2 Comments Written by Robert Hecimovic on March 23, 2009 – 8:00 am

‘Lucius painted this’

That sounds like something you might find written on a desk at your local high school but in fact, it’s a piece of graffiti found on the walls of ancient Pompeii in Rome. It’s the olden day equivalent of ‘Rob wuz ere.’

It may come as a surprise that the art of graffiti dates back further than it’s use as a political tool in the 60’s and its popularisation as an element of hip-hop culture in the 70’s. Evidence of graffiti comes from all around the ancient world and includes pieces from the Vikings, Mayans, Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. While ancient graffiti differs somewhat to its modern day equivalent it’s still strikingly similar not in style, but in motivation; people want their voices heard.

In ancient Greece and Rome graffiti was often carved into the walls of public buildings using sharp instruments, the word graffiti itself comes from the Italian word graffiato meaning scratched. Many examples of ancient graffiti from this period still exist and are often political, satirical, philosophical or sexual in nature. People would carve their messages into city walls voicing ideas ranging from the quality of wine in a particular tavern to an advertisement for the best prostitute in town.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 it preserved much of the graffiti in the city and included things like magic spells, curses, political slogans, literary quotes and love poems. All went went a long way in revealing details about ordinary life in ancient Rome. One such inscription reveals that ‘Celadus the Thracier makes the girls moan’, another advertises that Myrtis does great blow jobs. Other examples in history include the names of French soldiers carved into Egyptian monuments during the French occupation of Egypt in the 1790’s, Mayan messages and imagery at Tikal in modern day Guatemala and Viking text found in Rome and at Newrange Mound in Ireland.

Graffiti history is a mostly disregarded point in discussions about graffiti and its impact on modern culture. I think it’s important to recognise that communication through the use of messages on public walls has been part of our culture for a very long time. It’s an intrinsic part of our nature, we want our voices heard and we want them heard by as many people as possible. Let’s hope that we can keep that tradition alive.

I’ll leave you with this one inscription found on the walls of Ancient Rome, a telling love poem left by one romantic to his sweetheart, Venus.

‘Whoever loves, go to hell. I want to break Venus’s ribs
with a club and deform her hips.
She can break my tender heart
why can’t I hit her over the head?’