Over the years I have been both the giver and recipient of some quite silly travel souvenirs, so it's heartening to find that even the ancient Romans weren't above bringing home the occasional humorous gift.
The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) reports in a blog post, a joke-inscribed iron stylus unearthed during excavations in the English capital is now on view for the first time. The tool, dated to around 70 A.D., bears a message that roughly equates to the Latin version of "I went to Rome and all I got you was this stylus."
A more accurate translation by classicist and epigrapher Roger Tomlin actually reads: "I have come from the City. I bring you a welcome gift with a sharp point that you may remember me. I ask, if fortune allowed, that I might be able [to give] as generously as the way is long [and] as my purse is empty"—in other words, the gift is cheap, but it is all the giver can (or wants to) buy on such a slim budget.
According to the Guardian archaeologists found the stylus while conducting excavations for Bloomberg's London headquarters between 2010 and 2014. The writing implement was one of some 14,000 artifacts discovered during the dig; other finds include 400 wax tablets documenting legal and business affairs, 200 uninscribed styluses, the first written reference to Londinium's name, and thousands of pottery shards.
The stylus was uncovered during an excavation effort centered on a now-lost tributary of the Thames known as the river Walbrook. This area once housed part of Londinium, a Roman settlement that became an important center of commerce and governance following its establishment around 43 A.D.
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