Vindolanda tablet
- Audio guide stop: 451
- Gallery: Room 49
- Culture: Romano-British
- Date: 97-103
- Object type: writing-tablet
- Materials: wood
- Museum number: 1986,1001.64
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This Roman writing tablet, dated between 97 and 103 AD, is a rare and personal artifact from the Romano-British era. The wood tablet is covered in ink, inscribed with a birthday party invitation written by Claudia Severa to her friend Sulpicia Lepidina.
You can see the message in two distinct hands—part of it was written by a skilled scribe, and part by Claudia Severa herself. Her handwriting is less refined, but this makes it historically significant: it is one of the earliest known examples of a Roman woman writing in Latin.
The text includes greetings and warm wishes for Lepidina’s arrival, and even mentions Claudia’s husband Aelius Brocchus and their son. At the back, the message is addressed directly to Lepidina, the wife of Flavius Cerialis, a Roman military commander.
This tablet gives us a glimpse into daily Roman life in Britain—families, friendships, and even social events.
See it in person
Vindolanda tablet is on display in Room 49 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 451, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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