Page 38 - Manual of Roman Everyday Writing Volume 2: Writing Equipment

38| MANUAL OF ROMAN EVERYDAY WRITING
Further reading:
Božič and Feugère 2004, 28–31; Gostenčnik 1996; Manning 1985, 85–87;
Mikler 1997, 25–27 with plates 15–17; Schaltenbrand Obrecht 2012
Selected ancient literary evidence:
In Plautus’ Bacchides (4.4.74–112), Chrysalus dictates a letter to be written
by Mnesilochus to his father, with a stylus on wax tablets. Another letter is
written with stylus on wax by Byblis in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (9.522–525).
Seneca (Clem. 1.14) uses ‘taking the stylus’ as a metaphor for ‘to disinherit’;
Pliny the Elder (NH 34.139) claims that after the expulsion of the kings of
Rome, styli were not made from iron; Quintilian (Inst. or. 10.4.1) says that
deleting is just as important a function of the stylus as is writing; Horace
(Sat. 10.72–74) explains that good poetry is achieved by erasing (stilum
vertere) frequently. Symphosius wrote a riddle about the stylus, which he
calls graphium (Aenigmata 1).
Ink pen (calamus/harundo)
Roman pens were used from the 1st century BCE onwards to write
with black or red ink on papyrus, ostraca, wooden leaf tablets, the
outside of wax tablets and, in rarely preserved cases, also on metal
(Reuter and Scholz 2004, 15).
Pens were made of reed or metal, mainly bronze/copper-alloy
rolled to form a small tube, between c.10–19 cm long, with one
bevelled end cut to create a split nib. Rare examples made of iron,
silver, bone and ivory have been found (Božič and Feugère 2004, 37
and e.g. Jilek 2000 with photos of a bone pen). It is unclear when
feather quills (pennae) were first used for writing but their use is
not attested before the 6th or 7th century CE (Božič and Feugère
2004, 37 and see Anonymus Valesianus II 79). Reed pens must
have been the most commonly used kind and metal pens are in
general very rare.
VOLUME 2: WRITING EQUIMENT | 39
Fig. 20: A Roman reed pen from Oxyrhynchos (Egypt).
Pitt Rivers Museum, accession no. 1897.49.10. ©
Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.
Pens with split nibs seem to have been the most common form
and it has been shown that the Vindolanda tablets were written
with split nibs (Bowman and Thomas 2003, 13). Spiral iron nibs
that are not split and were stuck onto a wooden shank are also
found, particularly frequently in Britain. They are often referred
to as ‘Vindolanda type’ and from that site there is evidence that
they were used with ink (see Birley 1999, 29). These objects are
somewhat controversial as they can be quite large and the fact
that the nib is not split suggests that they may also have been
used as styli or a similar tool. They have even been interpreted
as ox-goads but, at other sites, groups of them have been found
in rooms interpreted as workshops (Fünfschilling 2012, 178–180)
and they could, for example, have been useful in stonemasonry or
woodcarving. In addition, there are possible copper-alloy examples
(Fünfschilling 2012, 210 nos. 8–10) which would have been suited
for more delicate marking such as with ink.
The nib of a pen was repeatedly immersed into the ink while
writing. Certain metal pens have one spoon-like end, maybe to
stir the ink with. The pen-nibs would wear down over time and
need sharpening frequently (Swift 2017; Eckardt 2018, 112). Reed
pens were recut, and a group of small knives has been identified
as designated penknives.