09/08/2026
What can 1,600-year-old scraps of parchment tell us about ancient Rome? Quite a lot — including how they handled taxes. 🏛️📜
UC Classics Assistant Professor Matthijs Wibier pieced together and translated a previously unknown Roman legal text from fragments preserved in the Egyptian desert for more than 1,600 years.
Using clues from the parchment itself — and ultraviolet light to reveal the faded Latin — Wibier uncovered laws concerning taxes, public roads and infrastructure, offering a rare glimpse into everyday life and government in the Roman Empire. 🔎
Read more about the discovery 🔗
https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2026/02/uc-penn-parchment-ancient-roman-tax-law.html