Reading Ancient Rome's Best Graffiti

In this video, we read through many examples of graffiti that the Ancient Romans left in the city of Pompeii and on the Pyramids.
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Heavy Heart
Sources and Further Reading
1] "Latin Inscriptions: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum." Attalus.org, www.attalus.org/docs/cil/
[2] Guest User. "Ancient Antics", Pastebin.com 18 Dec. 2016, pastebin.com/tKLSWjSt
[3] "Category:Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum - volume IV." Wikimedia Commons, commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/...
[4] "Roman Graffiti." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman...
[5] Ohlson, Kristin. "Reading the Writing on Pompeii’s Walls." SmithsonianMag.com, 26 Jul. 2010
www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
[6] Mandenholm, Terry. "Largest Collection of Ancient Graffiti Ever Found in Pompeii. Some Are Hysterically Funny". Hareetz.com, 30 Nov. 2021 www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2...
[7] commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/...
[8] commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/...
[9] commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/...
[10] Collins, Tim. "Trip Advisor For the Ancient World: Archaeologists Studying 2,000-Year-Old Graffiti Discover Reviews From Tourists Carved Into The Stone of The Tomb of King Ramesses VI." Daily Mail, 4 July 2017, www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete....
[11] Zdziebłowski, Szymon. "In a Pharaoh Tomb, Archaeologist Examines the Inscriptions ... of Ancient Tourists." Science in Poland, 11 Nov. 2017, scienceinpoland.pl/en/news/ne....
Picture Attributions
By sébastien amiet;l - Pompei, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By MumblerJamie - www.flickr.com/photos/1843937..., CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By User:Matthias Süßen - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany - Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus opening directly onto the south side of the Via dell'Abbondanza, Pompeii, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Aldo Ardetti at Italian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Norbert Nagel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China - Pompeii Ruins: Brothel, PDM-owner, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Cavaliere Nero - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Benjamín Núñez González - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Abderrahman Ait Ali from Stockholm - IMG_20190316_160912, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Norbert Nagel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Marco Ober - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Wolfgang Sauber - Own work, CC BY 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Miguel Hermoso Cuesta - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Mentnafunangann - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Keith Adler - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Francesca De Maria (Franziska1988); Digitally enhanced by Mary Harrsch - File:La fontana della casa di Octavius Quartione.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By ArchaiOptix - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Mark de Nijs - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@Araneu5]

"We have urinated in our beds... There was no chamber pot." is not only an ancient graffito, it's an ancient Yelp review.

[@lawnmower4884]

😂

[@McNuggins]

Still, though, why would you piss in the bed you're laying in?

[@Skorpychan]

@@McNuggins You piss on the bedding before leaving, to rub it in to the owner that they didn't provide a damn chamber pot. It's like stealing hotel towels out of spite, or clearing out the 'for everyone' fridge of bottled water because you feel you were overcharged or misled.

[@Yuki_Ram]

Piss Fetish. :)​@@McNuggins

[@Painfulldarksoul]

Someone said "The internet is like old Egypt. People write on walls and worship cats.". ... Apparently, they were incredibly right.

[@BuriedFlame]

Depressingly accurate. But funny. Ooh, it's purring now! Aww...

[@TiroDvD]

With emojis hieroglyphics are being reinvented, especially with the "late cryptic style" that is just 🐱 m👖all the way down.

[@AD-kv9kj]

🤣👾🐩🐸🚧@@TiroDvD

[@PRGME7]

@@TiroDvD🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🥸

[@protempora1]

🤣🤣🤣

[@aronjanssonnordberg307]

Ancient Greeks being disappointed when visiting the ruins of Egypt because they couldn't understand the hieroglyphs was pretty funny.

[@Jerekul]

I love that someone responded to it also questioning why that would matter to them.

[@Poseidon4862.]

What’s even funnier is the way the responder asks the question. It’s the same way people get offended online today, only this guy is expecting a next to impossible response!

[@rovhalt6650]

@@Poseidon4862. i'm kinda tempted to go to the pyramids and respond to it with "lol. what a dumbass".

[@welshpete12]

@@rovhalt6650 In ancient hieroglyphics of course !

[@digitalphoenix72]

Actually makes me realize people haven't gotten dumber over the centuries, they've been this dumb the whole time😂

[@MyPhobo]

I like the "I made bread" one. They aren't complaining, or boasting, they're just baking.

[@Chaosproscho]

Its probably euphemism for having sex or haven taken a shit.

[@DD-qo1tw]

Making bread was a roman euphemism for defecating. I was surprised OP didn't know that or chose not to mention it in the video.

[@Gibeah]

💀💀💀💀💀

[@helenamcginty4920]

​@@DD-qo1twI guessed it was a euphamism for something but thought it might be related to "shes got a bun in the oven" for a pregnant woman. 😂

[@AmityvilleFan]

Imagine a gladiator boasting about learning to make bread.

[@TNDTKDTTD]

You will NEVER have millennia long friendship like Gaius and Aulus Why even live

[@joshuabrigden4820]

Proof bromance is as old as time🤣

[@faizanrana2998]

AaaaaaaaaHHHHAAAAHHAAAAAHAAHAAAAA BROWSKI

[@patrickkasprik2444]

Blackest pill.

[@faizanrana2998]

@@patrickkasprik2444 aaahaaahahaaaa

[@Whit-mh9nt]

What if I did but I cant remember it?

[@alyasuramza]

"I made bread" truly the greatest achievement of mankind

[@Helenar.R.Guimaraes]

Remind me of the meme "bread 👍"

[@sandyposs2693]

@@Helenar.R.Guimaraes Ancient Roman shitposting

[@killerdove123]

It was the greatest thing before sliced bread.

[@EloiFL]

The drop in the literacy rate during the Middle Ages was not a tragedy because the loss in historical accounts or scientific knowledge. It was a tragedy because of all the shitposting lost to time.

[@BarafuAlbino]

I am sure they resorted to shitpicturing. Lots of joke pictures of sex-related humour were made in Russia. Unfortunately, the most prominent media was tree bark.

[@ariadneschild8460]

😂

[@archvermin]

amen

[@GooberFace32]

Indeed 😂

[@keaton718]

Should have stuck with the Empire. We'd have left the solar system by now if we did.

[@alfredthegreatkingofwessex6838]

*_“If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should look at my girlfriend”_* Daquantus with the ancient rizz bro

[@SPQRcat]

Rizzatus Maximus as they called them

[@VYBEKAT]

NICE

[@RedEyeGoose]

Must have been from 69 BC

[@infinitee1384]

May he rizz in peace

[@imppro]

Lightskin praenomen 💀

[@ajlucky0076]

Imagine writing your names and declaring your friendship on a stone and it still being read today. Gaius and Aulus, you guys are real ones 👏

[@jool5941]

Gaius murdered Alus shortly after that

[@whatupgangsta]

​@@jool5941🤣😂🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣

[@springdayswithyou]

noooooooo lol its that true??::!@@jool5941

[@AnyoneCanSee]

"friends forever were here...Gaius and Aulus". Little did they know that 2000+ years later their declaration would still be there.

[@uglymolly2138]

They knew.

[@wood7395]

they knew for sure thats why they etched it in rock

[@AnyoneCanSee]

@@wood7395- They carved it into the side of the building. If you carved your name into the side of the local bar would you think it would still be there in 2000 years?

[@jeanettecook1088]

We never know when our writings will be read, or how long they'll last. The other day, I looked thru letters my father sent home when he was a young sailor in WWII. I found one to his mother that had never been opened. It was from August 1940. I opened and read it, 84 years after it was posted. 🎉

[@rovhalt6650]

@@jeanettecook1088 what did it say?

[@hello-rq8kf]

in the spirit of the romans, i will leave my own graffitti in this comment section "on this tuesday, i was hungover"

[@Davinyl]

“i took a crap as i wrote this”

[@FourByteBurger]

*_“I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home with my own hands 15 years ago.”_*

[@averongodoffire8098]

Fuck man😭

[@myrawells5691]

Beautiful

[@DD-qo1tw]

This was about a dog if I remember correctly?

[@FourByteBurger]

@@DD-qo1tw Correct!

[@Geospasmic]

People always loved their doggies.

[@joedellinger9437]

On a bathroom wall at Stanford University in the 1980’s: To flush toilet, push down hard on handel in another hand beneath that: If I do, will it push bach? and in yet another hand: No, it plays water music

[@elenwinl9786]

LOL Handel's water music

[@livethefuture2492]

You can find some truly crazy shit scribbled on the walls of men's rooms....especially in college. Lol. I wonder if the university is particularly old we could find some examples of such graffiti from decades or even centuries ago?

[@EMMmaximino]

@@livethefuture2492 i had a idea of a instagram account of just taking photos of bathroom stall graffiti. never happened but always have a marker in your pocket.

[@Neckromorph]

I absolutely love that the classic "X was here" tag was used even 2,000 years ago

[@flaming_bentley]

I love to say that no matter the time, humans are going to human. Even ancient cave people painted their hand prints on walls. Before written language, they were still saying "I was here"

[@martineldritch]

"And the sign said, "The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sounds of silence" - Paulus Simonicus

[@ge2623]

Like his song "You can call me Alicus"

[@Jerry-vx2kj]

That was ancient paul simon.

[@Ballin4Vengeance]

“Spirit of the auditorium”

[@gleeart]

"You what?!" - Seccundus

[@rubenskiii]

I remember standing in the Hagia Sofia and being completely in awe, litteraly mouth open and impressed to the max. Then i turned around and my eye fell on a peculiar small glass box and a sign. When i realized some guy named Halvdan was exactly where i was about a 1000 years ago and decided to just carve his name in the marble i couldn't help myself. I started laughing out loud. It was then that i realized so strongly that history is nothing more than us, but from long ago. We've always been the same deep down.

[@faizanrana2998]

AAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA BROWSKI, I SAW THE SAME ONE!!!

[@ge2623]

Agreed. People don't change, times do.

[@faizanrana2998]

@@ge2623 agreed

[@EdKolis]

Temba, his arms wide! The people of the future will relate to us the way we can relate to the people of long ago. At least if someone's grandma remembers to keep printing out the memes...

[@faizanrana2998]

@@EdKolis aaaaaahahahahahaaaa browskiii

[@panqueque445]

6:30 Bro went to Egypt and asked "Where are the subtitles?"

[@TheDJGrandPa]

Ancient version of "english pls"

[@AVI-lh6rm]

@@TheDJGrandPaoh my god, it literally WAS the ancient equivalent of someone going into a foreign meeting and butting in with "can you translate to ___ pls" LOL

[@fuckiopussigetti453]

@@AVI-lh6rm reminds me of that tumblr post that asked how the fuck translations exactly began

[@draculastraphouse7863]

🥱

[@AlexandroMechina-yb3tf]

That dude that didnt like anything but the sarcophagus. i traveled with my sister to Brazil and she is just like that guy, when we returned she said "i only liked the pina colada" 🤣

[@iainballas]

As a hotel clerk, the one about the beds and lacking chamber pot is still true. Two years ago I found a note in a room I was helping clean, where the guest explained that their toilet wasn't working, and so they'd used the rug.

[@AVI-lh6rm]

some things about people never change eh?

[@kutter_ttl6786]

Classy. Didn't think about using the bathtub/shower, eh?

[@Pollicina_db]

@@kutter_ttl6786 People act like animals smh

[@bootblacking]

THERE'S A SINK AND A TUB WTF

[@zimriel]

@@bootblacking yeah but it costs more to replace a corroded sink pipe than to scrub the rug. i guess?

[@lordInquisitor]

I always love these kinds of insights into the past. It really humanized history.

[@DrinkYourNailPolish]

Same!

[@RobMacMusic]

There's a pdf online with all of the graffiti. The best stuff was left out of this video because they're too graphic and sexual.

[@Boro87]

And insights into todays world... saying the ancient graffiti is to sexual to talk about... thats just supersad, we are so smallminded about that

[@RobMacMusic]

@@Boro87 Too sexual for a KZbin video that wants to be monetized. Hence why I recommend reading them all. All the best ones were left out of this video. No need to be offended, unless that's your desire.

[@rubenskiii]

@@RobMacMusic he has a point, every time has it's taboes and due to corporate prudency we've become more ...well, prudent. It's not a new trend, i think it started with the reformation and reached its maximum with the Victorians but for example look at how many phallic objects we found in such enormous numbers, and also in very public places. Now go outside and tell me how many phallic symbols you will see on the streets. Basically apart from graffiti none is my guess... Not trying to start a comment flame war or being the "well akshually..." guy but i've seen quite a number of benisses on medieval churches for example. Now immagine the upheavel there will be if a modern architect tried to implement benisses in a modern church building. Another classic example would be all the Classical statues that later on had a leaf put over their private parts.

[@glassworktrophic8465]

This, unironically, makes me feel more connected to the people of the ancient world than any artifact or historical document ever could. It brings a tear to my eye how goofy and relatable so much of it is.

[@Falkriim]

My thoughts exactly

[@csjrogerson2377]

I tried to wrote "Romans go home" Got caught by a Centurion and given a lesson in Latin grammar. Made me paint the entire square by dawn. Ah, the good old days.

[@jt12blk]

Romanes eunt domus? The one called Roman they go to the house?

[@vyvienn]

Were you, by chance, on a case at the time?

[@attilathenun]

Came looking for this comment.

[@Fatabuna]

"I tried to wrote"... Not been caught by a bobbie and given a lesson in English grammar yet? 😉

[@limedickandrew6016]

Biggus Dickus go home!

[@Darkrunn]

"If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should look at my girlfriend." "I don't want to sell my husband, not for all the gold in the world." It's nice to know that the feeling of being in love was much the same 2000 years ago.

[@DinoTamer-22]

Don’t forget “people in love are like bees. They live a honeyed life”.

[@charlottebruce979]

I think the human race would have died out a long time ago if they hadn't. They were us but in togas, that's all.

[@johnfox1991]

"Epaphra! You are bald!" holy sh1t, even at that time they used to annoy bald people lol

[@zhouwu]

Poor Curb Your Enthusiasm Guy.

[@dawgz6055]

Where do you think we get the attitude to annoy bald people man ofc from our ancient ancestors

[@MelvisVelour]

A few months ago, we took a private tour of Herculaneum with an exceptionally knowledgeable guide who quickly figured out I had studied Latin and made a point of discretely pointing out some of the more "refreshing" grafiti that had me laughing. And yes, most of it was quite sexual but, as a tour guide in Pompeii said to a woman who gasped at the murals in the Lupenar "...signora, is a nothing new-a under the sun...except the prices have gone-a up-a" (I can't do justice the accent and delivery) which got riotous laughter from everyone else on the tour.

[@Replicanna-rl6zg]

😂 I can imagine

[@suziecreamcheese211]

How did he know?

[@sharlharmakhis280]

The 'Gaius and Aulus' one is heartwarming. I hope they stayed good friends throughout their lives.

[@MrGksarathy]

I'm honestly betting they drifted apart, even as I hope they didn't.

[@kotzpenner]

It’s either a drunk bar friendship forgotten the next day or more brothers till the end

[@MrGksarathy]

@@kotzpenner Oh yeah, didn't even consider that option.

[@fist-of-doom487]

You never see much modern graffiti that amount to “Best Friends Forever”

[@AlexandroMechina-yb3tf]

@@kotzpenner I tought that option, i like to stick with option B: Maybe they were brothers in arms. Kinda sad its impossible to know more about these two.

[@joshuabrigden4820]

The seriousness of studying history vs the line "i crapped here i crapped here i crapped here" is the most perfectly hilarious juxtaposition of two opposite sides of humanity, the intellectual and the joker! 🤣 I wonder what the author would feel if they knew how far we have progressed and exactly how many people their words would be read by.

[@DrewskiTheLegend]

We ascribe such formality and austerity to the past, when really, aside from some differences in technology and philosophy, we have so much in common. We carry the same desires and impulses as the people of the past. The pure aspects of the human spirit transcend cultural and temporal boundaries.

[@Azurethewolf168]

@@DrewskiTheLegendyes, because we are fundamentally the exact same. The only thing that’s changed is we have more stuff now, things are a lot easier to do and so our behaviors change.

[@melissastone5755]

Well, not just a tally, it also works as a poem, shame all 3 lines are the same. Could have been, Came to Pompeii, So very near, I crapped here.

[@andrewvanorden2336]

​@melissastone5755 that was beautiful. Thank you

[@Ulfrich_Stormcock]

@@Azurethewolf168I agree after seeing this. I think if you were to time travel and spoke all verbose and with so much formality to the average Roman citizen theyd look at you strangely and ask you to speak normally

[@herzog1857]

"Noli inserere nasum tuum in rebus alienis et in aliis in naso" - Tebrex Maximus "Do not stick your nose in other people's things and other people's things in your nose"

[@Ithirahad]

Must've been a very stupendously large nose, or very small 'things'.

[@zammich3649]

You know there's a story behind this and it's funny that most of us already know it.

[@emilycheeger4029]

Very reminiscent of something I once heard a friend of mine say to an overly chatty third party, in modern Yiddish (transliterated): "Sheyfele, daan nuz zeyt ous af dan punim asach besser vi in maan biznes." ("Hey kiddo, your nose looks much better on your face than in my business.") "Kiddo" was a 30-year-old dude.

[@norielgames4765]

In Romanian: "Nu inserta nasu tau in lucrurile altora, și lucrurile altora în nas."

[@hortenio97]

roman society truly was ahead of its time, they even had shitposting

[@stopthecrazyguy9948]

There is no such thing as being ahead of your time. They were in their time.

[@hello-rq8kf]

shitposting has existed as long as we have

[@Tempusverum]

If you wanna find a Roman equivalent to a redditor, read Celsus. Guy was arrogant edgyness incarnate. He especially hated those retarded Bible-bashing creationists

[@Starbeam1979]

Sometimes literally.

[@muscleman125]

This is a great way to humanize ancient people more, and show us a bit more of their sense of humor (which hasn't changed in the least). This is the type of stuff I wish was taught more than all the wars and assassins of Ancient Earth. This makes them feel so much more relatable.

[@WanderingRurouni92]

Gaius and Aulus forever.

[@d.c.8828]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@zimriel]

those bros deserve immortality

[@handroids1981]

@zimriel Ancient and homoerotic.

[@sturmovik1274]

I remember a college professor of mine saying that he'd gone to Rome and seen a Roman graffiti "Cacator cave canum" meaning, roughly, "He who would shit here, beware of dog".

[@1TakoyakiStore]

1) The steamier and violent graffiti sounds like a patreon opportunity. 👀 2) I knew ancient Roman graffiti existed but I wasn't expecting them to be so relatable. It practically was their version of social media. Probably the closest we will get to an actual "we pretend it's bronze age internet."

[@adrianrybarczyk7902]

Romans was iron age dudes not bronze

[@erraticonteuse]

Bronze Age internet was even wilder. Bad copper reviews against Ea-Nasir! Putting your supervisor on blast for not giving you enough water for your sesame fields (Ibbi-Ibarat saw it, he'll back me up)!

[@Lilhaggis747]

you can search up on the internet if you want more horrendous graffiti

[@jba.9385]

There is a Graffiti in Pompeii that writes "Weep you girls, my p*nis has forsaken you and now penetrates mens behinds"

[@katjakuitunen6961]

@@erraticonteuseAnd fashionable young men complaining about their lack of cool clothes! Because the other kids have cool clothes, why can’t their mom buy them too!

[@QueenChristine826]

"I wouldn't sell my husband for all the gold in the world..." Awww

[@ge2623]

So, she divorced him and took it anyway.

[@zimriel]

@@ge2623 Pompeii. If they hadn't left the place in time then they burned together

[@zimriel]

@@ge2623 LOL. This actually works for Italian society too b/c their laws were (much) more pro-woman than were the laws of most Greeks (excepting Sparta).

[@uberogg]

bit of a shame that my personal favorite quote from the Pompeii Walls wasn't read out: "Samius to Cornelius: go hang yourself!"

[@RobMacMusic]

There's a free pdf online with all of the graffiti from Pompeii. Many were left out of this video because of their violent, sexual and graphic nature. Some of the best ones.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

Link to the sauce pls?

[@RobMacMusic]

@@moritamikamikara3879 I'd have to look it up. So no. I've already read them.

[@RobMacMusic]

@@moritamikamikara3879 I read them years ago.

[@zimriel]

@@moritamikamikara3879 from the ... establishment of Innulus and Papilio: "Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men's behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!" This town was the 4chan of Italy.

[@KenFullman]

@@moritamikamikara3879I imagine the three missing replies are links to the source. :(

[@ZeusAmun-pt9dc]

The opening scene of William Shakespeare's 'the tragedy of Julius Caesar ' has Cassius and Brutus discussing graffiti on the wall next to them.

[@lilmike2710]

A good way for politicians to understand the attitudes and feelings of their constituents as well as political dissidents. "Cassius is but a senile old fool, with a club foot." 😏

[@ZeusAmun-pt9dc]

@@lilmike2710 well said

[@vitorpereira9515]

My favorite Roman graffity is this one found inside an inn: “We have wet the bed. I admit, we were wrong, my host. If you ask ‘why?’ There was no chamber pot.” And my favorite Eastern Roman graffity is the most famous one: "Halfdan was here."

[@morenauer]

Ah, yes, in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, when the Varangian guard was there. Classic.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

The actual translation was "Halfdan carved these runes" but admittedly "Halfdan wuz here" is funnier

[@SHinierthennyourforehead]

why is `halfdan was here` funny?

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

Look up 'Kilroy was here.' @@SHinierthennyourforehead

[@zimriel]

@@SHinierthennyourforehead Miklagarðr forever

[@germanyballwork5301]

Love videos like this, give a sense of humanity to history that its often overlooked

[@DrinkYourNailPolish]

The more things change, the more they stay the same

[@soulstorm8806]

“Satura was here September 3rd.” Satura was a legend! Sorry that you have been gone so long Satura. I know you never knew we would read of you. But one of your messages survived even two thousand years. God blessed your memory. So I will too.

[@norielgames4765]

In a way reading her words connects us with her, 2000 years later. And in a way, that makes her still be alive, if only in our collective memories.

[@randalmayeux8880]

My birthday is also September 3rd. By the way, today is the Ides of March-- beware!

[@erraticonteuse]

6:30 I burst out laughing on the subway at this exchange.

[@Winsane]

"A small problem gets larger if you ignore it." Eternal wisdom, true in any language, for any person at any point in time. And yet, I will probably keep making that mistake until my last day on earth.

[@jghamann]

It´s amazing that, 20 centuries later, people still do graffiti in public restrooms doors.

[@aliasfakename3159]

Rome in pop culture: *noble, austere, powerful* Rome in reality: *a buncha 20- and 30-somethings writing trivial stuff on walls*

[@norielgames4765]

There was all kinds of people, just like today, just like in every land.

[@kimberlypatton205]

Some aspects of human nature do not change.. no matter how many thousands of years pass! Very enjoyable! A great channel!❤

[@dewetmaartens359]

I despise KZbin for increasingly limiting what creators can publish, even limiting more and more normal English words.

[@ge2623]

You Tube knows what's best.

[@andrewvanorden2336]

​@@ge2623youtube is God now

[@snoowbrigade]

"If anyone does not belive in Venus they should look at my girlfriend" beautiful

[@ge2623]

At least today we worship the right God. 😁

[@snoowbrigade]

@@ge2623 🙁

[@hello-rq8kf]

@@ge2623you mean a schizophrenic rabbi?

[@ge2623]

@@hello-rq8kf Could be. Could be Zeus et al.

[@historian252]

Upset that Jesus is Lord and Savior, I see.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

This kind of stuff is fascinating! Some things never change!

[@pashaveres4629]

Basic human nature is one of them. Technology is always changing, we do not.

[@lilmike2710]

I've just ascertained that there's a PDF online with all of the graffiti in ancient Pompeii. 😏 This video had sparked a new interest for me.

[@AD-kv9kj]

@@pashaveres4629 SOME things never change, as in the element of humour you're focusing on here. However, I think you'll ALSO find humans have changed a hell of a lot since nomadic times, and all kinds of wildly different kinds of society have existed throughout history. So-called "human nature" is not a fixed thing, because plenty of human beings have lived wildly differently to others too, and it just depends on how a given society raises and educates all their kids. Mostly we just drill our children into the oblivion of memorization of dry knowledge with the sole purpose of getting them into the sausage factory of work, which generally jades and cripples minds in the modern age of call centres, corporate marketing and scammy big business. Of course it seems right now as if technology isn't changing people, because all this new tech is only a hundred years old! That's nothing at all, we've literally only just got all this stuff, and frankly I already see it changing people quite considerably. The way people think and socialise now is wildly different to just 50 years ago, and the effects the internet and high tech has already had on politics and big business is disturbing to say the least. The whole "human nature" never changing at all thing is just an excuse for people to avoid changing themselves. If other human beings have lived lives of intelligent understanding and peace, then anyone can. Most don't because they are merely ignorant and heavily conditioned to be corrupt, aggressive, violent etc etc, but actual reality has proven time and time again that being that way is not at all inevitable. The problem is people want to believe they can't change for the better because it's the perfect excuse to not have to make any effort to change and just cling to your artificial sense of safety in whatever social conditioning you've grown up with.

[@lordofchaosinc.261]

I like the two friends, dead for two thousand years but the memory of their friendship is still present.

[@RobMacMusic]

I remember reading the graffiti of Pompeii a long time ago. It really helps relate to people from the past.

[@abigailgarcia3090]

I just found two kittens I had no idea what to name them, Gaius and Aulus it is. Thanks!

[@Lausanamo]

This comment section looks like the walls of pompeii, not that I'm complaining

[@joseybryant7577]

I often get incredibly cynical about humanity. Thinking we are destined to squabble in the mud, instead of reach the stars. But then I remembered stuff like this graffiti. Human beings wanting desperately to say "we existed"

[@Azurethewolf168]

I mean that’s really been our existence since the start, wanting to be known by others and get their praise.

[@hello-rq8kf]

what is wrong with squabbling in the mud? it is the human experience. if we are to love our life, we should embrace our flaws and our humanity

[@Azurethewolf168]

@@hello-rq8kf true

[@fist-of-doom487]

There was something like Roman graffiti in a cave in Scandinavia. There was a wall of a Cave with huge runes carved into it. For a while no one knew what it said and assumed it to be some sort of holy writing, turns out that once translated it just said “this is big”

[@Azurethewolf168]

@@fist-of-doom487 lol, I bet people will look back at our slang and other words of today, thinking it’s some magical, great thing. But in reality is just a sh*tpost. We kind of look at the past as some relic of a far gone era, where everything means something and there’s no mundane stuff like today.

[@davidcooke8005]

Was waiting for the 'Romani Ite Domum' reference. Didn't have to wait long. Thumbs up.

[@mikemhz]

"The man I am having dinner with is a barbarian" 😂 Romans were divas

[@matthewmckever2312]

People dont change. We all, always want the same things, love. Friendship comfort, we hate insult and a declaration of "it's not fair" is universal. Humanity kicks arse😂😂

[@steveneardley7541]

There's a series of letters that were found in an Egyptian temple of about 1500 BC, between a father and his son. Even though the father was a priest, there was no mention of religion. It ran more like this: "Stop complaining about my concubine; she's none of your business. I hear from your sister that you are tormenting her. Stop it. Make sure those people pay their rent. They tried to stiff us last year." This was just Mediterranean culture. They could have been modern Greeks or Italians.

[@dundermifflin3847]

It’s so crazy to think there were humans just like us running around doing human stuff so long ago

[@stopthecrazyguy9948]

Do you think we made it up? Wait 'til you hear where babies really come from.

[@dundermifflin3847]

@@stopthecrazyguy9948 What they don't come from sex? 😮😮

[@hello-rq8kf]

@@dundermifflin3847nah usually they are stocked at amazon warehouses

[@Replicanna-rl6zg]

Yes, but they probably also read the older graffiti and thought, gee granpa, chill

[@joeterp5615]

Yeah, because technology has changed the world so thoroughly, we almost view people from the past as a different breed. But they were exactly like us. This is only going back 100 generations or so. That is nothing. If a common housefly were to look back at their ancestors from the year I was born… that would be looking back about 1000 generations ago! 10 times the number of generations that we are removed from the people of Pompeii. Yet we wouldn’t expect flies from 50 years ago to be different than those of today. It’s easy for us to get stuck in a time perspective based on our own life span, and not realize how close we truly are to the past.

[@Shatterverse]

I can't help but believe that "I made bread" was a euphemism.

[@DD-qo1tw]

It was a common euphemism for defecating.

[@togekiss09]

Don't quote me on this but someone else in the comments said "make bread" means "to take a cräp"

[@zimriel]

pinched a loaf, one might say

[@robinharwood5044]

Since she felt the need to blame him publicly, I suspect that Artimetus did not do the right thing by the girl. He probably hastily went to assist in his uncle’s olive oil business in Hispania. But the girl has ensured that he will always be known as a cad.

[@t.b.cont.]

Given how much this graffiti represents a side of Roman life we wouldn’t otherwise have knowledge of if the practice was more discouraged or harshly punished, I do appreciate their attitude towards making your mark on the world. Even if people do not like the defilement of monuments or historical structures, I can’t help but see it having its own form of sanctity I wouldn’t wish to be erased, as it represents something that is truly human

[@lightborn9071]

I wonder if this counts as a comic sketch. Like if people drew illustrated stories back then.

[@interestings7866]

So crazy to think these were just humans like you and me living their little lives like we do, hanging out, arguing and writing graffiti

[@Falkriim]

What cracks me up is that humour was the exact same.

[@sizanogreen9900]

This is great. I knew about the existance of roman graffitti but this gave me an entirely different view on it. It is basically stone age internet.

[@d.c.8828]

*Iron Age

[@sizanogreen9900]

@@d.c.8828 I was calling it stone age because it is based on stone. That being the walls;)

[@d.c.8828]

@@sizanogreen9900 Oh, haha, clever! You should've added a 🥁 **rimshot** with the punchline! lmao

[@lilmike2710]

The first meme was probably born in ancient Pompeii, Egypt or Rome.. So far the first official meme was "Killroy was here" with the face peering over a wall with its nose hanging down. Which was a play on an electrical symbol that looks like a man peering over a wall.

[@lilmike2710]

​@@sizanogreen9900Ah, but my dear Mr. Green, it would have been chiseled with an iron tool. Stone age works for me though 😉

[@redblaze8700]

The ancient worlds social media is quite fascinating

[@nonsibi1087]

What I noticed walking the streets of Pompeii, and was missed here unfortunately, was that the low level graffiti on the walls by children often included school lessons composed of quotes from Virgil and other esteemed authors. I found the adult graffiti to be far less interesting and predictable in that manner.

[@graccusbro2061]

imagine the level of alphabetization Rome had achieved among its population, for this to be even remotely possible

[@Tempusverum]

Most families had private tutors

[@graccusbro2061]

@@Tempusverumonly rich families could afford private tutors, yet many plebs achieved alphabetization

[@graccusbro2061]

@@Tempusverum only the rich ones had private tutors

[@JuliusCaesar888]

Pompeii was a moneyed up city, it likely had a decent rate of literacy.

[@korosuke1788]

I have been to a few bars where drawing graffitti is both encouraged and expected. Strangely, this leads to mostly positive and wholesome writings while the naughtiness is reserved to the bathroom.

[@entr0pix]

NAWW WHOEVER ROASTED EPAPHRA FOR BEING BALD IS A MENACE

[@Charlesinfinite]

Gaius and Aulus would be very surprised that so many people know of them 2000 years later.

[@karoltakisobie6638]

Ancient graffiti is a material proof that we as humans, didn't change much. Our clothes and tools changed but we are very much like our ancestors.

[@gingazaurus]

Great video, specific and interesting. Thank you for making it and keep on the good work.

[@johnjackson9751]

Shout out to Gaius and Aulus . True homies of all time.

[@kalif404]

I did miss your historical videos. Thank you for this one

[@harryrabbit2870]

Very greatly enjoyed this because it feels connecting, like listening to a friend.

[@datwitchyswordfan]

On this day, I watched a video about Roman graffiti on the Internet, and remarked upon the similarities between me and my people, to those people of old

[@paulhill3187]

Straight to the point and most informative. Well done indeed !

[@rexpalus7455]

I enjoyed this one a lot😂 Thank you Fire of Learning!

[@chrislj2890]

"I can not read the hieroglyphics" and the response really got me, lol. I wonder how many people were literate at that time?

[@new-lviv]

I wonder how much time passed between the note and the answer. I could have been centuries.

[@W4iteFlame]

Clearly an underrated topic

[@antoninbesse795]

Great content and commentary! Really enjoyed this one. Subscribed.

[@silvermoontearoom7123]

Excellent in every way! Thanks!

[@Typhus-th6ud]

2,000 years later and secundus is finally getting the glory he deserves. He is one of us.

[@DING1o1]

They had no clue someone would be looking at their scribbles on a wall centuries later through a phone screen taking a dump 🔥

[@dapper4459]

"Gaius and Aulus bros 4 lyfe" So beautiful.

[@Replicanna-rl6zg]

This is the most entertaining video in yt I have watched since... I don't know when. I wished it would never end. At the same time heart warming and sad, hilarious and devastating. It shows how us, humans are all the same through history

[@objetivista686]

Interesting how a deadly tragedy in some way was capable to keep alive these vestiges of human existence.

[@Geospasmic]

There was that time a guy wrote "Romans go home", he got in trouble if I remember correctly.

[@user-rl3iv2jk9q]

Thank you for your presentation .

[@frozenrose84]

I enjoyed this video very much! Thank you :D

[@laurachapple6795]

Walls: the original social media.

[@thespecialduck5030]

i love this channel so much lol

[@tyfallon]

This is honestly gold content.

[@debbiefox4239]

Great info !! To see what was left behind from -SO- long ago !! 👍👌👍👌👌😍

[@scott6828]

I've studied Latin my entire life and when I was stationed in Naples I've had very difficult times reading the Latin graffiti because, surprisingly, the Ancient Romans used a lot of slang words that I was never taught (or known) by Latin teachers....also, the Ancient Romans had terrible handwriting.

[@hurlebatte]

Another great video.

[@greatexpectations6577]

I love this content so much

[@b_ks]

I appreciate your choice of 'Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog'. Brilliant. 😊

[@godlessyuri]

The ancient world really doesn't get any more familiar and more relatable than its graffiti.

[@rafaelcalderabebber1198]

What a really cool history fact

[@Coryn02]

I have read into this before, and I am glad you deemed it worthy of a video.

[@marenjeworowski9859]

Loved this video but it needs to be longer ❤😊