DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0564
CHAPTER LVI
THE GRAFFITI
The graffiti form the largest division of the Pompeian inscrip-
tions, comprising about three thousand examples, or one half of
the entire number; the name is Italian, being derived from a
verb meaning ‘to scratch.’ Writing upon walls was a prevalent
habit in antiquity, as shown by the remains of graffiti at Rome
and other places besides Pompeii, a habit which may be ac-
counted for in part by the use of the sharp-pointed stylus with
wax tablets; the temptation to use such an instrument upon the
polished stucco was much greater than in the case of pens and
lead pencils upon the less carefully finished wall surfaces of our
time. Pillars or sections of wall are covered with scratches of
all kinds, — names, catchwords of favorite lines from the poets,
amatory couplets, and rough sketches, such as a ship, or the
profile of a face. The skit, occasionally found on walls to-day,
‘ Fools’ names, like their faces,
Are always seen in public places,’
has its counterpart in the couplet preserved as a graffito both
at Pompeii and at Rome : Admiror,paries, te non cecidisse ruinis,
Qui tot scriptorum taedia siistineas, —
i Truly ’tis wonderful, Wall, that you have not fallen in ruins,
Forced without murmur to bear the taint of so many hands.’
Of a similar vein is a Greek line scratched upon a wall on the
Palatine hill in Rome : ‘ Many persons have here written many
things; I alone refrained from writing.’
Taken as a whole, the graffiti are less fertile for our knowledge
of Pompeian life than might have been expected. The people
with whom we should most eagerly desire to come into direct con-
tact, the cultivated men and women of the ancient city, were
21 481
THE GRAFFITI
The graffiti form the largest division of the Pompeian inscrip-
tions, comprising about three thousand examples, or one half of
the entire number; the name is Italian, being derived from a
verb meaning ‘to scratch.’ Writing upon walls was a prevalent
habit in antiquity, as shown by the remains of graffiti at Rome
and other places besides Pompeii, a habit which may be ac-
counted for in part by the use of the sharp-pointed stylus with
wax tablets; the temptation to use such an instrument upon the
polished stucco was much greater than in the case of pens and
lead pencils upon the less carefully finished wall surfaces of our
time. Pillars or sections of wall are covered with scratches of
all kinds, — names, catchwords of favorite lines from the poets,
amatory couplets, and rough sketches, such as a ship, or the
profile of a face. The skit, occasionally found on walls to-day,
‘ Fools’ names, like their faces,
Are always seen in public places,’
has its counterpart in the couplet preserved as a graffito both
at Pompeii and at Rome : Admiror,paries, te non cecidisse ruinis,
Qui tot scriptorum taedia siistineas, —
i Truly ’tis wonderful, Wall, that you have not fallen in ruins,
Forced without murmur to bear the taint of so many hands.’
Of a similar vein is a Greek line scratched upon a wall on the
Palatine hill in Rome : ‘ Many persons have here written many
things; I alone refrained from writing.’
Taken as a whole, the graffiti are less fertile for our knowledge
of Pompeian life than might have been expected. The people
with whom we should most eagerly desire to come into direct con-
tact, the cultivated men and women of the ancient city, were
21 481