Seeing the Writing on the Wall at Pompeii (Thanks to New Photographic Techniques), or, More Graffiti about Sex and Gladiators

Seeing the Writing on the Wall at Pompeii (Thanks to New Photographic Techniques), or, More Graffiti about Sex and Gladiators

From This Week in the Ancient Near East by thisweekintheancientneareast

May 18, 2026 · 40 min · Episode 139

About this episode

The episode discusses new photographic techniques revealing graffiti in Pompeii, including depictions of gladiator fights and lewd poetry.

New photographic techniques have shown that that walls in Pompeii were covered with graffiti, including pictures of gladiator fights, lewd poetry, and inscriptions in non-local languages like Safaitic. So sort of like New York City subways in the 1970s. Who says the past doesn’t repeat itself?

Topics covered

  • Pompeii
  • graffiti
  • photographic techniques
  • gladiators
  • ancient languages
  • history

Keywords

  • Pompeii
  • graffiti
  • gladiators
  • photographic techniques
  • ancient history
  • Safaitic
  • lewd poetry

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: lewd poetry

Places: Pompeii

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