Dated 3rd February 294 AD. A wooden tablet with black inked text of the will of Julius Donatillus, of North African origin; partial transcription: Constantio et Maximiano nobil. Caess. coss. III non(as) Februarias. Iulius Donatillus sana nebte testamentum feci adque id scrivendu(m) Pomponio Felici dictavi; ut quando quo ego obitum nature reddidero thunc mihi Iulius Fortunatus filius meus carissimus ex asse mihi heres esto in omnium bonorum meum ceteri alii omnes exhederes sunto; do lego si mihi heres non erit nummos argenteos octagentos Antoniae Iuliane matri heredis mei s(upra) s(cripti)...; translation: In the year of the consulate of the Caesars Constantius and Maximianus, the third day before the Nonas of February (=Feb 3rd AD 294) I Julius Donatillus made my last will with clear mind and I dictated to write it down to Pomponius Felix. In the case when I will be given back to nature by my death, my beloved son Julius Fortunatus shall be my heir of all my goods. All the others shall be disinherited. I give and authorise, if he will not be my heir, Antonia Juliane, 80(0?) silver coins. I give and I donate to my beloved daughter Julia Mustula the land near the Vicus Albianus next to the fundus Amilcarianos, which I purchased from Apustius Bugeirotis in the year when heavy rainfall came. I also give and donate to my well-deserved wife Antonia Juliane five dalmaticas (fine garments) with mafortium (a kind of cape or wrap to cover the head, neck and shoulders) with African stripes and three scarves, and furthermore the slave of Lusitanian-Seiano origin called Bellicus, and the slave-girl of Garamantican origin called Afra. To Julius Secundus, the son of my beloved wife Antonia Juliane, I give and donate the land together with the house with all wooden furniture and with all installations in the courtyard on the fundus mamorius, and also six camels and twenty sheep.... See examples of wooden tabulae re-used as a writing surfaces, in Thomas, J. D., Vindolanda: The Latin Writing Tablets, Britannia Monograph Series No 4 London, 1983; for examples of testamentary documents on wooden tablets that have survived, see FIRA III, p.47 for Anthony Silvanus from 142 AD and see BGU VII 1695 for Safinnius Herminus; for another from Transfynydd, North Wales, see Arch. Camb., 150 pp.143-156. Münchner Beiträge zur antiken Papyrologie und Rechtsgeschichte, Leopold Wenger Institute (LMU Munich); forthcoming. Accompanied by an Art Loss Register certificate. 123 grams, 2 5 x 22cm (9 3/4 x 8 3/4"). From an important London collection since 1975; acquired by a London dealer 1973; formerly the property of Monsieur Alain Sfez, a Belgian collector; acquired by gift from his father Albert Sfez, 1965; acquired by Albert in the early 1950s; accompanied by a copy of a witnessed ownership statement from Alain Sfez. The contract follows standard Roman legal formulae.

Fine condition. A rare and exceptional legal document, providing a fascinating insight into the functioning of Roman society and its economy.