.

Until the discovery of the tablets, historians could only speculate on whether the Romans had a nickname for the Britons. "Brittunculi" (diminutive of Brittus) is now known to be a derogatory, or patronizing, term used by the Roman garrisons that were based in Northern Britain to describe the locals, something akin to 'nasty little Britons' or 'wretched little Brits', as found on one of the Vindolanda tablets.

They are held at the British Museum, and usually a selection of them are on display in its Roman Britain gallery. This gallery (Room 49) is closed for redisplay until 2008 but a selection of tablets can still be seen in Room 70 (the Museum's Roman Empire room).

[edit] Bibliography

Birley, A., Garrison Life at Vindolanda: A Band of Brothers, Stroud: Tempus, (2002)
Bowman, A.K., Life and letters on the Roman frontier : Vindolanda and its people, London: British Museum Press, (1998, 2003)
Bowman, A.K. and J.D. Thomas, The Vindolanda Writing Tablets, London: The British Musum Press, (1994)
Bowman, A.K. and J.D. Thomas, The Vindolanda Writing Tablets III, London: The British Musum Press, (2003)