tablets

Marks cut into wood are not meant to outlast empires, but a set of Roman wax tablets from Tongeren in Belgium has done exactly that. Epigrapher Markus Scholz and colleagues have managed to read writing that seemed lost forever, preserved only as faint impressions in dried, cracked wood. The results add new names, offices, and everyday glimpses to the story of Rome’s northern provinces. Newly Discovered Ancient Roman Writing Tablets Provide Snapshots of Roman Era Life 2,000-Year-Old Bloomberg Tablets Reveal London Life Under the Romans What the Tongeren tablets are, and why they’re hard to read Roman “wax tablets” were wooden frames holding a thin layer of wax used like a reusable notepad. The wax is gone in the Tongeren