A closer look
The Romans may have built the grandest civilization of antiquity, but the freezing grunts defending the absolute edge of the known world mostly just wanted to complain about their horrible bosses. The Vindolanda tablets are razor-thin slices of wood that somehow survived in the British mud. Instead of grand imperial decrees, they are essentially the ancient equivalent of military text messages. They feature soldiers begging their moms to send more beer and underwear, alongside beautifully handwritten Latin insults aggressively mocking the hygiene and intelligence of their centurions.
