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New Texts from Vindolanda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Alan K. Bowman  and
J. David Thomas
Alan K. Bowman
Affiliation:
Christ Church, Oxford
J. David Thomas
Affiliation:
Durham University
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Extract

The renewed excavations in the pre-Hadrianic area of the Vindolanda site have continued to produce large numbers of writing-tablets. The inventory numbers under which the finds of 1985 and 1986 are catalogued run as far as 670; many include pieces of more than one tablet but there is, of course, a large number of scraps which are either blank or have only exiguous traces of writing. It is gratifying to report that the 1985 tablets have now gone to join their predecessors of 1973–5 in the British Museum, with an agreement that subsequent discoveries will also reach the same destination. It is envisaged that there will be two further seasons of excavation in 1987 and 1988. A rough estimate of the bulk of the significant written material which emerged in 1985 suggests that it is approximately the equivalent of the corpus of texts published in 1983. The yield of 1986 was somewhat smaller but there are good grounds for believing that this was not because the progress of the excavation was coming to the end of the tablet deposit and there is every reason to hope for significant quantities of tablets in 1987 and 1988.

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Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 18 , November 1987 , pp. 125 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © Alan K. Bowman and J. David Thomas 1987. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Tablets found in the earlier excavations of 1973–5 were published by the present writers in Vindolanda: the Latin Writing-Tablets Britannia Monograph 4 (1983). These tablets are referred to in this article by the abbreviation Tab. Vindol., whereas tablets found in the new excavations are referred to as Inv. no. 85/1, 86/470 etc. Papyrological abbreviations follow the usual conventions (Cf. Turner, E.G., Greek Papyri, an introduction2 (1980), 159fr.).Google Scholar Other abbreviations which may not be immediately apparent are the following: CGL: Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum ChLA: Chartae Latinae Antiquiores, ed. A. Bruckner and R. Marichal RMLW: R.A. Latham, Revised Medieval Latin Word-List RMR: R.O. Fink, Roman Military Records on Papyrus (1971) Seider, PLP: R. Seider, Palaeographie der lateinischen Papyri (1972–1981).

2 JRS lxxvi (1986), 120–3.

3 Tab. Vindol. 37; the same hand appears in Inv. nos. 85/1 and 85/12, but our view in JRS lxxvi (1986), 122. that the nominative form of the name proves that the hand is that of Cerialis himself, was too firmly stated, though we still think it probable.

4 Cf. Tab. Vindol. pp. 21–4.

5 Lechlade, Carlisle, Caerleon; for the last see Britannia xvii (1986), 450–2.

6 Tab. Vindol. pp. 47–50, 117–9.

7 HN 16.68, see Locher, A., Rottländer, R.C.A., Lebendige Altertumswissenschaft = Festschrift Hermann Vetters (1985), 146Google Scholar (but note that the manuscripts read silicios not sectiles).

8 A cohors III Batauorum milliaria appears in Raetia in A.D. 107 (CIL xvi 55), a cohors 111 Batauorum in Pannonia Inferior in A.D. 157 (Roxan, M.M., Roman Military Diplomas, 1978–84 (Institute of Classical Studies, Occasional Publication no. 9, 1985), nos. 102–3).Google Scholar For the ninth cohort see Roxan, op. cit., nos. 51/104, 94, 112 and Dietz, K., Germania lx (1982), 183–91Google Scholar (the arguments for placing the ninth cohort in Raetia from C A.D. 102–5 seem to us inconclusive, but there is in any case no difficulty in supposing that our attestations of its presence at Vindolanda fall at the very end of its posting in Britain).

9 Tab. Vindol., p. 48.

10 Cerialis: Tab. Vindol. 21–9; Priscinus: Tab. Vindol. 30–33; Genialis: Tab. Vindol. 34–6. An improved photograph of Tab. Vindol. 104 shows the name of Priscinus there too. Tab. Vindol. 37 as published is addressed to a Crispinus and mentions another man of the same name (Grattius Crispinus) in line 2; we still think that our reading of the name of the addressee was correct, but we now think it possible, to put it no higher, that the second person is the Priscinus of the archive.

11 Cf. Tab. Vindol., pp. 119 and II.

12 We are again much indebted to Robin Birley for providing archaeological information and for the plan of the praetorium (FIG. I). Most of the texts published below were presented at a seminar in Oxford in November, 1986. We are very grateful to all the participants for their helpful comments, many of which have enabled us (we hope) to improve our reading and interpretation of the texts. As will be apparent from the notes to the texts which follow, we owe a special debt of gratitude to Dr J.N. Adams, who has provided us with numerous comments and suggestions, which he has kindly allowed us to reproduce verbatim, on points of linguistic interest.