Graffiti under the Caesars: Recovering Non-Elite Roman Culture in Latin Texts and Images of Late Republican and Early Imperial Rome

This project identifies, describes, translates and interprets surviving traces of graffiti found in the major urban centres of Roman Italy. These graffiti comprise Latin writing and associated or discrete images inscribed by ordinary men and women living between 168 BC and AD 192.

The project demonstrates the extent to which these texts and images augment knowledge of history and provides a new understanding of culture in Italian cities during the pivotal transition from Roman republic to empire. The resulting archive forms the basis for study and critical evaluation of significant historical, cultural and linguistic phenomena, including concepts of class, race and gender.