The ancient Roman version of social media was written on walls
Step into the streets of Pompeii to read the messages left by its residents. This video explores the 11,000 inscriptions preserved by the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, revealing the intimate, everyday lives of the people buried beneath the ash.
The volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE buried Pompeii and Herculaneum under roughly 20 feet of debris, inadvertently preserving a massive archive of Latin graffiti [S2:p2, S3:p4]. These inscriptions act as an ancient form of social media, allowing shopkeepers, laborers, soldiers, and enslaved people to communicate in public spaces [S3:p6].
The walls reveal a spectrum of human emotion, from election notices and market announcements to witty verses, insults, and even crude sketches of gladiators [S3:p5]. Some inscriptions even function like modern internet comment threads, such as notes left between brothers, Onesimus and Secundus, or multiple writers adding their own twists to popular couplets on a stairwell [S3:p7].
Source: Latin Graffiti at Pompeii - Love and Hate on the Walls of Pompeii 3/3
