Language | Latin |
---|---|
Geographical range | Roman Empire |
Period | Ancient Rome |
Major sites | Pompeii |
In archaeological terms, graffiti (plural of graffito) is a mark, image or writing scratched or engraved into a surface. [1] There have been numerous examples found on sites of the Roman Empire, including taverns and houses, as well as on pottery of the time. In many cases the graffiti tend toward the rude, with a line etched into the basilica in Pompeii reading "Lucilla made money from her body," phallic images, as well as erotic pictures. [2] Other graffiti took on a more innocent nature, taking the form of simple pictures or games. [3] Although many forms of Roman graffiti are indecipherable, studying the graffiti left behind from the Roman Period can give a better understanding of the daily life and attitudes of the Roman people with conclusions drawn about how everyday Romans talked, where they spent their time, and their interactions within those spaces.
Inscriptions cover a range of topics from poems, advertisements, political statements, to greetings. There are two forms of graffiti: painted inscriptions (usually public notices) and inscribed inscriptions (spontaneous messages). Many forms of graffiti also give insight to what certain locations acted as during the Roman Empire.
Over 11,000 graffiti samples have been uncovered in the excavations of Pompeii. Archaeologists have been studying and recording graffiti in Pompeii since the 1800s. These documentations remain the best evidence of over 90 percent of recorded graffiti from the area, which has not survived the elements. [4] Most of the graffiti archaeologists were able to uncover took the form of friendly messages and games that required Roman numerals. [5] Many of these recorded graffiti were found in public areas such as stairwells and entrances. Due to the simple nature of the graffiti, many archaeologists were early to dismiss the importance of the wall writings as it concerned life in ancient Pompeii. [6] However, this thought pattern changed with the discovery of the House of Maius Castricius.
This domestic residence shows that ancient graffiti was not limited to the public sphere, as graffiti is in modern day. This site, discovered in the 1960s, has benefited from preservation efforts, leaving the graffiti samples in their original context and remain legible. There is a unique feature of eleven graffiti containing multiple lines of poetry. For the most part, the poems are arranged vertically and respect the space of the others. This mix of original work and common phrases is not a miscellaneous group because of the number and composition; instead, it appears that a conversation has formed. [6]
One passage on the staircase reads:
vasia quae rapui, quaeris formosa puella
accipe quae rapui non ego solus; ama.
quisquis amat valeat
Which translates to:
Beautiful girl, you seek the kisses that I stole.
Receive what I was not alone in taking; love.
Whoever loves, may she fare well.
Many of the inscriptions found in the House of Maius Castricius that blend both image and writing have been ignored by archaeologists due to errors in the form of documentation. [6] The methodology used by the archaeological department responsible for recording the House of Maius Castricius site have focused on primarily deciphering the Latin and Greek texts of the graffiti but have no clear way of interpreting images that have no clear description accompanying them.
An example here demonstrates a familiarity with Virgil and hexameter verse. On the doorpost of the shop near pictures of Aeneas and Romulus is written: [7]
Fullones ululamque cano, non arma virumque.
Translating to:
I sing of cloth-launderers and an owl, not arms and a man.
The owl is a signifier of Minerva, the goddess who has been said to be protector over the profession of fullones. [2]
Mary Beard notes that there are more than fifty examples of graffiti referring to Virgil in Pompeii alone, but also notes that the majority of the references are to the opening lines of Book 1 or Book 2 of the Aeneid , suggesting that these lines may have been widely known in the fashion "To be, or not to be" is known today. [8]
One finding in Pompeii that was uncommon was a literary-based inscription referring to Ovid's Heroides 4. [9] Heroides 4 was a poem about the Greek character Phaedra falling in love with her husband's son, Hippolytus. This graffiti found in particular was located next to a painting describing the Roman mythical version of Pompeii. Similar to the House of Maius Castricius, there have been few ways to interpret images to graffiti; however, archaeologists have used the Heroides 4 graffiti to show that Roman citizens possibly were able to understand art in a refined manner, both for the literary reference as well as the painting of Pompeii.
One popular term found in many of the discovered graffiti walls in Pompeii was calos, a Latin translation of the Greek word for beauty. [10] Initially starting as a form of praise for upstanding citizens in Greek pottery, calos found its way into becoming a popular Pompeian graffiti writing sometime during the first-century. Calos was typically used before someone's name, for example:
"calos Castrensis"
translates to:
"beautiful Castrensis"
The calos graffiti has been assumed by archaeologists to have been used for listing sexual partners, describing sexual conduct, and prostitution specifically locations of brothels. Calos helps us understand some typical graffiti writings that citizens of Pompeii might have had strong association with.
An archaeological excavation of the Roman Agora in Athens discovered a nearly perfectly preserved row of columns that contain Roman graffiti. [3] Many of the inscriptions have been interpreted by archaeologists as pertaining to Christianity which began to become a popular religion in Athens later in the Roman Empire. Other inscriptions include possible names of writers that vary from common Roman names to cryptic Roman names most likely to hide the author.
Another important theme that the graffiti in the Roman market holds is of a sexual nature. Some of the graffiti found is assumed to hold a mystical form as a sexual charm that either will grace the reader with pleasure or punish a former sexual partner. One particular description found at the market in particular is a curse placed on a woman by a former lover:
I bind you, Theodotis, daughter of Eus, to the tail of the snake and to the mouth of the crocodile
and the horns of the ram and the poison of the asp and the whiskers of the cat and the forepart of the
god so that you cannot ever have intercourse with another man nor be f***** nor be buggered nor
fellate and not do anything for pleasure with another man, if it is not me alone, Ammonion, son of Hermitaris.
Ancient graffiti has been found on sites in the Roman province of Brittania. In 2022, a piece of lewd graffiti, dated to around the 3rd century AD, was found on the site of Vindolanda, near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.It had a phallic description and was translated by historians to say “Secundius the shitter”. [11]
Graffiti is often meant to be seen and expects to be read. A dialogue is formed between the reader and the inscription and can be simple as they speak directly to the readers in forms such as "if anyone sits here, let him read this before everything else..." as well as "He who writes this is in love... and I who reads this am a prick."
There are also dialogues where one passage answers another. These responses take the forms of greetings, insults, prayers, etc.
Successus textor amat coponiaes ancilla(m)
nomine Hiredem quae quidem illum
non curat sed ille rogat illa com(m)iseretur
scribit rivalis vale
Translates to:
Successus the weaver is in love with the slave of the
Innkeeper, whose name is Iris. She doesn't care about
him at all, but he asks that she take pity on him.
A rival wrote this
A response to this translates to: [6]
You're so jealous you're bursting. Don't tear down
someone more handsome―
a guy who could beat you up and who is good-looking.
Word squares (magic square) and riddles are also common forms of the culture of graffiti. In addition to this, many games played through graffiti also use numbers through the use of Roman numerals. These show a level of mental agility and flexibility of language. [12]
Examples of handwritten alphabets are common graffiti in Pompeii and could be evidence of children practicing their alphabet. This lends to the argument that children were responsible for much of the graffiti. However, the height of the inscriptions and location may contradict this. [12]
Writing around 100 AD, Plutarch wrote of graffiti: "There is nothing written in them which is either useful or pleasing – only so-and-so 'remembers' so-and-so, and 'wishes him the best', and is 'the best of his friends', and many things full of such ridiculousness". [13]
Twenty-first century scholars have found more to study and enjoy in the visual art and intertextuality of Roman graffiti. [14]
More than simply text and thought, Roman graffiti give insight into the use of space and how people interacted within it. Studying the motivation behind the marks reveals a trend for the graffiti to be located where people spend time and pass most frequently as they move through a space. Common places for graffiti are staircases, central peristyle, and vestibule. The use of graffiti by Romans has been said to be very different from the defacing trends of modern day, with the text blending into the walls and rooms by respecting the frescoes and decoration with the use of small letters. In this way, the environment influences the graffiti by subject and organization, and the graffiti in turn changes and influences the environment. [6]
Roman graffiti could convey many different meanings. Some graffiti had political messages, some advertised products, others communicated miscellaneous information. Often-times political graffiti would appear during times of conflict, critiquing notable politicians. According to Plutarch, Brutus was convinced to assassinate Julius Caesar by such writings. Suetonius also records that the public began to hate Nero after they saw graffiti criticizing him, and Cicero notes that people would draw graffiti insulting Verres' wife.
Some graffiti includes names. At Pompeii a man named Decimus Lucretius Valens is mentioned, as well as two women named Valentina and Lusta. Roman graffiti also often contained sexual innuendos. Archaeologists can use the amount of graffiti in an area to determine the level of social interaction which took place there; since it often conveys the thoughts and name of the graffitist, it can help identify the people who were in the locations, and their ideas and actions. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] For a long time, graffiti were predominantly associated with men, however, archaeologists have discovered many inscriptions that indicate that women were also involved in their making, which is critical as it raises new light on women's literacy. American classical epigraphist Rebecca Benefiel explains, that we find more male names, simply because men would be interacting more in the public spheres. [21]
Typical techniques when studying graffiti include drawing each inscription and taking photographs if special attention is required. When only a shadow of the engravings is visible to the naked eye, other methods of observance are needed to decipher the engravings. Using 3D laser profilometers to analyze the roughness of a surface, archaeologists have been able to determine the tools used in engraving. This technique merged with photographs taken with oblique light, different lighting conditions, and results from electrostatic detection devices have increased the readability of illegible inscriptions. [22]
Graffiti drawn by children usually follows a consistent set of rules, growing more realistic as the child ages. Their drawings consist of several regular geometrical shapes combined to create a more complex drawing; one piece of surviving graffiti shows a drawing of a human created using a cross and an oval. When drawing family members, children differentiated them by changing the height of each figure. If the child wished to depict someone holding something, usually the torso would remain upright while the rest of the body changed position. When body parts such as ears are depicted they never come into contact with the limbs; when drawing an animal, a child would draw a humanoid figure and then draw ears on the top of their head. [20]
Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been both exhibited as art and censored as pornography. The Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum around the bay of Naples were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, thereby preserving their buildings and artefacts until extensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century. These digs revealed the cities to be rich in erotic artefacts such as statues, frescoes, and household items decorated with sexual themes.
Dura-Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 metres above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in present-day Syria. Dura-Europos was founded around 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator, who founded the Seleucid Empire as one of the Diadochi of Alexander the Great. In 113 BC, Parthians conquered the city, and held it, with one brief Roman intermission, until 165 AD. Under Parthian rule, it became an important provincial administrative centre. The Romans decisively captured Dura-Europos in 165 AD and greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia, until it was captured by the Sasanian Empire after a siege in 256–257 AD. Its population was deported, and the abandoned city eventually became covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight.
Archaeological forgery is the manufacture of supposedly ancient items that are sold to the antiquities market and may even end up in the collections of museums. It is related to art forgery.
The Sator Square is a two-dimensional acrostic class of word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome. The earliest squares were found at Roman-era sites, all in ROTAS-form, with the earliest discovery at Pompeii. The earliest square with Christian-associated imagery dates from the sixth century. By the Middle Ages, Sator squares had been found across Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. In 2022, the Encyclopedia Britannica called it "the most familiar lettered square in the Western world".
The Secret Museum or Secret Cabinet in Naples is the collection of 1st-century Roman erotic art found in Pompeii and Herculaneum, now held in separate galleries at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, the former Museo Borbonico. The term "cabinet" is used in reference to the "cabinet of curiosities" - i.e. any well-presented collection of objects to admire and study.
A graffito, in an archaeological context, is a deliberate mark made by scratching or engraving on a large surface such as a wall. The marks may form an image or writing. The term is not usually used for the engraved decoration on small objects such as bones, which make up a large part of the art of the Upper Paleolithic, but might be used for the engraved images, usually of animals, that are commonly found in caves, though much less well known than the cave paintings of the same period; often the two are found in the same caves. In archaeology, the term may or may not include the more common modern sense of an "unauthorized" addition to a building or monument. Sgraffito, a decorative technique of partially scratching off a top layer of plaster or some other material to reveal a differently colored material beneath, is also sometimes known as "graffito".
Pompeii and Herculaneum were once thriving towns, 2,000 years ago, in the Bay of Naples. Both cities have rich histories influenced by Greeks, Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites and finally the Romans. They are most renowned for their destruction: both were buried in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For over 1,500 years, these cities were left in remarkable states of preservation underneath volcanic ash, mud and rubble. The eruption obliterated the towns but in doing so, was the cause of their longevity and survival over the centuries.
The House of the Faun, constructed in the 2nd century BC during the Samnite period, was a grand Hellenistic palace that was framed by peristyle in Pompeii, Italy. The historical significance in this impressive estate is found in the many great pieces of art that were well preserved from the ash of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It is one of the most luxurious aristocratic houses from the Roman Republic, and reflects this period better than most archaeological evidence found even in Rome itself.
Safaitic is a variety of the South Semitic scripts used by the Arabs in southern Syria and northern Jordan in the Ḥarrah region, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and Ancient North Arabian. The Safaitic script is a member of the Ancient North Arabian (ANA) sub-grouping of the South Semitic script family, the genetic unity of which has yet to be demonstrated.
The Apollo of Piombino or the Piombino Boy is a famous Greek bronze statuette in late Archaic style that depicts the god as a kouros or youth, or it may be a worshipper bringing an offering. The bronze is inlaid with copper for the boy's lips, eyebrows, and nipples. The eyes, which are missing, were of another material, perhaps bone or ivory.
A fullo was a Roman fuller or laundry worker, known from many inscriptions from Italy and the western half of the Roman Empire and references in Latin literature, e.g. by Plautus, Martialis and Pliny the Elder. A fullo worked in a fullery or fullonica. There is also evidence that fullones dealt with cloth straight from the loom, though this has been doubted by some modern scholars. In some large farms, fulleries were built where slaves were used to clean the cloth. In several Roman cities, the workshops of fullones, have been found. The most important examples are in Ostia and Pompeii, but fullonicae also have been found in Delos, Florence, Fréjus and near Forlì: in the Archaeological Museum of Forlì, there is an ancient relief with a fullery view. While the small workshops at Delos go back to the 1st century BC, those in Pompeii date from the 1st century AD and the establishments in Ostia and Florence were built during the reign of the Emperors Trajan and Hadrian.
The Lupanar is the ruined building of an ancient Roman brothel in the city of Pompeii. It is of particular interest for the erotic paintings on its walls, and is also known as the Lupanare Grande or the "Purpose-Built Brothel" in the Roman colony. Pompeii was closely associated with Venus, the ancient Roman goddess of love, sex, and fertility, and therefore a mythological figure closely tied to prostitution.
The tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the baker is one of the largest and best-preserved freedman funerary monuments in Rome. Its sculpted frieze is a classic example of the "plebeian style" in Roman sculpture. Eurysaces built the tomb for himself and perhaps also his wife Atistia around the end of the Republic. Located in a prominent position just outside today's Porta Maggiore, the tomb was transformed by its incorporation into the Aurelian Wall; a tower subsequently erected by Honorius covered the tomb, the remains of which were exposed upon its removal by Gregory XVI in 1838. What is particularly significant about this extravagant tomb is that it was built by a freedman, a former slave.
The Suburban Baths are a building in Pompeii, Italy, a town in the Italian region of Campania that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which consequently preserved it.
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, a thermopolium, from Greek θερμοπώλιον (thermopōlion), i.e. cook-shop, literally "a place where (something) hot is sold", was a commercial establishment where it was possible to purchase ready-to-eat food. In Latin literature, they are also called popinae, cauponae, hospitia or stabula, but archaeologists refer to them all as thermopolia. They were mainly used by those who did not have their own kitchens, often inhabitants of insulae, and this sometimes led to thermopolia being scorned by the upper class.
Pompeii was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and many surrounding villas, the city was buried under 4 to 6 m of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The Vatican Necropolis lies under the Vatican City, at depths varying between 5–12 metres below Saint Peter's Basilica. The Vatican sponsored archaeological excavations under Saint Peter's in the years 1940–1949 which revealed parts of a necropolis dating to the Roman Empire. The work was undertaken at the request of Pope Pius XI who wished to be buried as close as possible to Peter the Apostle. It is also home to the Tomb of the Julii, which has been dated to the third or fourth century. The necropolis was not originally one of the Catacombs of Rome, but an open-air cemetery with tombs and mausolea.
The conservation and restoration of Pompeian frescoes describes the activities, methods, and techniques that have historically been and are currently being used to care for the preserved remains of the frescoes from the archeological site of Pompeii, Italy. The ancient city of Pompeii is famously known for its demise in A.D. 79 after the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius wiped out the population and buried the city beneath layers of compact lava material. In 1738, King Charles III or Charles of Bourbon, began explorations in Portici, Resina, Castellammare di Stabia, a Civita, where it was believed that the ancient cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum were buried beneath. The first phase of the excavations at Pompeii started in 1748, which led to the first conservation and restoration efforts of the frescoes since their burial, and in 1764, open-air excavations began at Pompeii. Pompeii has a long history of excavation and restoration that began without a strong foundation or strategy. After centuries of cronyism, recurring financial shortages, and on-again-off-again restoration, the city's frescoes and structures were left in poor condition. In 1997, Pompeii was added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites.
Jennifer Baird, is a British archaeologist and academic. She is Professor in Archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London. Her research focuses on the archaeology of Rome's eastern provinces, particularly the site of Dura-Europos.
CIL 4.5296 is a poem found graffitied on the wall of a hallway in Pompeii. Discovered in 1888, it is one of the longest and most elaborate surviving graffiti texts from the town, and may be the only known love poem from one woman to another from the Latin world. The poem is nine verses long, breaking off in the middle of the ninth verse; a single line in a different hand is written underneath. It is in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.