Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier

Life and Letters
on the Roman Frontier:
Vindolanda and its People





Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier with the subtitle Vindolanda and its People by Alan K. Bowman was published in 1994. A second edition appeared in 1998. A third edition (published in 2003) was reprinted in 2006 and 2008.

Bowman (born 1944) is professor emeritus of ancient history at Oxford University. This book is an excellent introduction to the amazing evidence from Vindolanda, a Roman fort in the north of England, not far from Hadrian's Wall. Since 1973 archaeologists have discovered hundreds of ancient documents written with ink on thin pieces of wood, known as the Vindolanda writing-tablets.

Many are short, but a few are rather long. Many are fragments, but some are (almost) intact. Most of the documents which can be dated were written around the year AD 100. Taken together they provide a unique insight into the lives of the men and women who lived in this place almost two thousand years ago.

The book is divided into two parts. In part one the tablets are discussed and interpreted; they are placed in context. In part two a selection of 50 documents are printed in Latin and in English.

The book concludes with a bibliography, and an index. Illustrations include three maps of the Vindolanda area and photos of some of the tablets, which are discussed in part one and printed in part two: you can compare the original with the printed version.

[Some of the tablets are available online at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents. While this website is interesting, it is no substitute for this book: CSAD.]

Part one is divided into seven chapters. Here are the headings:

1. Introduction
2. The Writing-Tablets
3. Strategies of Occupation
4. The Roman Army
5. Officers, Men, and Women
6. Social and Economic Life on the Frontier
7. Letters and Literacy

At the end of each chapter there are notes with references to modern works and ancient sources, including the tablets. As you can see from the list, each chapter covers one aspect of the general topic. The text is well-written, and the material is well-organised.

Part one concludes with a discussion of literacy in the ancient world. Bowman has covered this issue elsewhere: he is the author of a chapter in Literacy in the Roman World (1991) and the co-editor of Literacy and Power in the Ancient World (1994, 1996).

When discussing this issue, we can try to quantify and measure, as William Harris does in Ancient Literacy (hardcover 1989, paperback 1991). But it is difficult and, as Bowman points out, it is important to remember that there are degrees of literacy (page 79).

The Roman civilization was a literate one, and the evidence from Vindolanda allows us to study "the character of that literacy at the periphery of the Roman world and its role in the organization of that provincial region and society" (page 80).

The writing-tablets from Vindolanda are often compared with the papyri from Egypt. When we consider the papyri from Egypt, we may get the impression that literacy was relatively high for the ancient world, and we have to ask: is the case of Egypt unique or typical? Perhaps literacy in Egypt was relatively high because of a literate tradition in this part of the world. The evidence from Vindolanda, the other end of the empire, is surprisingly similar to the evidence from Egypt, which allows us to argue that literacy was relatively high in every part of the Roman Empire.

Part two is divided into two sections, "Technical Terminology" and "The Texts." For reasons of space only a few examples can be mentioned here:

(1) Claudia Severa sent a birthday invitation to Sulpicia Lepidina (doc. # 31). The official invitation was written by a professional scribe, but Claudia Severa added a personal closing in her own hand:

sperabo te soror
vale soror anima
mea ita valeam
carissima et have

"I shall expect you, sister. Farewell, sister, my dearest soul, as I hope to prosper, and hail."

This letter is unique, because it is written by a woman to another woman. Claudia Severa is the wife of an officer. Sulpicia Lepidina is the wife of another officer. It is hardly surprising that they are literate.

(2) Hunting was a popular pastime among officers. This topic is the subject of a letter from Flavius Cerialis to Brocchus (doc. 24):

Flavius Cerialis Broccho
suo salutem
si me amas frater rogo
mittas mihi plagas 

"Flavius Cerialis sends his greetings to his Brocchus. If you love me, brother, I ask that you send me some hunting-nets."

Flavius Cerialis and Brocchus are both officers. It is hardly surprising that they are literate.

(3) Soldiers would sometimes make a request for leave. Two examples are given in doc. 5. We do not know the name of the first soldier, nor do we know the place he wants to visit, Ulucium:

rogo
dignum me habeas
cui des commeatum
Ulucio

"I ask ... that you consider me a worthy person to whom to grant leave at Ulucium."

The second soldier, Messicus, wants to visit Coria, which is the Latin name for Corbridge, another fort near Hadrian's Wall: 

habeas cui
des commeatum
Coris Messicus
rogo domine 

"I, Messicus..., ask, my lord, that you consider me a worthy person to whom to grant leave at Coria."

Both letters are probably written by ordinary soldiers. They follow the same pattern, but we are not dealing with a form where the soldier only needs to fill in his name. Each soldier writes the whole text, which shows some degree of literacy among the rank and file.

Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier is a great book. If you are interested in the history of ancient Rome - what we know and how we know it - I am sure you will enjoy this book.





 

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Alan K. Bowman,
Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier:
Vindolanda and its People,

British Museum Press
First edition 1994, second edition 1998, third edition 2003, 179 pages

 

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