Ancient Graffiti.pdf - Malfalfa.com

Gladiatorial Graffiti in Pompeii

Pompeii was
completely covered
by volcanic ash when
Vesuvius belched
volcanic ash and hot
mud on Aug. 24 th in
the year 79 AD.
It was forgotten until
they were found
again in the 1700s.
Over time the cities
became completely
buried. Excavation –
which is the process
archaeologists use to
dig up buried
artifacts is still
ongoing today.

Volcanic Eruption Of Pompeii
(simulated)

The graffiti are the
messages which were made
by scratching on the walls of
the houses: these relate to
the most disparate subjects
and paint an extremely vivid
and frank picture of
contemporary social life: they
include risque jokes,
comments on a particular
person or event, caricatures
of famous people, reflections
on love, as well as
appreciative remarks about a
beautiful woman
http://www.pomeiisites.org/index.jsp?idProgetto=5&idLinguaSito=2#

Pompeii
Vesuvius erupts on
August 24, 79 AD
Pliny the Younger's
letter to Tacitus
One day frozen in time
Valuable resource for
classicists

Sometimes painted,
sometimes etched into
plaster walls
This one to the right is
a caricature of the
house dominus
Latin Graffiti

Latin Graffiti
Tombs on either side of road as you approach city
Prime place for graffiti
>>>>>heavy traffic
All letters written in capitals
“u” and “v” are both denoted by capital “V”
e.g. NVCERIA for Nuceria
“A” most often written as “Λ”
Principle of Economy:
abbreviations preferred; least amount of space for
maximum amount of information
“Interpuncts” for word separation
Mutual dependence of text and image

The Nuceria Gate Graffiti
Gate to Nuceria
− Walls of tombs
contain graffiti
House of Ceii

The Nuceria Gate Graffiti
Basic Rubric:
Gladiator Name
Roman Numeral
Backward “C”
Second Numeral
Final Letter
M. ΛTTILIVS
XII
כ
X
Either “V” or “M”

The Nuceria Gate Graffiti
Gladiator Name: Attilius, Hilarus, Raecius, etc.
First Roman Numeral: Probably denotes the number
of victories this gladiator has won.
“victoriae/victoriarum”
The Reversed “C”: symbol for “coronae”
Second Roman Numeral: Number of coronae won
This numeral never greater than first
Final Letter M or V:
“M” stands for missus est: reprieved (lost, but
lived)‏
“V” stands for vicit: he won
Celadus at Pompeii as suspirium puellarum

CIL iv 10236
M ΛTT / M ΛTTILIVS I כ I V. / L RΛECIVS
FELIX XII כ XII M
M(arcus) Att(ilius) / M(arcus) Attilius (victoriae) I
(coronae) I V(icit). / L(ucius) Raecius Felix /
(victoriarum) XII (coronarum) XII M(issus est).
Marcus Attilius. Marcus Attilius, victorious once,
awarded a wreath once, won. Lucius Raecius
Felix, victorious 12 times, awarded a wreath 12
times, earned a reprieve.

The House of the Ceii
Written into plaster walls
Far more abbreviated
Slightly different rubric:
Name
Letter “L”: lib, libr, libe
Numeral
“V” if winner
opponent's (loser's) fate?

Bathroom Graffiti From Pompeii