Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes

1. Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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