Projects / The Bath tablets
Roman letters. An unsettled reading.
Two inscriptions in an uncertain language.
The question behind The Bath tablets
Two inscriptions from Bath’s sacred spring, Tab. Sulis 14 and 18, raise different problems. Roman Inscriptions of Britain describes doubtful letters and uncertain word divisions in the non-Latin text of 14. In 18, most letters are readable, but their interpretation remains uncertain; a list of personal names is one possibility. The edition dates both broadly to the second to fourth centuries AD from their lettering. Neither is treated here as a certain example of pre-Roman British Celtic or as an encrypted message.
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- Roman Inscriptions of Britain: Tab. Sulis 14
Published edition and commentary on uncertain letter readings and word division. Linked for consultation; no source images or complete transcription reproduced here.
- Roman Inscriptions of Britain: Tab. Sulis 18
Published edition and commentary distinguishing readable letters from an uncertain interpretation, including possible personal names. Linked for consultation; no source images or complete transcription reproduced here.
- Roman Inscriptions of Britain: terms of use
RIB text and TEI XML use CC BY 4.0. Photographs and images remain with their respective owners unless otherwise stated. Any later text snapshot needs attribution and preservation of the edition’s uncertainties; image permissions are separate.