Page 22 - Manual of Roman Everyday Writing Volume 2: Writing Equipment

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Which objects and materials were used to write on in Roman
antiquity depended on factors such as purpose and content of the
text, availability, cost and opportunity. It is useful to consider the
varying environmental conditions in different parts of the empire
and which materials would lend themselves to them or be more
or less readily available in certain places. Papyrus, for example,
was used for almost any kind of document from letters to tax
returns in Egypt, but outside Egypt it had to be imported and other
materials seem to have been employed for certain text types. In
the northwestern provinces, contracts and other legal documents

Fig. 10: Ostracon from Egypt with Latin inscription: a receipt
by Cneius Arpenus for grease and tar supplied by Apion,
30 BCE – 1st century CE. British Museum, registration no.
1898,0312.153. © Trustees of the British Museum.

Fig. 9: Tituli picti on an amphora from Mainz (Germany), detailing the
content, mur(ia) ant(ipolitana) (‘fish sauce from Antipolis/Antibes’),
the amount and the abbreviated names of the distributor and the
buyer, late 1st century CE. From Ehmig 2018, 291 fig. 1 and 2. © Ulrike
Ehmig, reproduced with permission of Landesarchäologie Mainz.

are commonly found on wax tablets while ephemeral texts, such
as drafts and letters, are more common on wooden leaf tablets. Fig. 11: Owner’s label from Nijmegen (The Netherlands) with
Labels for goods, on the other hand, were often written on metal punched inscription [l(egionis)] X G(eminae) / [C(enturiae)]
sheets which could easily be cut to the right size and would endure Cinnae / Amoni / Iulli (‘[belongs to] Amonius Iullus of the
transport and handling better than softer materials. At the same Centuria of Cinna in the tenth legion Gemina’), late 1st/early
time, people often simply used what they had: texts that we would 2nd century CE. © Collection Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen.