This
document consists of three sections of a tablet (designated (a), (b) and (c)
for the sake of clarity) each approximately the size of a normal half-leaf. On
one side is the present text, an account, and on the other is a draft petition
(344). The fact that the account occupies all three pieces whereas
the petition only covers two suggests that it is probably correct to regard the
latter as secondary, but our designation of the account as the front and the
petition as the back can only be offered with caution. The format naturally
invites comparison with 190 (see
The
tablet is one of a group found together and attributed to the Period 4
building; see also 181, 182 and 343,
the first of which is undoubtedly written by the same hand as 180
and 344. Some of the names in this account also occur in other
texts in this group (Primus, line 28 and 181.6; Spectatus, line 5
and 343.iv.42; Firmus, line 23 and 343.iv.43;
Candidus, line 24 and 181.3, 343.i.1). The name of
the person who compiled this account is not known, but several deductions can
legitimately be made from it and from the related documents (cf. Bowman, Thomas
and Adams (1990), 43). The familiar and familial tone of some of the entries (
The
evidence for the involvement of civilians in army supply, and especially in the
supply of wheat, the basic commodity, is of considerable importance and
contributes to filling an important gap in our knowledge (Breeze (1984), 58-9).
The unknown author of this account must have been a crucial link between the
producers and the army personnel who authorised the distribution within the
unit; contrast
The
account itself does not concern itself with money and gives no indication how
the wheat was paid for (it is to be noted that the entry in lines 5-6 is
described as a loan). The traders might have been working under some kind of
contractual arrangement. An arrangement of this sort might be inferred from 343.i.6-ii.14
where Candidus at Vindolanda is asked to send Octavius the considerable sum of
500
The
dates in the present account (lines 11, 17) fall between 6/11 and 26 September,
appropriately close to harvest-time. The total disbursement in the account is
320_
would be about one seventh
of a
"Account of wheat measured out from that which
I myself have put into the barrel:
to myself, for bread ...
to Macrinus,
to Felicius Victor on the order of Spectatus
provided as a loan (?),
in three sacks, to father,
to Macrinus,
to the oxherds at the wood,
likewise to Amabilis at
the shrine,
.. September, to Crescens
on the order of Firmus (?),
likewise ...,
to Macr... ...,
likewise to Ma... (?),
to father ...,
26 September
to Lu... the
to Felicius Victor,
for twisted loaves (?),
to you,
to Crescens,
to the legionary soldiers
on the order of Firmus,
to Candidus,
to you, in a sack from Briga (?), ...
to you, ...
to Lucco, in charge of the pigs ...
to Primus, slave (?) of Lucius ...
to you ...
to Lucco for his own use ...
likewise that which I have
sent ...
in the century of Voturius (?)
to father, in charge of the oxen ...
likewise, within the measure ...(?)
15 pounds yield 15+ pounds (?) ...
total,
likewise to myself, for
bread,
total of wheat,
In
the photograph of this leaf there is a tiny scrap with part of one letter which
is misplaced after
We
have considered another possible interpretation in the light of