This ancient Roman pen shows that cheap souvenirs are nothing new:
, a complex drainage system, a series of period coins, and, since this was Roman London, a collection of phallus-shaped good luck charms. , however, gives us a new window into not just Roman life, but Roman humor. The stylus was just one of over two hundred that were found at the site, but unlike the others, this one bore a Latin inscription. While our drawers today are stuffed full of pens and pencils with written inscriptions, very few inscribed Roman styluses survive today.
MOLA conservator Lucie Altenburg holds a rare inscribed iron stylus, thought to date to around AD 70. ©MOLAWith a careful eye for the fading inscription, epigrapher Roger Tomlin was able to reconstruct and translate the original Latin. The pen“I have come from the City [Rome]. 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 as generously as the way is long as my purse is empty.
While humor always struggles across languages, the intent here appears to be clear. This stylus was likely purchased in Rome and brought back to London as a cheap gift. Something to the affect of:"My friend went all the way to Rome, and all I got was this lousy pen." And yet, the reference to the “sharp point” of the stylus may carry its own message. After all, this very pen is a testament to the durability and cutting potential of the written word.
If your friends have not brought you any souvenirs from Rome recently, you can see this ancient souvenir for yourself in the new exhibit, “
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