A small wooden tool block - the kind kept on every Roman sutor's bench to organize the day's working tools. Slots and pegs hold the curved knife (lunellum), awl, bone folder, and small mallet ready to hand. Period: Roman antiquity, 1st c. BCE - 3rd c. CE.
Roman workshop tool layouts have been recovered from Vindolanda and the Roman fort at Saalburg - the bench arrangements show consistent placement that match this prop's design.
Painting tips
- Wooden block: pale oak base, brown wash, dry-brush along edges.
- Tools: cool iron-grey for blades, bone-yellow for bone folder and awl handle.
- Optional drips of dye/oil on the block surface.
Historical sources & further reading
- Vindolanda Trust: workshop tool finds
- Junkelmann, Marcus. Reconstructing the Roman Gladiator (2000)
⚠ Small parts. Not suitable for children under 14.





