Monday 22nd March: Following our opening lecture on Roman technology By Prof Julian Vincent, and another very well attended event within the Bath Literary Festival, we were honoured by the visit of Professor Ian Haynes (right), Head of Archaeology at Newcastle University, who addressed another large and lively audience on Britain’s First Information Revolution.
 
Although there was some writing in pre-Roman Britain, the arrival with the Romans of written records (Romans referred to handwriting as ‘chicken scratches’) brought about a whole new way of life, combining with Romans’ vast new road network to produce a society of documentation and long-distance communication. Finds such as a hoard of 1600 wooden writing tablets discovered near Hadrian’s Wall have hugely increased our understanding of Roman customs.