Opusciila Romana 25-26, 2000-2001 LITERACY IN ROMAN BRITAIN: THE EPIGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE” DOMINIC INGEMARK Abstract In modern scholarly research attempts have boen made to estimate the levels of literacy inthe Roman world, and the levels suggested ae low, a view which can be seen as a reaction against earier claims for mass literacy. One of the most influential scholars, Wil- liam Hares, has sgt that the stall part ofthe population wha ‘were literate belonged either to the élite or were shied craftsmen and, with few exceptions, were men (so-called "erafsman's liter- wy") In this paper—based on an analysis of the epigraphical recon from Roman Britain, in padticular, the euse-tablets from Bath and the writng-tables from Vindolands—1 endeavour 19 show that both men and women of differen social standings in Romano: British society may have been literate. The concept of “erafisman’s literacy" thus no longer seems to hold tu. INTRODUCTION, {In earlier research, Roman Britain has been considered one of the epigraphically most impoverished provinees of the Roman Empire.’ Nevertheless, this province has been cho- sen for a case-study, in order to discuss two problems con- ‘cerning the level of literaey.? Firstly, whether literacy in the Roman world, and Roman Britain in particular, was limited to-a small part of society or whether individuals of different social standings could have been literate. Secondly, the levels of literacy in the Roman army will be discussed In Ancient literacy, William Harris fiercely criticised earlier scholarship for entertaining an “extreme optimism”? 4 View that can be said to be a reaction against earlier claims (of mass literacy during the Roman period.* Harris's views predominate in the most recent debate, and there are few ‘who do not dance to his tune.* According to Harts, less than 5-I0 per cent of the population of the western provinces ‘were literate These estimates were reached by analogy with the levels of literacy in poverty-stricken, Third World countries in the mid-twentieth century, such as Moroceo and Tunisia.” In this paper, it is argued that these Third World countries and the Roman Empire are not comparable, and thus that Harris's use of analogies is untenable ‘The small part of the population who—according to Har- tis—were literate belonged to the élite or the class of skilled craftsmen, In his work, he discusses the concept of “crafts- ‘man's literacy”, which is defined as follows: “By crafts: man’s literacy 1 mean not the literacy of an individual craftsman but the condition in which the majority, ora near ‘majority, of skilled craftsmen are literate, while women and unskilled labourers and peasants see mainly not” The epi- graphical evidence from Roman Britain does not seem to support Harris's ideas about “crafisman’s literacy”, as there is evidence fo suggest that not only the élite and skilled craftsmen, but also peasants and women may have been lit crate Alan Bowman’s claim that there was no mass literacy in the Roman army will also be subjected to scrutiny. Bowman hhas acknowledged that there is evidence for literacy on all levels within the army but is of the opinion that it was ‘mainly —but not solely —restricted to those of higher rank.’ It may well be that literacy, albeit on the most basic level, ‘was a necessary prerequisite for every Roman soldier to be able to perform his duties and to cope with aspects of every- day life in an army camp. The sheer volume of epigraphical evidence from military sites seems to suggest this, © T would Tike express my thanks 10 the following: Dr Oxjan ‘Wikander and Mr Henrik Gerding, Dept of Classical Stoies, Lund University, Sweden; Ms Camilla Asplund, Dept. of Folkorstcs, ‘Abo Akademi Universiy, Finland, and Ms Gwendolyn Heley, Dept. of Archaeology, Univesity of Durham, England, or reading eater drafts ofthis paper and giving valuable adviee and com mens. Any errors, however, remain my ows, I WOU aso ike to thank Mr Ray Hunneyset, Dept. of Archacology, Univesity of Durham, England, for dravvng the maps. * Bits 1975, 13. 2 The UNESCO has defined literacy as“... a person i iterate who ‘can with understanding both read and write 8 short simple state ‘ment on his everyday life" Quoted frm Hanson 1991, 161 "Hanis 1989, 8, * See, for example, Tanzer 1939, 83 S Humphrey 1991b, 51. However, see also Horsfall 1991, 59-76, for a fierce extique of Haris, Harts 1989, 272. * Harris 1989, 22 * Harris 1989.8 ° Bowman 1994a, HIF,20 Dominic Ingemark ‘THE USE OF ANALOGICAL REASONING BY HARRIS ‘As mentioned above, Harris bases his estimates ofthe levels of literacy in the Roman world on analogical reasonin ing the conditions in countries like Moroceo and Tunisia in the mid-twentieth century as an analogy." I strongly dis agree with this use of analogy, Analogical reasoning is a powerful, and often indispensable, tool in the interpretation of archaeological remains ofthe pre-historical period, It can be forcefully argued that, without the aid of ethnographical/ anthropological analogies, many aspects of life and society in this period would be poorly understood. However, the \ypes of analogies that may be considered applicable in this Fespect ultimately depend on the phenomena discussed, Certain crafts, for example, may bear close resemblances 10 ceach other in very different societies, but, as for other phenomena, such as economics or, inthis case, literacy, the ‘wo societies—the living and the historieal—should be on the same level of societal organisation, and otherwise be comparable, for the analogy to be valid. ‘When we come to the Roman Empire, this poses a serious problem, as no societies exist today, either traditional or modem, which are similar to the Roman. The Roman Em pire was world empire, stretching over vast expanses of land, including large parts of Europe and areas in Africa and Asia. The need for working communications alone must have demanded a certain level of literacy in Roman society. ‘Therefore, there must have been a marked difference be- ‘ween the needs of skills in reading and writing in the Ro- ‘man Empire and in poor, underdeveloped countries like Morocco. ‘The basis of Harris’s argument for very low levels of lit- eracy in Roman society is the lack of institutions, such as schools, in which ancient society could have achieved mass literacy. There is very little evidence for schooling in Ro- man Britain, with the exception of a passage in Tacitus’ Ag- ricola: “Moreover he began to tain the sons of the chief tains in a liberal education, ...”. [have therefore chosen ‘not to discuss schools and schooling in Roman times;"* in- stead, the focus of this article is on the direct evidence for literacy, ie. the epigraphical romains THE MATERIAL FROM ROMAN BRITAIN, ‘Several good reasons lie behind the choice of Britain as a ‘case-study: the most important is that epigraphical material has been meticulously collected, and published in great de- tail, in Britain over a period of more than three-quarters of a century."* Moreover, the picture ofthe epigraphical material has changed radically in recent times. Until two decades ago, the epigraphical evidence from Roman Britain con: sisted almost exclusively of inscriptions on altarstones and tombstones, and of graffiti." However, since then, a number of new finds have been ‘made, most importantly, the writing-tablets from Vindo- lanida (Chesterholm) in Northumberland! the leaden curse: tablets from the sacted springs at the temple of Sulis, Minerva at Bath in Gloucestershire:" and the leaden curse tablets from the temple of Mercury at Uley in Gloucester shite." In addition t0 these finds, both curse-tablets and writing-tablets have been found on several different sites, albeit in smaller quantities. Yet another category of evi: dence is finds of siyli and ink-wells, which have been re covered on various sites Even though the variety of epigraphical evidence dis- played in the British finds can be said to be very wide in- ‘deed, the leaden curse-tablets, on the one hand undoubtedly tzive the greatest insight into the problem of who were the literate in Romano-British society. The wooden writing tablets (both leaf tablets and stilus tablets), on the other hand, give insight into the levels of literacy in the Roman army. For this reason, I have chosen to concentrate on these materials AAs regards for why these materials are the most valuable in giving @ picture of how widespread literacy was in Ro: Inano-British society, several reasons may be suggested, Firstly, with very few exceptions, these texts can be shown to have been written in Britain.” Certain other forms of written evidence may not have originated in Britain, for ex: ample, maker’s marks or stuli picti on imported objects Secondly, in contrast to graffiti, pint tli picei and other forms of epigraphical evidence, mostly consisting of a name or one or a few worus or numerals, these texts are longer, thus revealing that the writer actually had a certain degree of literacy. Thirdly, unlike inscriptions on stone, they are di- rect evidence of literacy. The inscriptions on stone were ‘made by stonecutters, and not by the actual person wanting to commemorate a person or an event, The fact that inserip- "For an interesting. discussion on povesty and iliteracy, see Lesage 1982 See Wylie 1985, 71 "Tacitus, Agricola 21, transl. M, Hutton (Loeb Classical Library), Cambridge, Mass, 1938 (1914). > For discussions on schools and schooling in Ronan times, see Bonner 1977, Harvey 1978, Kaster 1983, Muir 1984, Cribiore 1996, Véssing 1997 and Vessing 1998. Ite important to note that a Teas inthe central parts ofthe Empire, most primary school- teachers held their clases outdoors on sreet-comers and sach-ike places (see Bonner 1972). Consequently, few taces are let inthe archaeological record. "An annal report of the finds of epigraphical material in Britain has been published since 1921 co the present dey, fist inthe JRS 11-59, 1921-1969, and thereafter in the journal Britannia I~, 1970- ‘his report contains finds ofall types, ranging from lengthy inscriptions on atastones and suchlike, to the most insignificant makers” marks on the instrumentum domesicun. Ia adlition t0 this, a very detailed corpus of the episrapical material has been published in RIB T& I. "Fora good survey ofthe history of epigraphic research in Britain, see Tomlin 19934 "Bowman & Thomas 1983: Vindolanda Il: Bowman & Thomas 1996 * Bath. See also Adams 1992 Tomlin 19936, © There is one exception; 8 wooden writing tablet found in Castle =, Carlisle (Luguvalium) bore the addres “IN” BRITANIA™ snd was clearly sent therefrom another province: Hasall & Tom: Tin 1988, 498, fg. 9,Literacy in Roman Britain 21 of different kinds were placed in public areas, how- Be arta par of ppsaion wold beable od thor. In many cases, the social standing of that person can “Pe bediced which very npotant aspect ofthe atempt Fs sh wich groupe in socety were el to beable o Ratan wee, And lly epigraphic materi varied iy bin in cost an in avai, Irons Boor ere expensive, and sone slab or herons Sarhot valle everywhere n Bran, frgeologial Month ck of good one nthe dersely populated su Si eine notceabe.” Wooden lea tablets and leden Gait, However, do not sem o have been pate Ty eapensie, Moreover, the matral was abun, 8 tel as ey tensor, “To sum ep he wooden wringslets and de lender ee-ubkte a very valuable, inthe quate pempee five: However inthe quantorve peapectve, it may beat hed that he umber of alse elavly Hed, Tiss real ofthe conditions of ahaolgia preservation (ee below) and all he evidence set to nugget ta the Soden alta east were widely ated, However ae Sof the aly inited number ins, have chosen oot (beat hese tical. im dcssng ery, one must bear in ind tha thee were degrees temey.™ The fat ta someone wi abe {ovr sor her nam nthe form of ratio onan ab ject to ead an nription does no ecessaily mean that that person was fly ert; here ew vast ference be- tween people not ily rat, or even sme and those who are oly lite, Among he sre, hres ao varied we of ths sil, Ramsay MacMilen sped of the “pire hai the hai of ping up stp tons. There conseabe variation inthe ant of terial fom ferent periods, not necessary reflecting ferences in he levels of Hiracy ovr tne, Bt rl d closing ter ato” CONDITIONS OF PRESERVATION FOR EPIGRAPHICAL MATERIAL IN THE ROMAN WORLD ‘The conditions of preservation are also a central problem. Literacy dy its very nature leaves litde trace. What has sur vived through almost two millennia is but an infinitely stnall fraction of what once existed. The preferred writing materials in the Roman world—papyrus, parchment, ‘wooden leaf tablets and wooden stilus tablets—may be re ttieved only in exceptional cases, examples of this being the papyri in the dry desert sands of Egypt,” and the wooden leat tablets and stilus tablets preserved under anaerobic con- ditions at several metres" depth in Vindolanda, In addition to these, there were non-perishable materials, such as stone {and metal, and ostraca, which had a variety of uses. How- ‘ever, with the exception of ostraca, these writing-materials, Were not used for leters and other day-to-day activites Curse-tablets were made of lead, a material that survives well, but they were mainly used in the religio-magical sphere and were liable to be re-used. The relative scarcity of epigraphical material cannot thus necessarily be equated ith literacy being limited to just a small part of society, as advocated by Harris. The epigraphical evidence on durable material, such as graffiti on different materials and inscrip- tions, demonstrates this. For example, in Pompeii alone, no less than 11,000 inscriptions (graffiti, pint etc.), mainly written by the lower classes, have been found.”* Similarly graffiti have been discovered at sites all over the Empire, of- ten written by people of the lower classes and by slaves, In a critique of Harris, Nicholas Horsfall quotes a graffito from ‘Gaul made by a bricklayer. This shows that literacy was far from being confined to small groups in society. ‘THE LANGUAGE IN THE EPIGRAPHICAL, MATERIAL AND EPIGRAPHICAL TRADITION Inthe Roman Empire, Latin and Greck were the two official languages, and the overwitelming majority of inscriptions ‘were written in these languages. However, a number of other languages were also used for inscriptions.” and even ‘more were spoken. The majority of the population in Ro- ‘man Britain probably spoke # Celtic language, British, rather than Latin as their first Ianguage.” Despite this, the vast majority of the epigraphic material was written in Latin, A few Greek inscriptions have been found, and, more interestingly, two of the Bath curse-tablets seem to have ‘been written in Celtic." ‘The fact that nether Latin nor Greek was the first lan- ‘guage in many areas of the Roman Empire is used by Haris as an argument against high levels of literacy.” ‘There is a plenitude of examples of societies, both in historical and i modem times, in which several languages were spoken, whereas literacy was restricted to one of these. Although I agree with Harris that the status of Latin as @ second lan- guage made learning how to read and write more difficult ‘do not agree that it was @ major obstacle in achieving liter- Mann 1985, 204-206, 21 Bowman 19940, 82, ® MacMullen 1982 ® Anestimation by Keith Hopkins of the survival of texts in Baypt (where the conditions of preservation were extremly good) is 1 12.000 (Hopkins 1991, 133). » Franklin, 1991, 77 % Horsfall 1991, 59; se also CIL F 3856, This interesting find from Pietrabbondante, lly, is a brick on which a female slave— the brickmaker—has written 2 Sec, for example, Catton, Cockle & Millar 1995. 2 Bis Evans 1983, 956; Smith 1983; Mann 1971 The Greek inscriptions are sparse and have mainly been found on dd abject, See, for example, Wright 1946, 146-148; Home 1924, 530-32, pl on 31, For Celtic material, see Tomlin 1987, Haars 1989, 1758 Roman society was essential ust rulitingual, See Thomas 1998,22 Dominic Ingemark Nevertheless, one has to be aware of the importance of epigraphical traditions in certain areas. In Egypt, for ex- ample, the epigraphical tradition stretches back thousands of years and in trying to explain the large quantities of writ- ‘ten material found in the area the conditions of preservation ceannot be the sole explanation, Though it may be hard to prove, it is likely that the levels of literacy were higher in this area as a result of long traditions, In Britain, the evi- der deed, and I efor literaey before the Claudian invasion is scarce i ited to the numismatic material.” LITERACY IN THE CIVILIAN POPULATION OF ROMAN BRITAIN ‘The civilian population of Britain (which formed the over- ‘whelming majority of the total population), would probably rot have been literate to the same extent as the military. However, they wore likely to encounter writen texts in the different spheres of life. ln the religio-magical sphere, there were inscriptions on altars and tombstones and, more im- portantly, there were appeals to the gods to retrieve stolen ‘goods on leaden curse-tablets, In the world of production and commerce, stilus tablets were used for contracts, loans ‘and similar transactions. Goods bore maker's stamps and sisuli pic, stating the contents of transport containers like amphorae, the area of produce and the makers’ name. In the cities and towns, people often scratched their names on various objects, and from a small number of villas, there is even some evidence ‘of their inhabitants being familiar with such literary classies as Vergil’s Aeneid, In short, the civilian world was literate but, the epi graphical material seems to suggest, not to the same degree as the military, Literacy among the civil population in Britain appears not ro have been restricted to certain groups; instead, a multitude of examples from different levels in so- ciety—tradesmen, craftsmen, farmers, men, women and children—have been recovered. The evidence seems 10 stand in sharp contrast to Harris's concept of “eraftsman's literacy", ie. that only skilled craftsmen were literate, and unskilled labourers, peasants and women were illterate® The private sphere With the exception of objects bearing the makers’ marks, and other similar evidence, there isa noticeable scarcity of epigraphical material from the villas, i. the dwellings of the élite, However, a knowledge of the literary classis, such asthe works of Vergil and Ovi, among the lit living in villas is implied by the epigraphical evidence, as well as by mosaics and wall-paintings alluding to classical litera ture and myth. {An example of iconographical evidence is floor mosaic of fourth-century AD date from a frigidarium, depicting the romance of Dido and Aeneas from Vergl's Aeneid, found during the excavation of a Roman villa at Low Harm, Somerset Another mosaic, also of fouth-century dae, from the sriclinium of Lullingstone Roman villa, Kent, de picts the Rape of Europa, Above the scene, there is an in: scription alluding to the frst book of Versi’ Aeneid: If jelous Juno had seen the swimming ofthe bull she would with greater justice on her side have repaired to the halls of Aeolus: ‘A passage in one of Martal’s epigrams supports the view that people in Britain were familiar with what was written in Rome: “Tis not cit loness alone that deights in my Muse, nor do I give these epizrams to vacat eas, but my book, amid Getie hosts, beside martial standard, is thumbed by the hardy eenurion, and Britain is said to hum my verses. The economic sphere ‘The most frequent types of epigraphical material in the economic sphere were graft, makers’ marks and stamps, and tt pict.” As mentioned above, there are a number of reasons why they are not particularly good indicator ofthe levels of literacy. A nol insignificant pat ofthe people in volved in tade and production must, however, have been able fo read and write, An example ofthis isthe pigraphi- cal material from leather waste, so far predominantly found on waterlogged sites in London. The tanners marked the hides with their names, either incising them themselves or by using a stamp2 Yet another example is mitre and try square from Canterbury, Kent, probably used by a stone- ‘mason or carpenter, beafing the name ofits owner.” These ate but a few of many examples of epigraphic evidence, showing that al srt of craftsmen, and not just a minority of skilled ones, could waite (On watcr-logee sites, wooden wax-tablets oF stil ab lets (carae, pugillares) have been discovered, and during the last two decades the numberof finds has increased sig nificantly, Vindolanda in Northumberland; Carlisle in Cumbris® and London" being particulary prolific sites. ‘he tablets had a recessed surface which was filled with a mixture of soot and wax, giving a black suifae. This sur- face rarely survives; however, the sharp point of the stylus left scratches in the wood, In most cases, the wood used was ‘not indigenous to Britain, and the tablets were probably im- ported as blanks; some may, of course, have been brought 5 Bis Bvans 1983, 958, © Haris 1989, 7 © Barret 1979, ® Anonymus 1946, 142; Toynbee 1962, 203-205, pl 235. * Toynbeo 1962, 200, pl. 229. * Mattil Epigrams 113.1-5, tans), W.C.A. Ker (Loeb Classical Library), Cambridge, Mass. 1968 (1920), RIB Ik; see Curtis 1984-86. ™ Rhodes 1987 ® Chapman 1979. © Bowman & Thomas 1983; Vindolanda I + Carvaa 1992, 68; Hassall & Tomlin 1988, © Tomlin 1988, 306; Chapman & Straker 1986; Painter 1966-67: Turer & Chapman 1976; Richmond 1953, 206-208,Literacy in Roman Britain 23 ty foreign tradesmen! The interpretation ofthese tablets is ftten very dificult; owing to the repeated use the fest is Sometimes illegible In certain cases, a pen and ink, rather {hana sila, was used to write on the wooden surface. Tt fas been generally concluded, on te bass of surviving texts, tat these tablets were used forthe documentation of Foans, sles contracts and suchlike legal mates in busines. ‘An example of this is A/B 2443.19 which concems the put- chase ofan area of wou: Inthe consalship ofthe Emperor Trajan Hadrian Caesar Augus- tus forthe second time, and Gnaeus Fuscus Salinator, on the ‘ay before the Ides of March (14 March 118]. Whereas, on ar ving atthe property in question, the wood Verlucionium, ff {een arepennia more of less, which inthe canton of the Caticl fn Dibusss[ parish, [J neighloured by the bets fof. ] nd the heits of Caeseonius Vitalis and the vicinal oad, Lucius Ju Tins Bellicus said that he bought it from Titus Valerius ilvinus for forty denari sis Contained in the deed of purchase. Lucius Julius Belius atested that be [8 ‘The religious and magical sphere Haris argued fora marked difference in the use ofthe wrt ten word in the pagan religion and in Christianity. In doing, this he down- played the role of writing in paganism, a view which was subsequently criticised by Mary Beard This cri- tique is based, amongst other things, on the finds of curse- tables in Britain” During the last two decades, a substan- tial number of leaden curse-talets™ have been found in Britain, The total number recovered so far is about 300, the majority of which come from two sites: the temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath and the temple of Mereury at Uy. In ad- dition to these, some twenty sites have yielded a smaller ‘umber of tablets” As can be seen on Fig. 1, these tablets are mainly found in southern and easter Britain, the civil ian ares, The concentration of tablets in Bath and Uley may be a result of their being situated not too far from the mines in Wales. ‘The overwhelming majority of these tablets concem thefts,*" and there are few exceptions from this.* One inter- esting tablet, however, deals with love: Side a: To the god Mercury, entrust you my affair with Eterna ‘and her own self, and may Timoteus feel no jealousy of me at the risk of his lifeblood, Side b: I entrust to you, O Mercury, another transaction (Old Haslow) ‘One hundred and thirty curse-tablets so far have been re~ ‘covered from Bath, which is estimated to be one-sixth of the total number once deposited in the sacred spring.® They cannot be dated precisely, but a palacographic analysis shows that both Old Roman Cursive (ORC) and New Ro- rman Cursive (NRC) were being used, giving a date range for the texts from c. AD 175 to AD 400. ‘As mentioned above, these tablets mainly deal with petty theft, The objects stolen reveal thatthe tablets were thrown, into the spring by people from the “lower” and “middle” lasses, including both city and country dwvellers.* This is, in contrast to the stone inscriptions from Bath the latter be- ing set up by people of some wealth, as has been pointed out bby Roger Tomlin. The relatively humble background of those depositing the tablets is also confirmed by thelr names, many of them being of Celtic oxigin!©‘The temple of Sulis Minerva itself, however, is one of the very few of Etrusco-Roman type in Britain, but the iconography is clearly “Celtic” in style” The architectural style of the temple clearly shows the high degree of Romanization on the site ‘The important question is who actually wrote the euse- tablets. Were they written by professional scribes, profes- sional makers of spells—magoi—or are the texts by the hands ofthe authors themselves? Much seems to point in fa ‘our ofthe later, as an analysis ofthe handwriting showed that, with one single exception, all were writen by different hands. ‘Tomlin expresses it as follows: “This diversity of texts, every ext from a different hand, with its implication that they are not the work of professional seribes.; they axe in no way ‘olfici” oF even the obvious work of “bureaverats’.”*" One single curse-tablet has an explicit ref erence to copying, which i stated by the words “carta pieta perscripta"—“the written page has been copied out”. Some bear evidence of being by the hands ofthe semictte= ate and also by people suffering from dyslexia; five tables, ace the seribblings of iterate persons. The fact thatthe il- literate wrote, or rather tried to ereate something like writ- ing, seems to suggest that those who made a petition 10 8 ‘god had to do it themselves. The majority of the tablets were, nevertheless written by practised hands * “The tablets from Uley have not been fully published yet, notwithstanding that they are as important as the material from Bath, Tomlin bas described the vistors tothe shrine of * Fora discussion conceming trade and the epigraphical evidence, see Hassall 1978, 41-8. + Tumer 1956. “© Tomlin 1996, 200-215; Hassall & Te “© Harris 1989, 218-221, * Beard 1991, 35. “Fora discussion of the phenomena of euse-talets inthe Graeco- Roman world, see Audollent 190$ [1967] and Gager 1992. For alist ofthese, see Appendix. ® Fora map of the mines, see Jones & Mattingly 1990, map 6: 5 Thore seems to he 4 clear fink between the euse-tablets and the trait, All the objects mentioned in the curse-cabets were port able, and large part ofthe graffiti on such objects consist of own ers" names. The idea that there isa conneetion between graffiti and the fear of theft has been suggested by Jeremy Evans (1987). © This isin contrast to the curse-tablts from other pars ofthe Em pire, Most of these were spells dnected against rivals and oppo nents—in love, business, sports competition, ec. ® Bat, 100, 5 Bath, 74,80. 5 path, 96 5 Bath, 97 © Cunliffe 1986, 1-13 2 Pors. comm, from Prof. Martin Milt © As suggested by Gager 1992 © Bath, 85198. © Bath, 868 © Tab Salis 8 © Bash, 84, 100; Tab. Sulis 112-116 © Bam, 84. in 1994, fig. 424 Dominic Ingemark BH Vindolanda writing tablets Leaden curse-tablete 3 @ 100+ Ratcltte on Soar « Fig. 1. Distribution of leaden ense-abletsLiteracy in Roman Britain Number of inscriptions found fon stone {After Jones & Mattingly 1980) sts 2 6-10 8 10 © 20+ @ 504 @ 00+ ae Kotonine wait agrian's26 Dominic Ingemark Mercury in Uley as being from “.., a modestly prosperous peasant community”, which is a contrast to the more urbane Bath. This is evident from the texts: ‘Cenacus complains tothe god Mercury about Vitalin and Na- talinus his son concerning the draught snimal which bas been stolen from him, and asks the god Mercury that they may have neither health beforefunless they retum at once to me the Tomlin 1992 °: Vindolanda Ul, 30. This is reflected in the Latin ofthe texts, see Adams 1995,;. 2 Literacy in Roman Britain a from c. AD 175 to AD 400, and the Vindolanda tablets on the other, dating from AD 92 to AD 10273. ‘Vindolanda was a fort along the Stanegate, a system of forts roughly along the same border where Hadrian's Wall was built later. Despite the differences mentioned, the leaf tablets also have several features in common with the curse- tablets, one of the most important being the number of indi- vvidual hands represented, which Bowman has described as ‘immense”.”* These also show a wide range of the level of literacy.” Its also clear that the texts were not only writen by officers, but also by soldiers of lower rank. An example of the texts found is a strength report for the auxiliary troops: 18 May, net numberof the First Cohort of Tungrians, of which the commander is Tulius Verecundius the prefect, 752, includ ing centurions 6 lof whom there are absent uards ofthe governor 46 atthe office of Ferox at Conia 337 including centurions 20) sat London ‘entation 10 6 Incuging centurion 1 9 including centurion 1 u ag 1 45 {otal absentees 456 Including centurions 5 remainder, present 296 ‘including centurion 1 From theses sick 1s ‘wounded 6 suffering from inflammation ofthe eyes 10 total ofthese aL remainder, fit for active service 265, including centurion 1 (ab, Vindol. 154) Moreover, some of the letters were written by the wives of the officers, by slaves and in a couple of cases also by civil- ans.” Some texts, however, were writen by seribes for ‘other people, for example, Claudia Severa, an equestrian of ficer’s wife. In tis ease, itis clear that using a scribe was a ‘matter of convenience, as Claudia Severa in all probability ‘wrote the last part in her own hand: laudia Severa to her Lepidina greetings. On 11 September, Sister, forthe day ofthe celebration of my bisthday, I give you 44 warm invitation to make sure that you come f0 us, 10 make the day more enjoyable for me by your aval, f you are presen (7). Give my greetings to your Cerialis, My Actius and In litle son sen him (2) their greetings. [Ba hand} I shall expect you, sister. Farewell, sister, my dear ‘est sou, as I hope to prosper, and hail (Back, Ist hand) To Sulpicia Lepidina, wife of Cerais from Severs (Fab, Vindol. 281) CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY ‘A study of the epigraphical record from Britain indicates ‘that no insignificant part of the epigraphical material seems to have been written by people of the “lower” and “middle” classes—and not only men, but also women, and possibly even children. The different types of epigraphical materials, come from many different spheres of everyday life—the re- ligious sphere, the economic sphere, ete., both in civilian and in military contexts. It has fo be emphasised, however, that the epigraphical ‘material from Roman Britain, with very few exceptions in- deed, was in Latin, and itis likely that most people spoke British, a Celtic language, as their native tongue. Many so- cieties, both in the present and in the past, have been multi- Tingual, with one or more weiten languages, and this would ‘not have been an obstacle in achieving some degree of liter- acy. A number of scholars have tried to argue for the presence of professional scribes in Vindolanda, Bath and Uley, and although itis clear that there was a certain use of scribes in the army, this was more a matter of convenience than an ef- fect of the authors being iliterate. Palaeographic analysis of tho epigraphical evidence from these sites, shows a large ‘number of different hands. This does not support the idea of an extensive use of scribes. The wealth of epigraphical evi- dence from military contexts—not only the leat tablets and sfilus tablets, but in particular the graffiti—reveals a least a basic level of literacy among officers and soldiers alike, thus disproving Alan Bowman’s claim that mass literacy did not exis in the Roman army. "The now finds of curse-tablets and other epigraphical ma- terial from civilian sites, are in contrast to M. Bir6's analy- sis of the epigraphical record, Although his study is an ex- cellent piece of scholarship, the fact that his study was ‘based on the inscriptions in stone alone nevertheless gave it ‘a very pronounced military bins and yielded a distribution ppattern with concentrations in the military areas in the west ‘and north of Britain (see Fig. 2). Arguably, the levels of lit- ‘racy in the army and navy were invariably higher than among the population in general, ut the finds of curse-tab- lets, graffiti, etc., shows that individuals—both men and ‘women—of different social standings in the densely popu- lated and urbanised, civilian areas inthe south-east were lit erate (see Fig. 1), Dominic Ingemark Department of Classical Studies ‘Salvegatan 2 E223 62 LUND APPENDIX As yet the leaden curse-tablets have not been published in RIB, However, a list ofall te sites found up t0 1987 was published by Tomlin: Barh, p. 60f. The list below includes all finds made up to 1997 and forms the basis for Fig. 1 ® Vindolanda U, 88. ” Vindolande I, 89. Vindolandia IT, 30, 88; Tab, Vinol. 34828 Dominic Ingemark Baldock (Clothall), Hertfordshire: Westell 1931; RUB 1, 221 Bath, Somerset: Bath. Brandon, Suffolk: Hassall & Tomlin 1994, 293f, Brean Down, Somerset: Hassall & Tomlin 1986, 433-435, Caistor St, Edmund, Norfolk: Hassall & Tomlin 1982, 4085. Carleon, Gwent: RIB I, 323, Chesterton, Warwickshire: RIB I, 243. Focles villa, Aylesford, Kent: Hassall & Tomlin 1986, 428, figs. 1 & 2; Tomlin 1985. Hamble estuary: Bath, 61 Kelvedon, Essex: Wright 1958, 150. Leintwardine, Herefordshire: Wright 1969, 241 London: £/8 I, 6f; Hassall & Tomlin 1987, 360-363. Lydney Park, Gloucestershire: RIB 1, 306. ‘Malton, Yorkshire: Wright & Hassall 1971, 302, fig. 20, Old Harlow, Essex: Wright & Hassall 1973, 325, Pagans Hill, Chew Stoke, Somerset: Hassall & Tomlin 1984, 336-341, Puckering-Braugl 1986, 436. Rateliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire: Tummer 1963, 122-124. Bilchester, Hampshise: Bush, GI ‘Thetford, Norfolk: Hassall & Tomlin 1982, 410. Uley, Gloucestershire: Tomlin 1993b; Wright & Hassall 1973, 324; Hassall & Tomlin 1979, 340-345, Hassall & ‘Tomlin 1989, 327-330; Hassall & Tomlin 1995, 371 378; Hassall & Tomlin 1988, 485-487. ‘Wanbourgh, Wiltshire: Rea 1972, 363-367, ‘Weeting with Broomhill, Norfolk: Hassall & Tomlin 1994, 2966. [No provenance, probably Gloucestershire or Avon: Tomlin 1991, 293-295, No provenance, Souther Br 4886. ng, Hertfordshire: Hassall & Tomlin Hassall & Tomlin 1988, BIBLIOGRAPHY ‘Adams 1992 LN. Adams, ‘British Latin: the text, itexpre- tation and fanguage of the Bath curse tab- Jes", Brtarnia 23,1992, 1-26. Adams 1995 JUN. Adams, “The language of the Vindo- Tanda writing tablets: an interim report, JAS 85, 1995, 80-134, ‘Anonymus 1546 Anonymus, “Roman Britain in 1945, L Sites explored” JAS 36, 1946, 133-146, Audolleat 1904 A." Audollent, Defisionun tabellae, Paris 1904 (reprinted Frankfurt-am-Main 1967). Bares 1979 A.A. Baret, ‘Knowledge of literary classics in Roman Britain’, Britannia 9, 1979, 307~ 313, Bath RS, Tomlin, “The ewse tablets, in The Temple of Sule Minerva at Bath I The fils from the Sacred Spring (Oxford University ‘Committee for Archaeology Monograph, 16), ed. BW. 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