# Imperial Roman Wall Decorations **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509 "2012-09-03T02:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/1 "2012-09-03T02:33:41Z")
I was just browsing some photo collections on Pompeii and Herculaneum, and it just struck me. [For the buildings we have excavated] No matter how rich someone was, the walls were _painted_ plaster, with a very rare tile mosaic. How funky is that?! The movers and shakers of the Empire didn’t make marble palaces, with tons of gilding, they lived in palaces with painted stucco walls. [Seriously ornate in many cases, but still just painted plaster.] And it is sort of homey to notice they had problems with people tagging their walls as well. There is actually a page online I ran across a few weeks ago that posted translations of graffiti found there. Same shit, different eon! ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/2 "2012-09-03T03:46:32Z")
[Graffiti from Pompeii](http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm) if anyone’s interested. It’s wonderful how things don’t change over the millennia: > [@](#): > > At Nuceria, look for Novellia Primigenia near the Roman gate in the prostitute’s district. Precursor to “For a good time call…”? > [@](#): > > Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know, too few for such a stallion. 'nuff said, really. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/3 "2012-09-03T08:19:04Z")
[Obligatory Monty Python link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8). ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/4 "2012-09-03T08:30:14Z")
Hinc inuolutus coccina gausapa lecitae impositus est praecedentibus PHALERATIS cursoribus quattor et chiramaxio in quo deliciae eius vehebantur. That’s the Pteonrius I was o just now – gold medallions or something from that guarding stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/5 "2012-09-03T09:31:59Z")
Has anyone ever used marble for internal walls in a residential building? It doesn’t seem very practical. It seems to me that the way they saw it, peasant homes had walls of exposed stone. Plaster means luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/6 "2012-09-03T11:20:31Z")
It’s a complete bitch to do - I don’t even want to think about the amounts of work and waste that doing so without modern tools would involve. In Spain it is done in luxury flats. Nowadays, marble and other stones are cut out of the mountain in big sort-of-cubic chunks, which then get transported to the stonecutter; the stonecutters use computer-controlled gigantic saws (the part which does the cutting can be metal, a laser or a waterjet) to cut the big stone into adequate slabs following a draftsman’s design; the parts that will be on display are polished. Effects such as “continuous” (the slabs on a area have been cut from beside each other in the same position in which they’ll be set, so the lines and accidents continue from one to the next) are possible but there’s a reason they charge an arm and a leg for them; not only is it more complex to set up, losing a single piece means losing all that area (relatively easy, specially with some types of marble which break if you look at them hard). **Nava** , sister to a former marble-and-stone draftsman-headman and a former marble-and-stone finance guy. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/7 "2012-09-03T17:04:36Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > [Graffiti from Pompeii](http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm) if anyone’s interested. It’s wonderful how things don’t change over the millennia: > > > [@](#): > > > > At Nuceria, look for Novellia Primigenia near the Roman gate in the prostitute’s district. > > . I’m a bit baffled by the “near the **Roman** gate” part. -“I’m searching for a gate” -Which one? -“The Roman one” -“You’re in Pompei, fucktard. They’re all Roman” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/8 "2012-09-03T17:09:56Z")
Probably the gate to the road to Rome. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/9 "2012-09-03T17:10:33Z")
“Gate on the road to Rome?” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/10 "2012-09-03T18:24:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Probably the gate to the road to Rome. But \*all \*roads lead to… oh, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/11 "2012-09-03T18:32:07Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > But \*all \*roads lead to… oh, never mind. Maybe so, but only one actually came FROM Rome. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/12 "2012-09-03T19:18:12Z")
> [@](#): > > VIII.2 (in the basilica); 1824: Let everyone one in love come and see. I want to break Venus’ ribs with clubs and cripple the goddess’ loins. If she can strike through my soft chest, then why can’t I smash her head with a club? Somebody got dumped. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/13 "2012-09-03T19:54:27Z")
First laugh of the day. Good one, wolfman. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/14 "2012-09-03T20:15:10Z")
[Here’s a picture of the Novellia Primigenia graffito with a transcription underneath it.](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:8356(Novellia_Primigenia).jpg) Interesting example of what hastily-written (or, carved, in this case) Latin looked like. [And here we see that Mr. Magoo was a politician in Pompeii.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Graffiti_politique_de_Pompei.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/15 "2012-09-03T21:48:19Z")
Same shit, different era, comforting isn’t it:p ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/16 "2012-09-03T22:26:21Z")
People are people, no matter where (or when) you go! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/17 "2012-09-04T07:55:59Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Has anyone ever used marble for internal walls in a residential building? It doesn’t seem very practical. > > It seems to me that the way they saw it, peasant homes had walls of exposed stone. Plaster means luxury. Not your average residential building, but [Mount Stuart](http://www.mountstuart.com/house/marble-staircase/) house in Scotland has tonnes of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/18 "2012-09-04T08:32:47Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Not your average residential building, but [Mount Stuart](http://www.mountstuart.com/house/marble-staircase/) house in Scotland has tonnes of the stuff. You know what, Stuart? I like you. You’re not like all the other buildings here, in the trailer park. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/19 "2012-09-04T09:17:47Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Not your average residential building, but [Mount Stuart](http://www.mountstuart.com/house/marble-staircase/) house in Scotland has tonnes of the stuff. Look carefully. While there are plenty of marble columns and other details, most of the walls are covered with either wallpaper or plaster. You can’t hang a portrait on marble. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/20 "2012-09-04T09:21:43Z")
Yes you can, same as you can hang it on tile; the loutish way involves drilling and the non-loutish involves thin ropes hanging from the ceiling. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509.md?page=2)