oa To write and read, count and record, certify and attest: The multiple functions of tablets in Greek and Roman Antiquity

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The intention of this chapter is to briefly review the multiple and important functions of writing tablets (tabulae ceratae) in Greek and Roman Antiquity by comparing different sources and documents: literature and vocabulary, iconography, and archaeological finds (depending on conditions of preservation). It appears that wood tablets were an essential writing medium not only in everyday life, but for the administration, law, justice, and army. Moreover, the symbolism attached to them bolsters the notion that writing was both a practice and a social act. This study also highlights the similarities and differences between Greek and Roman uses and representations of wax tablets, and concludes with the description of a real obsession in Roman times: the question of ‘fake’ texts and new official means of securing legal tablets. The appendix to this article lists a few corpora of written Greek and Roman tablets and useful databases.