Vindolanda

Vindolanda

United Kingdom · Northumberland, England

FortressExcavation ongoing
Approximate period85 CE — 370 CERoman period; approximate period of Roman garrison use See on the map ↓

In brief

Successive phases of forts have been excavated at the Roman military site south of Hadrian's Wall. Wooden writing tablets provide direct information about the daily lives of soldiers and their families.

What was found?

  • 1Wooden tablets written in ink

    Texts written on thin wooden sheets provide firsthand information about military and social life. They are also a valuable source for studying Latin close to the spoken language.

  • 2Claudia Severa's birthday invitation

    The invitation sent by Claudia Severa to Sulpicia Lepidina includes a closing section added in her own hand. According to researchers, this is among the earliest known examples of a woman's handwriting in Latin.

  • 3Relief interpreted as Victoria

    A reused sandstone relief was found in rubble above the barracks. According to researchers, the figure represents Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, and may have been part of a larger inscription arrangement.

What does it point to?

The tablets show that life in the frontier garrison included family relationships and friendships alongside military duties. According to researchers, the Victoria relief suggests that religious and political symbols also featured in the fort's architecture.

What did it teach us?

  1. It documented the everyday relationships of people on the Roman frontier through texts they wrote themselves.
  2. It provided a direct example of women's written communication.
  3. According to the researchers' interpretation of the relief, it showed that symbols of victory were used in fort buildings.

Images

Vindolanda bathhouse - 2007-05-19
Voice of Clam · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Latest news / selected archive

2025: A sandstone relief thought to depict Victoria, the goddess of victory, was found in rubble above the infantry barracks.

Record

Culture
Roman
Team / historical
Vindolanda Trust
Coordinates
54.9911°, -2.3608°

Sources

  1. vindolanda.com
  2. romaninscriptionsofbritain.org
  3. vindolanda.com
  4. en.wikipedia.org
  5. Roman Inscriptions of Britain — Tablet 291

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