Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes
Introduction
Graffito,plural graffiti: from the Greek
grapho, to etch, incise, draw. Letters
and pictures scratched into walls,
doors, storefronts, et alia.
Dipinto, plural dipinti: from the Latin
pinto, pintere, pinxi, pictum, to paint.
These letters and pictures are painted,
usually with brightly colored paint.
Inscriptions: letters carved or
engraved onto stone, metal,
ceramicware and the like. These are
found on monuments, pottery,
tableware, jewelry, and coins.
Mosaics: small pieces of stone, shell,
glass, or tile embedded in plaster to
form geometric patterns and pictures,
often with words and names.
Caput I: The ABC’s of
Latin, Love, and Living
Well
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, CIL, is
a collection of all known inscriptions in
Latin from all over the ancient world.
The ABCs here are CIL 4.5487 and
5474. These were scratched into the
walls at Pompeii.
HIC HABITAT FELICITAS
CIL 4.1454 Inscribed in stone niche
over the oven in a Pompeian bakery.
SALVE LUCRV
CIL 10.874 Vestibulum mosaic in
Pompeii; house of Vedius Siricus
BENE LAVA
(L’annee epigraphique) Floor mosaic at
Pompeii, popula rfor the entrances to
Roman baths
Caput II: Grave Goods,
Gomora, and Sage Moral
Guidance
SODOM[…
GOMORA
CIL 4.4976: scrawled with charcoal in
large letters on triclinium wall.
..]EGROTA
…]EGROTA
AEGROTA
CIL 4.4507 graffito from the house of
Marcus Vesonius Primus, Pompeii
SALVETOD TITA
Inscribed on a wine jug found in
ancient Gabii in Latium, east of Rome ,
found among funeral offerings.
Caput III: Lovers, a
Laureate, and the
Labyrinth
RUFUS EST
CIL.4.9226 graffito on atrium in Villa of
the Mysteries
Ceio et multis pupa Venusta
CIL 4.8807
Staphilus hic cum Qui[eta]
CIL 4.4087 etched on column from
house of L Caecilius Iucundus
Rigulus amat Idaia<m>
CIL 4.3131 on column of house on
Pompeii’s Vicolo del Panattiere
Labyrinthus: hic habitat Minotaurus
CIL 4.2331 on post in the house of
Lucretius