In 1973 several Latin letters were found in the most unlikely of places—a damp excavation of Vindolandaon Hadrian's Wall in Britain. Almost all of ancient writing on perishable materials, up to that year, had been found in Egypt, where the dry climate was naturally conducive to the preservation of such documents. But peculiar, anaerobic conditions of certain layers of deposits at Vindolanda allowed for the survival of these letters. Further excavations in the 1980s and 1990s have yielded more fragments that now number in the thousands.

The most famous letter from the collection has to do with an invitation to a party:

Claudia Severa to her Lepidina greetings. On the third day before the Ides of September, sister, for the day of the celebration of my birthday, I give you a warm invitation to make sure that you come to...