Ancient Roman writing tablets found in London

The construction of Bloomberg's European headquarters in London has unearthed 405 ancient Roman writing tablets, including the earliest document of its time, depicting a clearer picture of Roman Britain.

Two years after the excavation in the three-acre site, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) published on Wednesday, June 1 "Roman London's First Voices," a monograph of 88 translated tablets out of 405 writing tablets discovered in the Bloomberg site.

Many of the legible Bloomberg writing tablets, almost as big as the iPad, turned out to be financial documents, supporting what Tacitus the historian said in "Annals" that London was largely inhabited by businessmen. One document listed names of nearly 100 people of various professions such as judge, brewer, cooper, soldiers, slaves and freemen.

Roger Tomlin, the retired classics scholar of Oxford University and one of the main authors of the monograph who deciphered and interpreted the tablets, shared that one of the structures excavated may have been among London's earliest office buildings as 19 tablets were discovered at the location.

Tomlin's personal favorite among the discovered documents is also the earliest handwritten document and a promissory note dated January 8, A.D. 57.

"Not only is it the earliest dated document from Roman Britain, it was also comparatively straightforward to read," Tomlin told National Geographic. "I am always very pleased when I come across one like that."

The classicist and cursive Latin expert added, "[These tablets] provide some very personal glimpses into the lives of the first Londoners. Some of them are quite tantalizing."

"It's a bit like reading snippets of people's emails," added Sophie Jackson, a MOLA archeologist.

Jackson's personal favorite among the ancient tablets is the one that reads, "You will give this to Junius, the cooper, opposite the house of Catullus ..."

She described how the simple text captured her imagination and likened it to how one would text a friend in the present time.

"We think of it as our city now; we forget that it was once theirs," reflected Jackson.

Commenting on the complex task of reconstructing the ancient and fragmentary remains, Tomlin had this to say, "If you like doing sudoku, you'd love doing this."