Jon Allison, front, photographing the inscriptions on the rock face. (Image: unknown)
It says “Caesar didn’t kill himself”.
“Kilroy was here “
I was taught that graffiti had been most important in philology, especially studies in the development of romance languages from vulgar Latin. Classic Latin and Church Latin are rather static, whereas the graffiti on walls and Roman baths throughout the Empire show how modern languages developed.
The curses, “dirty words” and misspellings can show how people really spoke. There are wall writing over 2000 years old which translate “Caesar sucks”.
I hope there is no statute of limitation on vandalism.
Hadrian’s Wall is the name of one of my favorite concertos by Felix Mendellsson. It’s usually played as the closing piece for his larger work called “The Scottish Symphony”.
Exciting, but still somehow quite melancholy.
And “Call Jenny Cenna at VIII VI VII V III O IX”
CENTURION: What’s this, then? ‘Romanes Eunt Domus’? ‘People called Romanes they go the house’?
BRIAN: It— it says, ‘Romans, go home’.
CENTURION: No, it doesn’t. What’s Latin for ‘Roman’? Come on!
BRIAN: Aah!
CENTURION: Come on!
BRIAN: ‘R— Romanus’?
CENTURION: Goes like...?
BRIAN: ‘Annus’?
CENTURION: Vocative plural of ‘annus’ is...?
BRIAN: Eh. ‘Anni’?
CENTURION: ‘Romani’. ‘Eunt’? What is ‘eunt’?
BRIAN: ‘Go’. Let—
CENTURION: Conjugate the verb ‘to go’.
BRIAN: Uh. ‘Ire’. Uh, ‘eo’. ‘Is’. ‘It’. ‘Imus’. ‘Itis’. ‘Eunt’.
CENTURION: So ‘eunt’ is...?
BRIAN: Ah, huh, third person plural, uh, present indicative. Uh, ‘they go’.
CENTURION: But ‘Romans, go home’ is an order, so you must use the...?
BRIAN: The... imperative!
CENTURION: Which is...?
BRIAN: Umm! Oh. Oh. Um, ‘i’. ‘I’!
CENTURION: How many Romans?
BRIAN: Ah! ‘I’— Plural. Plural. ‘Ite’. ‘Ite’.
CENTURION: ‘Ite’.
BRIAN: Ah. Eh.
CENTURION: ‘Domus’?
BRIAN: Eh.
CENTURION: Nominative?
BRIAN: Oh.
CENTURION: ‘Go home’? This is motion towards. Isn’t it, boy?
BRIAN: Ah. Ah, dative, sir! Ahh! No, not dative! Not the dative, sir! No! Ah! Oh, the... accusative! Accusative! Ah! ‘Domum’, sir! ‘Ad domum’! Ah! Oooh! Ah!
CENTURION: Except that ‘domus’ takes the...?
BRIAN: The locative, sir!
CENTURION: Which is...?!
BRIAN: ‘Domum’.
CENTURION: ‘Domum’.
BRIAN: Aaah! Ah.
CENTURION: ‘Um’. Understand?
BRIAN: Yes, sir.
CENTURION: Now, write it out a hundred times.
BRIAN: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar, sir.
CENTURION: Hail Caesar. If it’s not done by sunrise, I’ll cut your balls off.
BRIAN: Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar and everything, sir! Oh. Mmm!
Finished!
ROMAN SOLDIER STIG: Right. Now don’t do it again.
What real indication is there to believe they were made by the workers who built the walls?
“Trumpatus’s Fault”
Claudius was here!
Aedificare murum
Romulus is my Centurion, only 4380 days and a wake up.
Short Timer
“ERRARE CDIV”
What Does First-century Roman Graffiti Say?:
Thanks, SunkenCiv.
Latin prophecies.
“Beware Corona in year MMXX”
taking a break from russiarussiarussia..oops sorry, COVID-19COVID-19COVID-19...oops sorry, marketmarketmarket...
