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Loving couple in Pompeii, artistic recreation
Advanced imaging technology revealed 79 new inscriptions on a wall in the theater district of the city tragically destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius. Until now, these recordings were too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
About 2,000 years ago, a woman named Erato I walked through the streets of the old theater district. When he reached a long passage covered in graffiti, he decided to record your own message on the wall.
“He loves Erato“, he wrote, i.e. “Erato ama” in English. The end of his message, presumably revealing the object of his affection, has been lost to history, he says.
When it erupted in 79 AD, volcanic ash buried Pompeii — but it also preserved the ancient city, leaving houses, bathhouses, gardens, benches, statues and fresco murals frozen in time. Erato’s love note is one of around 300 entries survivors engraved on this wall.
Archaeologists have excavated Pompeii since the 18th century. This particular wall was discovered in 1794and experts recorded around 200 of his graphic inscriptions in the following centuries. Many others, however, were too faint to be discerned with the naked eye.
Now, advanced imaging technologies revealed some of these faded messages. With the help of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), a technique that involves combining multiple images captured with different light sources, researchers deciphered more 79 registrations.
“This project highlights urban communication, especially from sectors of the population that normally do not appear in literature or official inscriptions”, he states Marie-Adeline Le Guenneca historian at the University of Quebec in Montreal, told Smithsonian magazine.
“It also sheds light on the way theaters were useds as public spaces in the Roman world, as well as on the graphic and literacy skills of ordinary people”, he adds.
“Technology is the key that is shedding new light on the ancient world”, says Gabriel breeding bar, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, in . “Only the use of technology can guarantee a future for all this memory of life lived in Pompeii.”
Scholars say Erato’s message, which is one of the recently identified inscriptions, is consistent with the recordings previously known from the wall.
“I’m in a hurry; Take care, my Sava, make sure you love me!“, says one of them. Another message preserves the passions of an enslaved worker called Methewho confessed that “Love Christ in your heart“, and added: “May the Venus of Pompeii be favorable to both of them, and may they always live in harmony”.
Another recently identified inscription is a drawing of two gladiatorseach measuring about four inches tall. A figure, holding a sword and shield, is leaning back, “perhaps to represent a feint or defense,” according to the study. The other is only partially visible, but appears to be wielding similar weapons.
“The movement represented here, through gladiator chest twist From the left, it looks unique and appears to be quite reminiscent of a spectator’s experience at the amphitheater,” the researchers write.
Researchers particularly appreciate another image depicting gladiatorial combat on the south wall. This figure, which could be a womanwas drawn wearing a helmet and wielding a shield.
“Few female gladiators are mentioned in ancient documents and, if we are correct, this may be one of the only references to them in images,” Le Guennec tells Smithsonian.
The 27 meter long passage, which once connected two theaters in ancient Pompeii, was probably “a place to pass, walktalk, spend time and socialize”, say the study authors.
Passers-by scrawled graffiti along the entire length of the wall, although many recordings have been lost due to deterioration of decorative plaster.
“It’s a kind of bulletin board… where people left messages, stories, greetings, insults, drawings and much more,” says Zuchtriegel.
