Secrets of the Dead: Letters from the Roman front.

[Childress]

 

Letters from the Roman Front

Wiki: The Vindolanda tablets are the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.They are also probably the best source of information about life on the northern frontier of Roman Britain.Written on fragments of thin, post-card sized wooden leaf-tablets with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (roughly contemporary with Hadrian's Wall). Although similar records on papyrus were known from elsewhere in the Roman Empire, wooden tablets with ink text had not been recovered until 1973, when archaeologist Robin Birley discovered these artifacts at the site of a Roman fort in Vindolanda, northern England.

The documents record official military matters as well as personal messages to and from members of the garrison of Vindolanda, their families, and their slaves. Highlights of the tablets include an invitation to a birthday party held in about 100 AD, which is perhaps the oldest surviving document written in Latin by a woman. Held at the British Museum, the texts of 752 tablets have been transcribed, translated and published as of 2010. Tablets continue to be found at Vindolanda.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Childress

[John Kettler]

Childress,

Looks great and shall have to watch it later. My favorite item was from the CO lamenting his wife's constant ordering of expensive shoes from Rome! Was unaware they keep finding more tablets. Wonderful news! Have been a Roman legionary buff since elementary school, so this stuff is grog gold to me.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

[Childress]

 An Ancients buff, as well. I found myself impressed by the accurate depiction of the Legionaries' kit.

Worth a read:  Legionary: The Roman Soldier's (Unofficial) Manual

https://www.amazon.com/Legionary-Roman-Soldiers-Unofficial-Manual-ebook/dp/B00FNIXWEA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469563069&sr=1-1&keywords=legionary#nav-subnav

And it's damned funny, as well.

[John Kettler]

Childress,

Loved the documentary, though I see I screwed up on where Lepidina got her ancient versions of Jimmy Choos! On the other hand, the producers massively screwed up on which spear was thrown! The javelin was the weapon of the skirmishers and the cavalry, but the pilum was the real killer. Got to throw one a bunch of times at Old Ft. MacArthur Days in a memorable visit with the great guys who were members of the historical re-enactors of Legion VI. Now, I did it in heretical barbarian left handed style, but I out threw their guys, in part because of the way I launched the pilum. Upward, practically not horizontally. I also threw from full cock. Am aware of the manual, but have never seen it. I have, though, in the considerable past spent some hours with these guys. Not responsible for SAN loss associated with viewing this. The little sequence with the catapult (not sure the name switch had occurred yet) showed why the weapon got its original name: katapeltes (Greek for "shield piercer"). There is a possibility I may've said some of this stuff before. If so, please forgive my forgetfulness. The excerpt from the manual is very good.

http://legionsix.org/

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited July 28, 2016 by John Kettler

[John Kettler]

Childress,

Forgot to say I was rather surprised to learn the Roman soldiers drank beer! How did I miss such an important thing? Perhaps this Roman beer thread will help correct my gaffe? This is also good.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Michael Emrys]

11 hours ago, John Kettler said:

Forgot to say I was rather surprised to learn the Roman soldiers drank beer!

The Egyptians, to give one example, did too, several centuries earlier. The art of brewing beer and wine appears to have evolved fairly early in the history of civilization.

Michael

[Childress]

I found an anomaly at 23:40. During a mail delivery, the courier's horse is shown with stirrups. These were invented by the Chinese during the first centuries AD and only arrived in Europe during the early Middle Ages although some accounts date their appearance to the Byzantines circa 600.

[John Kettler]

Childress,

You are correct, sir. I saw it, thought it odd, but was so swept up in the story I pretty much forgot about it. Before the Byzantines, you had the impressive cataphracts and clibanarii, who were heavily armored, yet fought without stirrups!

http://allempires.com/article/index.php?q=cataphracts

Regards,

John Kettler