So, as Romans in Judaea, entrusted with the task of taking the “census” during Bethlehem Revisited, what tools would have been in use? Obviously, aside from the everyday gear of the legionnaires, there would have been writing implements for keeping track of people. Thus, the Cista Scriptoris (scribe’s box).
I’ve decided to copy a definitely non-authentic piece of gear that I found a photo of online. Why non-authentic? Well, for one thing, a centurion or tribune probably wouldn’t have had a wooden box with fancy modern fittings like those shown. Roman box fittings tend to be rings with a simple nail or pin attachment. And for another, the Romans didn’t use drawers. Yep–look it up. No Roman furniture has ever been found that had drawers. They had cabinets with doors, boxes with removable tops, chests with hinged lids, but no drawers.
So this is my take on a scribe’s portable box which he would have used to keep his tools in. What tools? Those would be a dip or reed pen, ink and ink ingredients, an inkwell, an abacus (did you know the Romans invented the hand abacus?) and possibly some sealing wax, string, and a bone ruler. Fun fact: a good number of Roman “bone rulers” have been found with other writing implements, but nobody really knows what they were used for. My guess? making sure that lines of text were straight.