Mária T. Biró: The Bone Objects of the Roman Collection. (Catalogi Musei Nationalis Hungarici. Seria Archeologica 2; Budapest, 1994)

VII. THE SPREAD OF USING WRITTEN RECORDS — WRITING AND COUNTING IMPLEMENTS MADE OF BONE - 1. Writing tablets (pugillares, cera)

VIL THE SPREAD OF USING WRITTEN RECORDS — WRITING AND COUNTING IMPLEMENTS MADE OF BONE 1. Writing tablets (pugillares, cera) 2. Styli. 3. Counting discs (calculi). 1. Writing tablets (pugillares, cera) Fig. 24- Wall-painting from Herculaneum There were a number of bone implements used by Romans writing and counting. (Fig. 25-26.) The frames of wax tablets used in writing were either made of wood or bone. (Nos. 556-559.) The largest ones were called CERA and they were differentiated according to the number of tablets attached to one another: cerae duplices, cerae triplices, cerae quintuplices. The smaller tablet for notes was called PUGILLUS. Such pugillares are also to be found in the Hungarian National Museum. The small bone tablets are attached to one another at the border with two pairs of perforated holes respectively. The scratches of horizontal guide lines can be discerned on the tablets. Perhaps before writing the distance between the rows was ruled and these guide lines could be seen on the thin coat of wax. Fig. 25. Cupido with a love-letter from a wall-painting in Pompeii and writing tablets