Details

LOT 0117

Roman Inked Wooden Tablet, a Testament Overseen by Bonatianus with the Head Witness Being Iulius Lovianus

MID 4TH CENTURY A.D.

7 x 6 1/2 in. (50 grams, 17.7 x 16.6 cm).

A reused rectangular wax tablet with a shallow recessed panel to one face and thirteen lines of Roman cursive script; the text contains the end of testamentary instructions followed by the obligatory mancipatory formula which includes the ritual purchase of the entire property of the deceased (familia testamenti faciundi erga emit), with the "Libripens" (balance holder) being Bonatianus, and the first of the witnesses was Iulius Lovianus; in the last lines the testator's handwritten signature, after he had dictated his will to a friend; on the outer face two sulci, which were filled with wax into which the signet rings of the witnesses could be impressed, with traces of the signatures of witnesses; four small holes for attachment. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired by Albert Sfez in the early 1950s.
Formerly the property of Monsieur Alain Sfez, a Belgium collector; acquired by gift from his father Albert Sfez, in 1965.
Acquired by a London dealer in 1973.
From an important London collection since 1975; thence by descent.

Accompanied by a copy of a four page illustrated academic report by Professor Dr. phil. Peter Rothenhöfer.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12568-218137.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Published

Exhibited at the Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 12th March-9th June 2025; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefacts on display.

Literature

For a similar will see Rothenhoefer, P. Bemerkungen zum Testament des Pomponius Maximus aus dem Jahr 371 n. Chr, (Notes on the Testament of Pomponius Maximus from the Year AD 371), Zeitschrift der Savigny Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Romanistische Abteilung) 142, 2025, pp.200-232; and cf. Rothenhöfer, P., Blänsdorf, Jürgen, ‘Sana mente sanaque memoria testa-mentum feci: Eine testamentarische Verfügung vom 12. April 340 n. Chr.,’ in Gephyra, 13, 2016, pp.153-163; see also Masi Doria, C., ‘Dal testamento di Pomponius Maximus: prospettive del diritto ereditario tardo antico’, in: Isola, L. (ed.), Klauselgestaltungen in Römischen Testamenten, Berlin, 2022, pp.151-175; also see Thomas, J. D., Vindolanda: The Latin Writing Tablets, Britannia Monograph Series No 4, London, 1983, for examples of wooden tabulae re-used as writing surfaces; for examples of testamentary documents on wooden tablets that have survived, see FIRA III, p.47, for Anthony Silvanus from 142 AD, also see BGU VII 1695 for Safinnius Herminus; for another from Transfynydd, North Wales, see Arch. Camb. 150, pp.143-156; and see Bowman, A.K., Life and letters on the Roman frontier : Vindolanda and its people, London, 1994, for discussion of the uses of Roman writing tablets.

Footnotes

The contract follows standard Roman legal formulae.