Graffiti in modern life is seen by many as an unsightly nuisance. In Pompeii, it is one of the richest sources of archaeological evidence for everyday life in the town.
This graffiti, which includes public notices or casual scribbles on walls, tells us about local Pompeiian politics and politicians, favourite pastimes, the effect of war and unrest-even the cost of food and drink. Graffiti also preserves the names of the ordinary people of Pompeii. It provides a link between past and present, showing us that — despite the time gap — people aren’t so different today.
Graffiti in Pompeii and Everyday Life
“I admire you wall, for not having collapsed at having carry the tedious scribblings of so many writers.”
As the quote suggests, graffiti was prolific in Pompeii and in many ways had much in common with modern graffiti. Pompeian’s also liked to make their mark on the urban landscape, daubing “I was here” on buildings lining the town’s streets — but in charcoal rather than spray paint. They drew amusing cartoon-like pictures, wrote rhymes and poetry and messages to lovers and friends.
Some of those messages were less than friendly. An ill-wisher of a certain Chois, scrawled on the town basilica “I hope your piles again become sore”. Similarly, one piece of graffiti from an inn consists of an argument between Severus and Successus, two rivals in love for a barmaid, Iris.
“Successus the weaver loves the barmaid of the inn, called Iris, who doesn’t care for him, but he asks and she feels sorry for him. A rival wrote this. Farewell” begins the first piece of graffiti in the series.
Successus couldn’t let this insult lie. “You’re jealous,” he wrote on the same wall, ”Don’t try to muscle in on someone who’s better-looking and is a wicked and charming man.”
However, his rival decided to have the last word.”I have written and spoken. You love Iris, who doesn’t care for you. Severus to Successus.” (CIL IV, 8259, 8258.)
Graffiti also gave people information. As a result, it enables archaeologists and historians to learn obscure everyday details not available elsewhere. This casual notice for market dates found on the wall of a shop in Region III is one of the few pieces of evidence that tells us Pompeii hosted a regional market on a Saturday. It also gives us the Roman names for the days of the week:
Day. Markets
Saturn. Pompeii
Nuceria
Sun. Atella Cumae
Nola
Moon Cumae
Mars. Puteoli
Mercury Rome
Jove Capua
Venus
Even the cost of food and drink survive because menus and messages were written on tavern walls or the internal walls of houses. The example below was found around the amphitheatre:
Pompe ++ III S(emis)
P(ondo?) lard(i) a(ssibus) III
Vinum a(sse) S(emis)
Casium a(sse) S(emis)
Oleum a(sse) I
Panem a(ssibus) II S(emis)
Suar(ium?) a(ssibus) IIII
At Pompeii(?) 3 1/2 (coins)
1 pound of lard – 3 coins
Wine – 1 1/2 coins
Cheese – 1 1/2 coins
Olive oil – 1 coin
Bread – 2 1/2 coins
Pork – 4 coins
Grafitti was also used to recommend prostitutes, telling interested parties how much they cost and what they offered. The piece below was inscribed above a seat outside the Marine Gate:
“If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone wants a fuck, he should look for Attice — costs four sesterces.”
Graffiti even dealt with the subject of the irritation of graffiti itself. One disgruntled householder wrote a warning on his wall to any would-be scribblers warning “whoever writes anything here let him rot and be nameless.”
War and Conflict
“Go by this route between the twelfth tower and the salt gate, where Marcus Atrius, son of Vibius, gives instructions.”
Other graffiti had a more serious purpose. The graffiti quoted above is part of a series of messages written at strategic points around the town at the time of the Social War during the first century BC when Pompeii was at war with Rome. The graffiti details mustering points for citizens in times of attack. We also indirectly learn about the original names for parts of the city. The Salt Gate, for instance, is the original name for the Herculaneum Gate.
Casual scribblers also recorded historical events on Pompeii’s walls. Within the entrance of one house is a picture of two mounted men fighting two others on foot. One of the men is named “Spartacus” in Oscan. Spartacus and his rebels were at one time encamped nearby on the slopes of Vesuvius. One householder at least wanted to commemorate the event.
Gladiators and Actors
“The gladiatorial troop of Aulus Suettius Certus, aedile, will fight at Pompeii on the 31 May. There will be a hunt and awnings” ( From a wall of the Eumachia Building, Via dell Abbondanza, Pompeii)
Graffiti about gladiators and gladiator fights were found all over the city of Pompeii. They mention the successes and failures of the fighters, as well as their popularity. They also provide us with evidence about the losers of the games. Graffiti tells us that not every loser was killed and many lived to fight another day.
The example quoted is a typical example of graffiti advertising a fight. Written by specialised signwriters, these notices tell who owned or was paying for the gladiators, what the programme would involve, when they would take place (and where) and any additional attractions for the spectator’s comfort.
The games were perhaps the most popular form of popular entertainment. But the theatre was a close second. Many touring troops of actors played in Pompeii’s theatre. One belonged to Actius Anicetus, whose name is found in graffiti in various places around Pompeii. So too were popular actors such as “Paris, pearl of the stage” who was celebrated on street walls and tombs across the town.
Politics Pompeii Style
“I ask you to elect Claudius Versus duumvir with judicial power, an honest young man.”
Some of the public games and plays staged in Pompeii were paid for by prospective local politicians as part of their election campaigns. These same politicians would commission election notices like the one quoted above.
There were over 2,800 examples of “election graffiti” painted on the walls of buildings around Pompeii. Often, they named the politician’s supporter. Crucially they always included the candidate and the office. As above, these notices often named the qualities that they believed qualified the candidate for office. A famous example of such election graffiti can be found on the wall of Asellina’s Tavern.
Election graffiti also worked against candidates. Notices could make ironic recommendations designed to put people off, as in the case of a candidate called Vatia whose election campaign was probably well and truly scuppered by signs saying “The little thieves ask for Vatia as aedile.”
Election notices also give us information about how often elections took place in Pompeii. Archaeologists have discovered that election notices were whitewashed over once the campaign was over, creating layers. However, we know from these notices that elections for magistrates took place in Pompeii every year in March. These notices also give us the names of the candidates for office over the last ten years of Pompeii’s life.
Graffiti and the People of Pompeii
Besides politicians, graffiti gives us the names of the town’s ordinary citizens, who would otherwise be lost to us. We know the names of some of the very lowest members of Pompeii’s society, such as gladiators and slaves. Tombs outside the city walls near the Nucerian gate record gladiators called “princeps” or “the chief”and “Hilarus” ( from the Latin for merry).
These nicknames indicate the individuals were slaves. But not every gladiator in Pompeii was servile. Marcus Attilius’s name indicates he was freeborn and therefore probably a volunteer. This popular gladiator appears in graffiti about the city which details his career from his first fights to his victories.
Graffiti also informs us about the names and occupations of more ordinary people. Signwriters such as Aemilius Celer are preserved for posterity by their signatures against the notices they painted. Local traders are also known through graffiti. Stephanus’s fullery is so-called because the owner’s name is mentioned in election graffiti outside his fullery. Likewise, a tannery near a shop at I V 2 is identifiable as belonging to Xulmus because a sign directing people to his workshop was written on a nearby wall. Pompeiian tradespeople would even use graffiti to communicate with people in the same trade:
Priscus, the engraver, to Campanus, the gem-maker: wishing you well! (May things go happily for you!)
Sources
Cooley, A. E and Cooley M. G . L (2005) Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge.
Sheldon, Natasha, (2018) Discovering Pompeii. Strigidae Press
