# Graffiti from Pompeii **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167 "2011-11-16T20:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/1 "2011-11-16T20:24:54Z")
[Various bits of graffiti found on walls in Pompeii, translated](http://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/the-writing-on-the-wall). I think my favorite is > [@](#): > > To the one defecating here. Beware of the curse. If you look down on this curse, may you have an angry Jupiter for an enemy. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/2 "2011-11-16T20:51:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Defecator, may everything turn out okay so that you can leave this place. I think this might be a (slight) mistranslation, and may be the earliest instance of the tiresome old “hope everything works out in the end/hope everything comes out alright” scatological pun. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/3 "2011-11-16T21:01:43Z")
It’s oddly reassuring that so many of them sound like they could have been written yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/4 "2011-11-16T21:33:12Z")
“I screwed the barmaid.” Some things never change. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/5 "2011-11-16T22:06:40Z")
“Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men’s behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!” “Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than when they ever have before!” “Take hold of your servant girl whenever you want to; it’s your right.” And my favorite, which I actually think is a pretty cool little saying: “The one who buggers a fire burns his penis.” ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/6 "2011-11-17T01:13:43Z")
“If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girl friend.” Awww. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/7 "2011-11-17T02:02:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “I screwed the barmaid.” > > Some things never change. I will bet dollars to donuts that originally, just underneath, was scrawled “who hasn’t?” ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/8 "2011-11-17T02:03:18Z")
They sure had a public pooping problem, didn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/9 "2011-11-17T03:54:34Z")
My favorite- “Theophilus, don’t perform oral sex on girls against the city wall like a dog.” Oh, that wacky Theophilus! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/10 "2011-11-17T11:48:50Z")
_Gaius Pumidius Dipilus was here on October 3rd 78 BC._ Reminds me of the old riddle about the shyster trying to sell a coin that was stamped “54 BC” or something similar… I have to wonder if they converted the actual date when they translated it. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/11 "2011-11-17T12:08:23Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I think this might be a (slight) mistranslation, and may be the earliest instance of the tiresome old “hope everything works out in the end/hope everything comes out alright” scatological pun. The translation is fine and idiomatic. The text from graffito 6641 is: > [@](#): > > CACATOR SIG VALEAS > VT TV HOC LOCVM TRASEA Literally, it says “may you flourish so that you may leave this place,” but the translator understandably turned it around and put it on English idiom. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/12 "2011-11-17T12:16:35Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > My favorite- “Theophilus, don’t perform oral sex on girls against the city wall like a dog.” > > Oh, that wacky Theophilus! Does the writer object to the canine technique, or the choice of wall, or the gender of the lucky recipient? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/13 "2011-11-17T12:34:34Z")
**Maeglin** , do you have a URL for the original Latin? Particularly ref. 6842 (the Venus one). N/M - found it at [http://www.usask.ca/antiquities/sexcity/graffiti.html](http://www.usask.ca/antiquities/sexcity/graffiti.html) ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/14 "2011-11-17T13:03:59Z")
_Palmyra, the thirst-quencher._ It’s what plants crave! ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/15 "2011-11-17T14:32:05Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > … > > And my favorite, which I actually think is a pretty cool little saying: > > “The one who buggers a fire burns his penis.” Does that pretty much mean “Don’t stick it in the crazy”? I was looking for “Romani ite domum”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/16 "2011-11-17T15:07:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “I screwed the barmaid.” > > Some things never change. Just think, 2000 years later, we could be their descendents. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/17 "2011-11-17T15:14:45Z")
“On April 19th, I made bread” was written in the Gladiator Barracks? Well, la dee da! ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/18 "2011-11-17T16:15:44Z")
I guess those were an ancient form of message board… ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/19 "2011-11-17T16:34:43Z")
The “I made bread” sounds like half the posts people make on Facebook. People never really do change. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167/20 "2011-11-17T18:13:15Z")
I love these (especially the Venus/girlfriend one). One of the things I loved the most about HBO’s _Rome_ was the way it portrayed the seamy, gritty, everyday aspects of the city-- including, in a large part, the graffiti (which play a large role in the credits). During the Pompey-Caesar conflict when Caesar’s family in Rome, including his niece Atia, are worried about their safety with angry mobs rampaging about, there’s a great scene where they go outside and find that a mess has been made of their gate. No one actually comments on it, but scrawled across the door is: ATIA FELLAT OMNES [spoiler]“Atia blows everybody.” Admittedly, the way she’s portrayed in the show, that’s not really _inaccurate_… [/spoiler] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graffiti-from-pompeii/603167.md?page=2)