Roger Tomlin Explained

Roger Tomlin
Sub Discipline:	Roman Archaeology Classical Archaeology Greek and Latin text

Roger Simon Ouin Tomlin (born 1943) is a British archaeologist specialising in the translation of Latin text and epigraphy. Tomlin is an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.^[1]

Early life

Tomlin first studied Honour Moderations (Mods) at Oxford University before continuing onto study Literae humaniores (Greats). His college tutor was Peter Brunt, the Camden Professor of Ancient History.^[2]

Career

After graduating Tomlin worked in the US for a couple of years before returning to take up a post at the University of Oxford teaching Late Roman History. He succeeded Richard Wright as editor of the Roman Inscriptions of Britain project and started working intensively on translating inscriptions. Tomlin published the first translation of the curse-tablets from the Roman Baths at Aquae Sulis (Bath, UK) in 1988.^[3] Tomlin translated the Bloomberg tablets, a collection of 405 wooden tablets inscribed with ink found between 2010 and 2013 during excavations for the Bloomberg building in London.^[4] In 2019, a stylus from Roman London was translated by Tomlin; it was found to contain a humorous message to give to someone as a souvenir.^[5]

He is a member of the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents.^[6]

Awards

Tomlin was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 5 May 1976.^[7]

In March 2017 he received the István Hahn prize and gave an honorary lecture at Eötvös Loránd University.

Tomlin had a Festschrift dedicated to him in 2019, titled "Litterae Magicae: Studies in honour of Roger S. O. Tomlin".^[8]

Select publications

• 1988. "Tabellae Sulis: Roman Inscribed Tablets of Tin and Lead from the Sacred Spring at Bath", in Cunliffe, B. (ed) The Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath. II: The Finds from the Sacred Spring (Oxford University Committee for Archaeology Monographs 16). Oxford. 56-269.
• 1993. "Votive objects: the inscribed lead tablets" in Woodward, A. and Leach, P. The Uley Shrines. Excavation of a ritual complex on West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, 1977-79. London: English Heritage, 113-130.
• 2004. Curse Tablets of Roman Britain. Oxford: Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents.^[9]
• 2005. (as editor) History and Fiction. Six essays celebrating the centernary of Sir Ronald Syme. London.
• 2005. "Wooden Stilus Tablets from Roman Britain" in Images and Artefacts of the Ancient World, ed. Alan K. Bowman and Michael Brady. British Academy Scholarship Online.
• 2009. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, volume III: Inscriptions on Stone, found or notified between 1 January 1955 and 31 December 2006 (with Wright, R.P., and Hassall, M.W.C.). Oxford, Oxbow Books.
• 2010. "Cursing a Thief in Iberia and Britain", in Gordon, R. and Marco Simon, F. (eds) Magical Practices in the Latin West. Papers from the International Conference held at the University of Zaragoza 30th Sept-1st Oct 2005 (RGRW 168). Leyden-Boston. Pp. 245–274.
• 2015. "An Epistolary Brick from Lower Moesia" (with Mariya Doncheva). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 194, pp. 292–293.
• 2016. London's First Voices: Writing tablets from the Bloomberg London excavations 2010-14 (MOLA Monograph Series 72). London.

External links

• Roger Tomlin giving a lecture 'Roman London's First Voices' at Gresham College in October 2017

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roger Tomlin . Wolfson College . 9 April 2020.
2. Book: Czeti, I. . Seres, D. . "I try to publish whatever turns up" Interview with Roger S.O. Tomlin . Litterae Magicae: studies in Honour of Roger S. O. Tomlin . 2019 . 19–28 . Sanchez Natalia, Celia . Libros Porticos.
3. Jordan, D. . "Curses from the waters of Sulis" review of - ROGER TOMLIN, "THE CURSE TABLETS" (suggested abbreviation: Tab. Sulis). Chapter 4 in B. CUNLIFFE (ED.), THE TEMPLE OF SULIS MINERVA AT BATH, II: FINDS FROM THE SACRED SPRING (Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, monograph 16, 1988, distributed by Oxbow Books, Park End Place, Oxford) . Journal of Roman Archaeology . 3 . 437–441. 10.1017/S1047759400011314 .
4. News: UK's oldest hand-written document 'at Roman London dig' . BBC News . 1 June 2016.
5. Web site: This Ancient Roman Souvenir Stylus Is Inscribed With a Corny Joke . SmithsonianMag . 1 August 2019 . 9 April 2020.
6. Web site: Dr Roger Tomlin, MC Member . Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents . 9 April 2020.
7. Web site: Roger Simon Ouin Tomlin . Society of Antiquaries of London . 9 April 2020.
8. Book: Sánchez Natalías, Celia . Litterae Magicae: studies in Honour of Roger S. O. Tomlin . Libros Porticos . 2019.
9. Web site: Curse Tablets of Roman Britain . Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents . University of Oxford . 6 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210608133504/http://curses.csad.ox.ac.uk/ . 8 June 2021.