Page 68 - Manual of Roman Everyday Writing Volume 2: Writing Equipment

68| MANUAL OF ROMAN EVERYDAY WRITING
Fig. 44: Bottom of a wooden barrel from Vitudurum (Switzerland) with
stamp and graffito, before 40/50 CE. From Frei-Stolba 2017, 107 fig.
110, © Kantonsarchäologie Zürich, Martin Bachmann.
Further reading and images:
Baratta 2008; Benefiel 2015; Ehmig 2003; Frei-Stolba 2017; Kruschwitz
1999, 2010; Lieb and Speidel 2003; Marichal 1988, 1992a; Sarri 2018; Thüry
1996; the Duke Checklist includes editions of ostraca
Also see: fig. 9 (tituli picti on amphora); fig. 10 (ostracon)
Selected ancient literary evidence:
Livy (4.20.8) says that the books of the magistrates were written on linen
and stored in the temple of Moneta; Martial (12.61.7–10) mentions verses
written with charcoal or chalk in dark archways by drunk ‘poets’.
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5.3 Accessories
a) Writing with ink
Ink (atramentum/cinnabaris) and inkwell (atra-
mentarium)
Roman black ink was made of soot and gum arabic or glue. Red
ink (cinnabaris) was used for titles and headings and was made, for
example, from plants or minerals (vermilion/cinnabar or minium).
Iron gall has also been found in residues of Roman ink. Ink was
stored in a dry state pressed into blocks or sticks and portions of
liquid ink would have been prepared daily by adding water and
used with inkwells (Eckardt 2018, 27–29). Remains of ink are
sometimes found in inkwells (see e.g. Bilkei 1980, 67–68, 75–76;
Päffgen 1986, 176; Wasgestian and Quarg 1986).
Fig. 45: Roman Samian and metal inkwells from Novo mesto and
Drnovo (Slovenia). National Museum of Slovenia, inv. R 1487, R 634, R
635, R 1038. © National Museum of Slovenia, photo by Tomaž Lauko.