# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**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, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/21 "2012-09-04T09:24:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > 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. I was perhaps hasty with my choice of links. If you look at the chapel walls behind the sculpture in this [photo](http://www.sarahstaton.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MS_SS_chapel2-692x1024.jpg), you’ll see it’s definitely lined with marble bricks (yes, lined, the outer wall of the building is red sandstone). Not every room is marble lined, but some certainly are, as well as the marble pillars, columns, stairs, cornices, etc. I’d recommend a visit if you’re ever over this way 🙂 ---
**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, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/22 "2012-09-04T10:04:22Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > I was perhaps hasty with my choice of links. If you look at the chapel walls behind the sculpture in this [photo](http://www.sarahstaton.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MS_SS_chapel2-692x1024.jpg), you’ll see it’s definitely lined with marble bricks (yes, lined, the outer wall of the building is red sandstone). > > Not every room is marble lined, but some certainly are, as well as the marble pillars, columns, stairs, cornices, etc. I’d recommend a visit if you’re ever over this way 🙂 Interesting. Still, I think marble walls are more traditional in chapels and churches than in living quarters. I’ve been to Buckingham Palace and Versailles, and as far as I remember, the internal walls weren’t stone-clad. Oh, and I’d love to get to Scotland some day - it’s in my top five places to visit. The closest I’ve ever been is York, and that hardly counts. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/23 "2012-09-11T13:58:43Z")
If you haven’t been there, Pompeii is well worth the visit, also the bay of Naples is incredibly beautiful. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/24 "2012-09-11T14:20:12Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > 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! My favorite from that site is the one that is written near the front door of a residence and sets a curse of Jupiter on “the one defecating here.” In other words _Whoever you are, stop pooping in my doorway, jerk!_. and also this bit of Roman wisdom: The one who buggers a fire burns his penis ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/25 "2012-09-11T15:44:34Z")
> [@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: . . . No “Hello, Sweetie” ? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/26 "2012-09-11T18:19:13Z")
The worst part about the grafiti at Pompeii is that most of it is modern. Disgusting, really! ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/27 "2012-09-11T19:37:54Z")
> [@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. Some of the palaces on the Palatine Hill had interior walls covered with marble. So it wasn’t a sign of poverty, but as it was also expensive and a pain to put up, probably outside of the interior design budget of anyone that wasn’t an Emperor. It was also associated pretty strongly with public buildings, temples, etc. So a Senator or other private individual building themselves a marble villa might come-off as sacrilegious. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509/28 "2012-09-11T19:54:16Z")
> [@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:. Very interesting, but I’m more than a little dissapointed that there were not photos of the original works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imperial-roman-wall-decorations/633509.md?page=1)