When the metropolis of Pompeii and Herculaneum were dead consumed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E. , many of their buildings were so closely keep that New archaeologists can even read the graffiti scribbled onto their ancient walls . See if any of these remind you of a twenty - first century bathroom .
1.“Philiros spado.”
" Phileros is a eunuch . "
2.“Lucius Pinxit.”
" Lucius wrote this . "
3.“Apollinaris, medicus Titi Imperatoris hic cacavit bene.”
“ Apollinaris , MD to the emperor Titus , had a good crap here . ” In Latin profanity , “ cacatne ” pertained to defecation .
4.“Oppi, emboliari, fur, furuncle.”
“ Oppius , you ’re a clown , a stealer , and a cheap crook . ”
5.“Miximus in lecto. Faetor, peccavimus, hospes. Si dices: quare? Nulla matella fuit.”
“ We have wet the bed . I allow , we were awry , my host . If you call for ‘ why ? ’ There was no chamber pot . ” Found inside an inn .
6.“Virgula Tertio su: Indecens es.”
“ Virgula to Teritus : You are a nasty son . ”
7.“Epaphra, glaber es.”
" Epaphra , you are denudate . "
8.“Talia te fallant utinam medacia, copo: tu vedes acuam et bibes ipse merum.”
“ If only similar swindling would put one across you , innkeeper : you sell water , and drink the undiluted wine yourself . ”
9.“Vatuan aediles furunculi rog.”
“ The petty stealer request the election of Vatia as adele . ” In ancient Pompeii , an “ adele ” was an elect official who oversee market and local police , among other thing .
10.“Suspirium puellam Celadus thraex.”
“ Celadus take in the girlfriend groan . ”
11.“Admiror, O paries, te non cecidisse, qui tot scriptorium taedia sustineas.”
“ I wonder , O wall , that you have not yet collapse , so many writer ’ clichés do you bear . ” This idiom seems to have been a popular one , as slightly unlike versions of it seem in multiple locations throughout Pompeii ’s ruin .
In the interest of avoiding hardcore lewdness and profanity , I ’ve omitted some of the truly vulgar defacements . For some firmly NSFW instance , dogo here .
These quotes were were recorded in a comprehensive , multi - volume compendium of Romance inscriptions calledCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum , which was first published in in 1857 . figure of speech credit : Flickr userRoller Coaster Philosophy .
