Page 50 - Manual of Roman Everyday Writing Volume 2: Writing Equipment

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Roman wax tablets are usually up to 5 mm thick and the dimensions
vary. Generally they are a good size to fit into a hand, around
10–15 x 15–20 cm. Many are smaller and some seem to have been
considerably larger, up to around 30 cm in length (Božič and Feugère
2004, 22). Some were inscribed horizontally, others vertically.
Usually, several tablets, often two or three, would be tied together
to form diptychs/polyptychs or codices, also referred to as pugillaria
in ancient sources. They could then be flipped like book pages.
When the wax needed replacing, it was scraped out with a spatula
which was also used to spread the new wax (Gaitzsch 1984). Rare
examples made of ivory or bone have also been found (Božič and
Feugère 2004, 25).
Remains of wax are sometimes preserved (see e.g. Speidel 1996,
90–91). It was usually blackened with carbon, sometimes red
(Marichal 1992b, 171). In most cases however the wax filling is
lost. What remains are traces of writing where the stylus had gone

Fig. 30: Roman statue of a person writing on a stylus
tablet from Langres (France). © Musée d’art et
d’histoire de Langres, France, photo by O. Harl.

completely through the wax and the letters were inadvertently
scratched into the wood. Since the tablets could be reused, multiple
texts are sometimes found on top of each other, making wax tablets
hard to read. Most are found without any discernable writing on
them at all. In some cases, ink was used on the wood directly
(Speidel 1996, 17).
Fig. 29: Stylus tablet from Vindonissa (Switzerland) with remains of Wax tablets were sometimes used for letters, exercises and other
black wax, 91 CE. Vindonissa Museum, inv. 7256. © Kantonsarchäologie ephemeral texts such as drafts, but predominantly they seem to
Aargau, CH - 5200 Brugg, photo by Béla A. Polyvás.
have been used for carefully composed messages and above all
documents, including contracts, receipts, wills and bookkeeping. In