A Roman fort just south of Hadrian's Wall

What are most Vindolanda tablets made of?

Thin slivers of wood written in ink

What does Claudia Severa's famous letter do?

Invites a friend to her birthday party

Why is that letter so important?

It contains some of the earliest known Latin handwriting by a woman

Vindolanda Tablets Quiz: Letters From Hadrian's Wall

Thin slivers of wood preserved in waterlogged soil hold some of the oldest handwriting found in Britain, and this Vindolanda tablets quiz reads them with you. Play 10 interactive questions on the Roman fort, Robin Birley's 1973 discovery, ink leaf tablets, Claudia Severa's invitation, Sulpicia Lepidina, Flavius Cerialis, warm socks and underpants, the word Britunculi and the British Museum.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Fort
Where is Vindolanda?
Found
When were the first tablets discovered?
Material
What are most Vindolanda tablets made of?
Date
Roughly when were most tablets written?
Party
What does Claudia Severa's famous letter do?
First
Why is that letter so important?
Commander
Who was Sulpicia Lepidina's husband and fort commander?
Clothing
Which items does one letter say were sent to a soldier?
Insult
What did one tablet call the local Britons?
Museum
Where are many of the tablets held?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where is Vindolanda?
Answer: A Roman fort just south of Hadrian's Wall
It is in Northumberland.
Q2: When were the first tablets discovered?
Answer: 1973
Robin Birley led the excavation.
Q3: What are most Vindolanda tablets made of?
Answer: Thin slivers of wood written in ink
Waterlogged soil preserved them.
Q4: Roughly when were most tablets written?
Answer: Around AD 90 to 120
Many predate Hadrian's Wall.
Q5: What does Claudia Severa's famous letter do?
Answer: Invites a friend to her birthday party
It was sent to Sulpicia Lepidina.
Q6: Why is that letter so important?
Answer: It contains some of the earliest known Latin handwriting by a woman
Part was in Claudia's own hand.
Q7: Who was Sulpicia Lepidina's husband and fort commander?
Answer: Flavius Cerialis
He commanded a Batavian cohort.
Q8: Which items does one letter say were sent to a soldier?
Answer: Socks and underpants
Northern Britain was cold.
Q9: What did one tablet call the local Britons?
Answer: Britunculi, little Britons
It is a dismissive term.
Q10: Where are many of the tablets held?
Answer: The British Museum
Some are shown at Vindolanda.

Vindolanda Tablets Quiz – Letters From Hadrian's Wall

Vindolanda is a Roman fort in Northumberland, just south of Hadrian's Wall. In 1973 archaeologist Robin Birley discovered thin wooden tablets written in ink, preserved in waterlogged soil. Most date from about AD 90 to 120.

The tablets include military reports, lists of supplies and personal letters. In the most famous, Claudia Severa invites her friend Sulpicia Lepidina, wife of commander Flavius Cerialis, to her birthday party, adding lines in her own hand, among the earliest known Latin writing by a woman.

Another letter mentions socks and underpants sent to a soldier, and one calls local Britons Britunculi. Many tablets are held at the British Museum, and the Vindolanda Trust continues to excavate the site.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Vindolanda is
How the tablets survived
What the letters say
Who wrote them
Where they are now

Did You Know?

The tablets were voted Britain's top treasure in a 2003 poll.
Leather shoes have also been found at Vindolanda.
Infrared photography helps read faded ink.
New tablets are still being found.
The Batavians came from the Rhine delta.