Insults on the Walls of Pompeii

I'm again reading through the corpus of Pompeian insults that I've gathered for my research, and I decided to give you some examples. A word of warning: lots of obscenities ahead!

Most of the insults refer to sexual behavior. Over two thirds of the insults that I've studied mention sexual acts or organs. A few of the most common terms of abuse in graffiti are fellator (cocksucker), cunnilingus (cuntlicker) and cinaedus (a passive homosexual, a penetrated male). There are also many references to prostitution although many of these graffiti are advertisements and not insults.

Martialis is a cuntlicker. (CIL IV 1331, line drawing in the photo above)

Lucilia made a profit with her body. (CIL IV 1948)

Ianuarius is a faggot (cinaedus). (CIL IV 2334)

Ionis sucks cock. (CIL IV 2403)

Physical appearance was another popular category of insults. Attention is drawn to features that were regarded as suspect or shameful such as hairlessness or those associated with overt sexual activity. Many caricature drawings have also been found. 

Peregrinus + caricature drawing (CIL IV 1810, in the photo)

Epaphra, you are bald (or: hairless). (CIL IV 1816, in the photo)

Phileros is dickless (or: a eunuch). (CIL IV 1826)

Euplia has a loose vagina and a huge clit. (CIL IV 10004)

Bodily functions were also considered shameful, which is shown by the many insults referring to disease and bodily fluids.

Secundus shits here, shits here, shits here. (CIL IV 3146)

Here I fucked a girl with a beautiful body. She was praised by many but inside of her there was muck. (CIL IV 1516)

Chius, I hope that your piles become inflamed so that they burn worse than they did before. (CIL IV 1820)

Slightly more tame are the insults adressed to thieves or the ones comparing people with animals. There are only a few of these among the graffiti, which is probably because they weren't considered as effective as insults as other terms of abuse.

Labicula is a thief. (CIL IV 4776, in the photo)

Oppius, you're a clown (emboliarius), a thief and a petty crook. (CIL IV 1949)

Brutus is a dog. (CIL IV 10093c)

In many graffiti the insulted person is called worthless or no good in various terms:

Samius to Cornelius: go hang yourself! (CIL IV 1864)

Ephebus, you're a busybody (ardalio). (CIL IV 4765)

Somene is vile (nequam). (CIL IV 8322k)

Some of the insults are more original and skillful stylistically. Many were written in poetic meter, e.g. in elegiac couplets such as number 1516 above (translation not in meter). Some resemble letters such as number 1852 that seems to have a tone of irony.

Pyrrhus greets his colleague Chius. I'm sad to hear you've died. So, be in good health! (CIL IV 1852, in the phot)

Gaius Adius Ventrio, a Roman knight, was born between a beet and a cabbage. (CIL IV 4533)

Some categories of insults that are common in other sources such as Roman rhetoric and comedy, are not found in Pompeian graffiti. These include ethnicity and profession for instance. The Romans had stereotypical and prejudiced views of foreign peoples and shameful professions, but these don't feature on the walls of Pompeii as insults. Same goes for many of the most common terms of abuse in Roman comedy such as stultus (stupid) which isn't found even once in Pompeian graffiti.

As to why this is, is an open question and one that I study in my PhD research. One of the aims of my research is to explain the choice of subject matter in Pompeian insults by examining the social, literary and historical context of these insults and the stereotypes exhibited in them.

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Source of the photos and graffiti: CIL IV = Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum, vol. 4, Berolini 1871–.