"Clodius Super to his Cerialis, greetings. I ask that you send the things which I need for the use of my boys...which you well know I cannot properly get hold of here..." So writes a Roman soldier stationed the wild northern frontier of England around AD 100. Over three hundred such letters and documents have recently been discovered at the fort of Vindolanda written on wooden tablets which have amazingly survived nearly 2,000 years. Painstakingly deciphered by Alan Bowman and David Thomas they have contributed a wealth of ...
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"Clodius Super to his Cerialis, greetings. I ask that you send the things which I need for the use of my boys...which you well know I cannot properly get hold of here..." So writes a Roman soldier stationed the wild northern frontier of England around AD 100. Over three hundred such letters and documents have recently been discovered at the fort of Vindolanda written on wooden tablets which have amazingly survived nearly 2,000 years. Painstakingly deciphered by Alan Bowman and David Thomas they have contributed a wealth of evidence for daily life in the Roman Empire. From the military documents we learn of the strength and activities of the units stationed at Vindolanda. The accounts testify to the lifestyle of officers and ordinary soldiers, with payments for pepper and oil, towels and tallow, boots and beer. Then there are snapshots of domestic life in letters between the officer's wives, including a birthday invitation. Most fascinating of all is the evidence for a high degree of literacy in the Roman army, when even a common soldier receives a letter from home promising him a parcel of socks. Alan Bowman's lively summary of this new evidence is followed by the text of 34 key tablets, in Latin and in translation, bringing the reader very close to the actual people who inhabited Vindolanda in AD 100.
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Add this copy of Life and Letters on Roman Frontier (Paperback) /Anglais to cart. $4.83, very good condition, Sold by A Need to Read rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Idaho Falls, ID, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by BRITISH MUSEUM.
Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and to cart. $19.95, very good condition, Sold by George Lyon rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Alexandria, VA, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by British Museum Press.
Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and to cart. $20.93, very good condition, Sold by John C. Newland rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cheltenham, Glos., UNITED KINGDOM, published 1998 by British Museum Press.
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Seller's Description:
Used-Very Good. VG paperback. 1998 1st paperback edition; cover uncreased; lightly creased spine; owner's book plate on verso of front cover; owner's name on first page; otherwise, a clean, tidy copy.
Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and to cart. $21.23, very good condition, Sold by Cherubz Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from York, N YORKS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1998 by British Museum Press.
Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier. Vindolanda and to cart. $21.45, very good condition, Sold by Halcyon Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1998 by The British Museum Press.
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Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and to cart. $22.00, very good condition, Sold by Greensleeves Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milton Under Wychwood, OXFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1998 by British Museum Press.
Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier to cart. $25.00, very good condition, Sold by Windows Booksellers rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Eugene, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by British Museum Press.
Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and to cart. $29.61, like new condition, Sold by Roger Lucas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Horncastle, Lincs, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1994 by British Museum Press.
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Add this copy of Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier Vindolanda and to cart. $39.95, very good condition, Sold by Last Exit Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Charlottesville, VA, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Routledge, Kegan Paul.
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Very Good. Trade PB. 8vo. Routledge, New York. 1998. 168 pgs. Illustrated. Wrappers lightly worn with some light shelf-wear to the extremities present. Book is free of ownership marks. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. Octavius to his brother Candidus, greetings. The hundred pounds of sinew from Marinus--I will settle up. From the time when you wrote about this matter, he has not even mentioned it to me. I have several times written to you that I have bought about five thousand modii of ears of grain, on account of which I need cash....A military strength report, a grocery list, a birthday invitation-the Vindolanda wooden tablets-a mix of personal and bureacratic documents excavated in one of the Roman forts in Britain, are a small glimpse into life of the Roman provincial garrison. For an untrained eye it's a interesting source, but no more. In "Life and Letters" Alan Bowman expands this small glimpse into an open window, not only in Roman life, but also into how archaeological and textual analysis of ancient sources is done. It is almost fascinating to see how every word, name and place gets picked apart, to extract every bit of information possible: for example a name could state the origin and social background of the soldier, the time of his family enfranchisement (gaining of citizenship), be cross-referenced against known literal sources, headstones, military movements etc. Handwriting, diet, social interactions, romanization of provinces, military movements during peace, military and civil society interactions, logistics-almost everything that could be tied to information in the tablets gets reflected in this book." Life and Letters" is by no means a comprehensive account of Roman life, Roman military or even life in the Vindolanda fort, yet, it is surprisingly informative, and illuminates a lot of aspects that never make it to more generally written books. E-215; 8vo 8"-9" tall.
