Letters From the Roman Front

Two decades after Agricola’s legions routed the Britons at Mons Graupins, it was the Romans who were sent packing from their fort at Vindolanda. This program uses outstanding reenactments of period combat and archaeological treasures from the dig at the fort to re-create garrison life along Rome’s northern frontier. And the greatest treasure of all? Letters, lists, and notes written on wooden tablets, preserved in the ground for 2,000 years, that tell the story of the men who lived and died near the future site of Hadrian’s Wall—in their own words. Topics range from weapons and tactics to post-battle surgery, from punishments to the pleasures of the bathhouse.