Brick, Lydion brick

A red clay brick of the Lydion type with graffito, roughly incised while the clay was still soft. This reads: AVSTALIS DIBVS XIII VAGATVR SIB COTIDIM. 'Austalis has been wandering off on his own every day for the past 13 days.' The graffito is a rhyming couplet (Austalis dibus tredecim, vagatur sibi cotidim). This suggests that the brick-makers could read and write simple poetry, and used this skill to whistle-blow on lazy co-workers.

A Lydion type brick measured approximately 1 x 1.5 Roman feet and was mostly commonly used for bonding courses in major stone buildings.