A Good Works Translation from Lambert and Stifter 2012

A two-sided lead tablet from Saint-Lupien at Reze preserves one of the most unusual Continental Celtic account texts: rows of Gaulish words, Roman numerals, monetary signs, erasures, corrections, and short sale or purchase notes from a Loire port setting. The dossier gives a cautious English guide to the account structure without pretending that the damaged Gaulish is a solved business letter.

Translation

The Reze lead tablet preserves a Gaulish port account: two written faces, names, purchase or sale phrases, Roman numerals, money signs, erasures, and corrected rows. Lambert and Stifter's edition leaves several readings and signs uncertain, so the English follows the account layout: face, zone, source line, line note, and cautious guide. Where the edition gives alternate readings, the alternates remain visible.

Account Layout

The Reze tablet is an account text, not literary prose. The safest English form is therefore a ledger display with notes. The signs SS, S =, HS, HSO, and == are preserved as account signs rather than converted into exact modern values. Lost or unreadable letters are shown with brackets. Erased and struck passages are named as such.

Face A

Zone 1

] n [.......] scanio are [ note: are or ari
alissuiu [.]allosat SS -XX [..]S [..]
note: perhaps alissutu. allisat
trilu -XXXVSS HS
paetrute. -XXVIII S =
pixte XVI S ==
suexxe XS =
suanmanu -XVIIII-.

(traces of an erased line)
suma -XDXXX HSO S = note: the m in suma is hard to read
(traces of an erased line, end: IIII)

Cautious rendering:

An account list, probably ordered by ordinal-like entries: a third-like entry, fourth-like entry, fifth-like entry, sixth entry, and a seventh or final entry, followed by a total line. The exact monetary and account signs are not converted here.

The ordinal sequence is the safest structural feature of this zone. paetrute, pixte, and suexxe align with fourth, fifth, and sixth-order forms. trilu is best treated as third-like in this list, but the exact grammatical force remains open. suanmanu may occupy the seventh or final slot, but it should not be flattened into a secure "seventh" without the edition's alternatives beside it. The suma line is a real total line, but the letter m is reported as hard to read and the notation is not settled.

The printed edition underlines uncertain letters in several forms in this zone. This display preserves the source forms and reports the uncertainty here rather than making the readings look normalized.

Zones 2-4

Zone 2
seIrinoti note: I added
]ndo

Zone 3
serinoti
sequndo
dinariIu
XXXV note: or XXXI

Zone 4
ser. [
asc [
i [

Cautious rendering:

Probably a short sale or denarii note, with serinoti or rinoti as the transactional anchor and dinariIu XXXV as the possible "for 35 denarii" element. XXXI remains possible in the edition.

rinoti is the main transactional anchor here, but its form and force remain disputed. sequndo may be the Latin name Secundus or an ordinal word in the account environment; the ambiguity should remain visible.

Face B

Zone 1

]m [....]-XXVII
]-XXXXIII SS = note: followed by erased letters, perhaps SH SS; final X over V
]ruti -XXVIIIS =
pi]xte XIISIS =
seuxxe -XII S = note: probably read suexxe
suxixxuii XS = note: xx perhaps ligature; perhaps suxixIxuii

Cautious rendering:

A damaged parallel or reworked account list. The fifth and sixth pattern is visible enough to guide the reader, but the face B list is weaker than face A and should not be presented as a clean sequence.

Face B appears to echo or recalculate parts of the ordinal-account pattern, but it is more damaged. The note to seuxxe says it should probably be read as suexxe, so "sixth entry" is available only as a cautious guide. The last line is not a secure ordinal; the ligature or reading problem must stay visible.

Zones 2-5

Zone 2
]sii
(traces of another line)

Zone 3
(struck text)
dos [..]a [...] / perhaps din [
senicii(a)nus note: large n may conceal -an- ligature
(=) II note: written over earlier Fca
cofura XS = / perhaps coiiura

Zone 4
setigi prino
ascani usare note: read ascanius are?
boletu XV

Zone 5
seritonicati / perhaps seritonica II

Cautious rendering:

Zone 3 is account debris or secondary notation. Zone 4 is the best purchase-note candidate: prino may be a buy or purchase word, ascani usare may involve Ascanius or ascanius are, and boletu XV should remain untranslated as a unit or value-name. Zone 5 is not secure enough for semantic translation.

The possible Latin-looking name in Zone 3 is useful, but it does not make the whole passage Latin or transparent. cofura may be coiiura; both readings remain visible. boletu sits where a value or unit is expected, but it is not rendered as mushrooms, obols, or any settled currency.

Notes on Numbers and Account Signs

Lambert and Stifter treat the script and account notation as comparatively readable but not simple. The D in sequndo and dinariIu should not be confused with the B of boletu. The G of setigi is close to the L of boletu, so the contrast matters.

The account uses Roman numerals and monetary signs. A strange X-like sign before numerals is probably the denarius sign. S = is interpreted as bes, two-thirds, and HS may be a sesterce value, a quarter denarius. Because the exact signs remain uncertain, the dossier preserves the account notation beside the English guide.

Colophon

This page translates and presents the Gaulish lead account from Reze, Saint-Lupien, as published by Pierre-Yves Lambert and David Stifter in "Le plomb gaulois de Reze," Études celtiques 38 (2012), pp. 139-164. The English is a New Tianmu Anglican Church Good Works Translation made from the inspected source text, page HTML, and page images, with Lambert and Stifter's interpretation notes used as the controlling scholarly apparatus.

The translation is source-close because the tablet is damaged and because several signs, words, and account marks remain disputed. It preserves the source layout, account signs, alternate readings, erased or struck passages, and uncertainty notes rather than turning the object into fluent prose.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Lambert and Stifter 2012, Reze Lead Account

Gaulish source text from Lambert and Stifter's edition of the Reze lead account. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Face A

Zone 1
] n [.......] scanio are [
alissuiu [.]allosat SS -XX [..]S [..]
trilu -XXXVSS HS
paetrute. -XXVIII S =
pixte XVI S ==
suexxe XS =
suanmanu -XVIIII-.
-------------------
(traces of an erased line)
suma -XDXXX HSO S =
(traces of an erased line, end: IIII)

Zone 2
seIrinoti
]ndo

Zone 3
serinoti
sequndo
dinariIu
XXXV

Zone 4
ser. [
asc [
i [

Source notes from the edition:

Zone 1: are or ari
Zone 1: perhaps alissutu. allisat
Zone 1: suma: m hard to read
Zone 2: I added
Zone 3: XXXV or XXXI

Face B

Zone 1
]m [....]-XXVII
]-XXXXIII SS =
]ruti -XXVIIIS =
pi]xte XIISIS =
seuxxe -XII S =
suxixxuii XS =

Zone 2
]sii
(traces of another line)

Zone 3
(struck text)
dos [..]a [...]
senicii(a)nus
(=) II
cofura XS =

Zone 4
setigi prino
ascani usare
boletu XV

Zone 5
seritonicati

Source notes from the edition:

Zone 1: after ]-XXXXIII SS =, followed by erased letters: SH SS?
Zone 1: last X over V
Zone 1: seuxxe, probably read suexxe
Zone 1: suxixxuii, xx perhaps in ligature; perhaps suxixIxuii
Zone 3: dos [..]a [...] or din [
Zone 3: large n may conceal a ligature -an-
Zone 3: (=) II written over Fca
Zone 3: cofura or perhaps coiiura
Zone 4: ascani usare, read ascanius are?
Zone 5: seritonicati or seritonica II

Source Colophon

The main source route is the Persée article page for Lambert and Stifter 2012, with local captures of the article page HTML, twenty-six page-level Persée payloads, extracted page text, and the transcription-page images for pages 145 and 147. The higher-resolution 1187 x 1843 Persée render images for pages 145 and 147 were captured and checked on 2026-05-13. The Maynooth University MURAL repository record and deposited PDF were also captured; that PDF is useful as an open repository/license route, but the local copy appears to preserve only the opening/context pages and not the full transcription section.

Local source controls are preserved under Tulku/Tools/celtic/sources/major_prestige_2026-05-13/reze/. Source routes include https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_2351, https://www.persee.fr/doc/page/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_2351/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_T7_0145_0000, https://www.persee.fr/doc/page/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_2351/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_T7_0147_0000, https://www.persee.fr/renderPage/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_2351/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_T7_0145_0000_1187.jpg, https://www.persee.fr/renderPage/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_2351/ecelt_0373-1928_2012_num_38_1_T7_0147_0000_1187.jpg, and https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/6162/.

Two public RIIG corpus checks on 2026-05-13 did not locate a public RIIG record for the Reze lead under searches for Rezé, Reze, Ratiat, Saint-Lupien, Lambert, Stifter, or the article title. That is a negative control for the public corpus captures checked that day, not proof that no later, private, or differently indexed record exists.

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