Details

LOT 0094

Roman Wooden Tablet from the Will of the Father of Iulia Ianuaria Made on the Goretiano Estate in the Province of Byzacena

EARLY 4TH CENTURY A.D.

9 1/4 x 6 7/8 in. (65 grams, 23.5 x 17.6 cm).

Well preserved rectangular tablet with a recessed panel to each face; the third and last tablet of a Roman will; both sides inscribed in Roman cursive script using ink and calamus, twenty-one lines of Roman cursive script written within the recess, some text is lost on the right half of both the inner and outer face; on the inner face partially damaged surface; on the other side sixteen lines of cursive script with a half-line at the right edge; two small holes both near the upper and lower rim (for binding the tablets of this document together); the text consists of testamentary dispositions and ends with the obligatory mancipatory formula of Roman testaments; mentioned is a Iulius Fortunatus. [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 an 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 search certificate number no.12602-230810.

Published

Exhibited at the Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 27th August-10th December 2025; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefacts on display.

Literature

Cf. Rothenhöfer, P., and Blänsdorf, J., 'Sana mente sanaque memoria testamentum feci: Eine testamentarische Verfügung vom 12. April 340 n. Chr.", Gephyra 13 (2016), pp.153-163; 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); 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; Rothenhoefer, P., Neue römische Rechtsdokumente aus dem Byzacena-Archiv / New Roman Legal Documents from the Byzacena Archive, (forthcoming).

Footnotes

Professor Dr phil. Peter Rothenhöfer writes: 'Without any doubts this tablet is an original document from Roman times. Because only few Roman testaments have survived this document is of great importance both for Roman Legal and Social History'.