The Amphora

Roman officers required a few home comforts when posted to northern England as shown by this piece of the neck of an amphora from the first timber fort. It has retained an amazing inscription written in ink on a clay panel (translated by Roger Tomlin, Wolfson College, Oxford).

CO[D]TINGVE 'Tunny fish relish from Tangiers, old'
PENVAR 'for the larder' (a grade of sauce)
EXSCEL[L] 'excellent'
S[V]MAV[R] 'top quality'

The next two lines, date of manufacture and numeral giving capacity, are lost but the rest is intact. Comparative inscriptions are known from Pompeii.