In Vindolanda, an invitation has been waiting for almost two millennia

This piece of wood contains no military order or imperial declaration. Claudia Severa invites Sulpicia Lepidina to celebrate her birthday on September 11. Found in Vindolanda, northern Roman Britain, the letter is dated from the years 97 to 105. A private opportunity thus goes through almost two millennia.

The text also conveys greetings between relatives. Then something changes: a second writing appears. Specialists attribute it to Severa herself, who would have personally added an affectionate formula after the part entrusted to another hand. The object therefore retains both an invitation and the material trace of a personal intervention.

We don't know if Lepidina finally attended the party. The tablet does not tell the evening and does not allow him to invent a menu. It preserves something more discreet: the expectation of a beloved presence. In the middle of the remains of a Roman fort, a woman wanted her friend to be there.