1) The Vindolanda writing tablets offer fascinating glimpses of daily life in a tough frontier fort. One particularly intriguing tablet (no.344) might just be a draft-letter intended for quite the remarkable recipient: none other than the emperor Hadrian himself..
2) The writer drafts his letter to "Your Majesty.." (maiestatem), appealing for justice. In a fragmented yet emotive text, he describes being viciously "beaten with rods" and having his "goods poured down the drain", an "innocent man" treated like he had "committed some crime"..
3) He says he has complained "in vain" to the prefect and beneficarius to no avail, so now can only implore this unnamed "lord" for help. Interestingly, he highlights that he is a "man from overseas" perhaps implying such summary beatings were usually reserved for native Britons.
4) The letter is drafted on the back of some mundane merchant accounts, possibly showing efforts made to craft the perfect petition before sending. Tantalisingly, the layers in which the letter fragments were discovered are securely dated to c.105-120s AD (period IV context)...
5) ..A period which could include the momentous year 122, when Emperor Hadrian visited Britain, overseeing contruction on the famous wall that now takes his name. Did this wronged man appeal directly to the emperor himself and if so, did Hadrian help him in finding justice?
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