# How far back does writing on the bathroom wall go?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall-go/78108>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 25, 2001, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall-go/78108 "2001-08-25T19:36:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2001, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall-go/78108/1 "2001-08-25T19:36:20Z")

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Is there evidence of it in old outhouses in America or Europe? What about even farther back, to ancient times?

Does this occur in all cultures where people go to a common place to “do their business?”

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall-go/78108/2 "2001-08-25T19:57:22Z")

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Graffiti has been found on the walls of the public baths in Pompeii, but I don’t know exaclty what the writers were doing at the time. Most of the Roman public baths had places where one might relieve oneself, long benches with holes every few feet. There were no stall separaters to scribble on, though.

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**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2001, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall-go/78108/3 "2001-08-25T21:18:39Z")

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This stuff was fairly common in Pompeii. While the bathrooms may have been too open for graffiti (although never underestimate the ingenuity of the human animal), they found plenty elsewhere.

Here’s some samples:

Lucius pinxit.  
Lucius painted this.

Suspirium puellarum Celadus thraex.  
Celadus the Thracier makes the girls moan! (On the walls of the gladiator’s barracks)

Myrtis bene felas  
Myrtis, you do great blow jobs

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall-go/78108/4 "2001-08-25T21:44:31Z")

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In an ancient Egyptian bathroom, they found “Cleopatra has a nice asp, but you should see Nefer’s titis!”