Romans were literate—prostitutes read and wrote. Soldiers did. Slaves did. Roman mothers were the elementary teachers in their own houses, for reading and math. Roman fathers took over the boys as kids grew older, taking them to work every day. Roman children played AFTER work hours, thank you. Otherwise they assisted their fathers or mothers all day long, then got their time to play, as the day wound down, or somewhat during siesta. The boys made friends of other boys in the care of fathers who came and went to THEIR father’s business. Even senatorial kids were to sit outside the senate and listen to the debates. Occasionally the marshal had to go out and tell them to pipe down out there.
And because they wrote—there is a WEALTH of graffiti—poignant stuff, some of it. When you read the one about the bread, recall that one of the things they found in Pompeii was the ovens, with the day’s baking in progress, before Vesuvius blew. There are things from bars, from public latrines, from alleys and thoroughfares. It’s a window on the common folk. Mind, it is pretty racy. Roman Graffiti from Pompeii
Those are excellent, thanks. Goes to show, people are people. I’d like to see pictures of the originals, did they have pictures too ?
This was featured on today’s BoingBoing, a far cry from ‘Cave Canem’:
http://boingboing.net/2012/07/27/the-graffiti-of-pompeii.html
*blinks* I knew Greeks were hired (or bought) as tutors, and some slaves were scribes. But it somehow didn’t occur to me that any sizeable portion of the ordinary populace, such as common soldiers…or prostitutes…could read and write.
Is there any estimate how hight the literacy rate was? That *is* amazing.
And…I wish our education system would teach more of the nitty-gritty, the realities of history and language and literature, whether it’s 19th century, 18th, or ancient cultures. Americans in general miss out on so much of what the rest of the world has to offer, because of American cultural pride and centrism. In school, before college, I got very little about other cultures besides American and some British and European history and a tiny bit on early Mesopotamian civilizations. But more about the Middle East? Asia? Africa? The Americas? Australia? Very little. Not enough about ancient/classical history or medieval history. I’m lucky I had a foreign language class early on, to discover language talent. That led to knowing a little more than the average American. College and later adult life led to more interests there.
In some ways, the Romans and Greeks were just as “modern” as us, and yet in others, they strike me as about as barbaric as the so-called barbarians around them. Yet they had that modern, rational, rule-of-law, civilized streak to them that was a marked difference. (Not that others didn’t have it too, but the Romans and Greeks seemed to make better use of it in their time.) And then there are the ways that the Romans and Greeks were simply very different in culture than we are. (Or maybe, than we would like to think we are.)
Huh, but I wonder what I’d make of Roman and Greek life, if I were somehow transported back in time. LOL, I’d have to learn both classical languages, not to mention, how the heck you wear ancient clothing styles. Pronunciation, and learning my way around the Greco-Roman versions of a calligraphy pen, ink, and papyrus or vellum, though, probably wouldn’t give me trouble. Hmm… Roman ideas of food might give me pause. Also socializing and drinking.
Hmm, but it’s summer right now. I could get used to certain things about Roman life pretty easily, I’d think. Just no handy time machine to send me back there.
So, apparently the drinking and the ladies are quite entertaining at Nuceria, but Pompeii’s bread is better. Some of the young men are also quite entertaining, it seems. Either way, could be reassuring, depending on one’s preferences.
Racy humor and travel tips aside, a few of those graffiti were really sweet.
Advertisements for renting property. Advertisements for goods for sale. Or, ah, those entertainingly enterprising young lasses and lads. A price list for the (grocery) market or local place to eat. … Daily living.
Blessings, curses, memorials, friendships affirmed … a few more, ah, earthy sentiments.
All sorts of things. Very interesting stuff.
Oh, and, “Roma Olim Milo Amor” ? What are “Olim” and “Milo” ? I’m interpreting Milo as if it’s a name, but that’s likely a false cognate. Que veut dire ça, s’il vous plaît?
This sort of palindrome has a history, and as in crossword puzzles, may involve really weird words. i have a large vocabulary, and I know Milo as a Greek personal name, but meanings like ‘thousand’ and ‘soldier’ in Latin have longer endings on the root mil-. Roma and Amor are a favorite palindromic set in Latin: Rome and Love had a temple, one side of black marble, one side of red porphyry, right near the Colosseum, but it is in ruins now. The Colosseum sits atop the same earthquake fault that divides the Jupiter and Juno hills at the other end of the Forum Romanum, and is WHY the Colosseum is ‘split’ on its upper tiers. There were several earthquakes involved, but by the Renaissance, people were plundering the ruins for pre-shaped blocks…or as the Italians say, “The barbarians may have destroyed Rome, but it was the Barbarini (a noble family notorious for taking stone) who plundered it.” Now to the palindrome itself: It may be read “Milo, once (olim) my love in Rome.” Another famous palindrome was associated with Christians: Sator arepo opera tenet rotas, often translated as The sower of the harvest has the working wheels…and this ‘magic square’ figures as an amulet, or (my sense of humor) a focus for certain people whose obsessive-compulsive disorder has worked its way into their religion. More effort and fuss has been made over this supposed magical formula than can otherwise be understood from its content. Here’s a link to the topic of the Sator Square: http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA1959/Fishwick.htm
Thank you!
Literacy was pretty pervasive…what good is graffiti if no one can read it? It was assumed the casual passer-by could read. And remember that Rome had a newspaper—the Acta Diurna, the Daily Doings. There was only one copy, since printing had not been invented yet—but a few copies put on boards in the forum, near the Senate and the Rostrum, daily, and updated—and very likely the great houses had a slave run downtown, read it, and report back if there was anything the paterfamilias needed to know. It was the precursor of newspapers and the internet. They had a fire department, privately owned, from around 30 BC. They had hot and cold running water. They had ice (imported seasonally, by cart or donkeyback, in straw-padded carriers from the mountains.) They had continually flushing public toilets and sewers (one of which is still in use), and clean public water fountains. They had a hospital. They bathed daily. They had pharmacies..completely unregulated ones: certain pharmacists were notorious for lethal concoctions that were not for rats. For all the pre-Empire period they had no prison except the Tullianum, which could hold about 10 people at once: the rest were released to clan custody. Once they had too many foreigners in the city, they had to do differently. But if you were a foreigner charged with a crime in Rome, your case went not to the Roman praetor (judge) but to the Peregrine (foreign) praetor, who would research your law, and Roman law, and apply the lesser of the two penalties to what you had done.
They could get a letter (extreme emergency) between Judea and Rome in 3 days. The modern post has to use planes to do it better. For that matter, the Gallic telegraph could get a signal or yes/no message from the top to the bottom of France in 3 hours.
Mary Beard’s latest BBC documentary series “Meet the Romans” is really worth watching. I don’t know if it’s available in the US yet. It’s three one hour programs about ordinary people in ancient Rome.
Mary Beard is the very down-to-earth professor of classics at Cambridge. Her program on Pompeii is also exceptionally good. I watched a re-run of it the other night.
Here are some clips of “Meet the Romans”:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE050E2ED59F0685B