The Vindolanda Tablets
Revolutionising our understanding of frontier life in Roman Britain
by Claire Stocks & Barbara Birley
The Vindolanda Tablets
Revolutionising our understanding of frontier life in Roman Britain
by Claire Stocks & Barbara Birley
Revolutionising our understanding of frontier life in Roman Britain
by Claire Stocks & Barbara Birley
It has been 50 years since the discovery of the first group of Vindolanda tablets revolutionised our understanding of life on the frontier in Roman Britain. Together with the discovery of another batch in 2017, these tablets offer an unparalleled insight into daily life at the Roman fort of Vindolanda. In this talk, Claire Stocks discusses some of the details, characters, and stories revealed through the writing on these small, thin pieces of wood. Consisting of letters to friends and family, lists of groceries, details of troop deployments and a possible appeal to the emperor Hadrian (among other things), these tablets offer insight into all levels of society. They are also completely relatable – who wouldn’t feel sympathy for the soldier deployed to the far North of the empire and in need of a pair of socks! Combined, these voices from the past shout loudly for our attention, reminding us that life during the Roman occupation of Britain was about more than war and conflict.
Claire Stocks is Senior Lecturer in Classics at Newcastle University, UK. Her research interests include Latin Literature and Digital Humanities. Together with the Vindolanda Trust, Creative Assembly, Entertainment Games Ltd., and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, she has worked on a series of online games centred on the ancient world.
Barbara Birley is the Curator for the Vindolanda Trust and has been working with the collection for 25 years. Her main work is focused on the artefacts from the Trust’s excavations as well as the curation and interpretation for the Vindolanda Museum, the Roman Army Museum and its digital outputs.
Claire Stocks is Senior Lecturer in Classics at Newcastle University, UK. Her research interests include Latin Literature and Digital Humanities. Together with the Vindolanda Trust, Creative Assembly, Entertainment Games Ltd., and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, she has worked on a series of online games centred on the ancient world.
Barbara Birley is the Curator for the Vindolanda Trust and has been working with the collection for 25 years. Her main work is focused on the artefacts from the Trust’s excavations as well as the curation and interpretation for the Vindolanda Museum, the Roman Army Museum and its digital outputs.
