Tag: Office

Image of the day – 46

The dark rectangle on the sheet of papyrus or vellum is a miniature abacus, a sort of pocket calculator!

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Roman office desk

After yesterday’s photo of the office, I thought you might like a closer look at the items on the desk. You can see various scrolls as well as a wax tablet in the middle at the front. The tablet would be used for making notes with a pointed stylus and could be erased with the flattened upper end of the same stylus – very convenient. This tablet is hinged so four writing surfaces are available.

The dark rectangle on the sheet of papyrus is a miniature abacus, a sort of pocket calculator! The papyrus itself has a plan of the property on it. Notice also the glass on the left and the glass decanter on the right (glass was fearfully expensive and therefore an extreme luxury item), several pottery vessels (one containing writing styli), two candlesticks for working after dark, and even some snacks. There’s a bowl of walnuts and another one containing ripe cherries.

Paperwork was just as much of a chore no doubt then as now. Despite the fact that paper had not yet been invented!

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 45

In some ways, Roman life would have seemed quite familiar to us, at least the life led by people of reasonable means.

< Previous | Index | Next >

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

The Master’s office

The villa was a place where the master of the house continued his business while away from the cities. He would have had a small office for working on documents and meeting visiting colleagues and officials; he would also use the office when dealing with estate staff concerning the farming work.

Notice the fairly cluttered desk, the comfortable working chair, and two seats across the desk for visitors. There are cupboards for storage, and even a waste bin. We’ll take a closer look at what’s on the desk in the next Image of the day.

In some ways, Roman life would have seemed quite familiar to us, at least the life led by people of reasonable means. In Saxon and medieval times it’s almost as if the calendar has been turned back, not forwards!

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!