Roman graffiti is among the most interesting, lewd and graphic of any graffiti produced by any civilization. It makes the graffiti scratched on the walls of the Colosseum a week or so ago look pathetic, and even insulting to past Roman history. “Ivan + Hayley 23” not only defaced Rome’s greatest monument, it was a depressingly banal effort, and that is probably more significant than the vandalism itself. Ivan could, at the very least, have shown some imagination, by borrowing from Roman graffiti artists of the past.
An article written by Harry Mount in The Spectator Magazine recently, points out that Roman graffiti was not only far more interesting than the unimaginative attempts by present-day artists, with the possible exception of Banksy, it was far more common than our walls experience today. Mount has also written a book with John Davie entitled The Best Latin Lines Ever, which documents a variety of Roman sayings and graffiti genre.
Almost every time additional excavations are carried out in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Rome itself, more graffiti is revealed. To quote Harry Mount, “Dirty pictures are everywhere”.
Archaeologists recently dug up the ruins of a “snack bar” in Pompeii, revealing the words “Nicia cinaede cacator” (Nicias, you catamite shitter). On the wall of Pompeii’s basilica are inscribed the words “Lucilla ex corpore lucrum faciebat” (Lucilla made money from her body). Nearby, a prostitute has written “Sum tua aeris assibus II” (I’m yours for two bronze coins – about the price of two glasses of wine at the time).
Pornography is probably the most common theme in all Roman graffiti, although romance, comedy and social comment are also part of what has been found in many excavations. And it wasn’t just the Romans who found lewd graffiti fascinating: The longest tourist lines today in Pompeii are to look at the frescoes of a couple experimenting in the bedroom; the most popular room in the Naples National Archaeological Museum is the Ganinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet), which contains rude artefacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum; and, in the Domus Tiberiana in Rome, there is a crudely drawn man with an oversized penis for a nose.
The house of Pinarius Cerialis in Pompeii contains the heartfelt love pangs of a rejected suitor: “Marcellus Praenestinam amat et non curator” (Marcellus loves Praenestina but she doesn’t care for him).
Roman graffiti is even philosophical at times. An example can be found in the house of Cecilius Secundus in Pompeii, which says “Quisquis amat valeat, pereat qui nescit amare, bis tanto prereat, quisquis amare vetat” (Let whoever loves prosper, but let the person who doesn’t know how to love die. And let the one who outlaws love die twice).
Everyday life is also reflected on the walls of Roman dwellings: In a tavern kitchen in Herculaneum, there is a line that says, “XI Kalendas paneum factum” (Bread is made on the eleventh of every month).
Politics are also reflected in Roman graffiti. In Via Nolana, Pompeii, there is a political slogan, “C. Julium Polybium aedilem oro vos faciatis. Panem bonum fert: (I beg you to make C. Julius Polybius aedile [a magistrate]. He makes good bread).
There are even grammatical mistakes, and misspellings, preserved through the ages on ancient Roman walls. Today’s graffiti artists do, at least, have that in common with their Roman predecessors.
Overall, the infamous Ivan, in Rome last week, had a wealth of historical graffiti to draw on when he scratched his message on the Colosseum. So why did he resort to such tawdry rubbish? Aren’t we supposed to be more sophisticated than the Romans………….?
I guess “no imagination” is a human condition that transverses the ages.
