This review discusses the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum vol. IV Suppl. 4.2, part of a series of fascicles of CIL vol. IV that have been long anticipated. The fascicles following it, CIL vol. IV Suppl. 4.3, which appeared in 2023, and a forthcoming Suppl. 4.4 (not yet published) present the wall-inscriptions of Pompeii and nearby sites that have been discovered since the 1970s. CIL vol. IV Suppl. 4.2 does something quite different: it presents some new material (discussed below), but its main aim is to present ample corrigenda and bibliography for many ancient graffiti from Pompeii. It is an important resource for any student of Pompeian epigraphy, but even for scholars it will seem formidable. With this review, I hope to make it easier to use and more likely that researchers will search it out when they consider Pompeian graffiti.
First, some background. The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, vol. IV, is devoted to the wall-inscriptions from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, and it has undergone a significant expansion every couple of generations. The first publication of CIL vol. IV appeared in 1871; a supplement presenting 150+ wax tablets appeared in 1898. By 1909, excavations had progressed substantially and a second Supplementum was issued to include addenda and corrigenda for the first volume, to publish the texts of inscribed amphoras, and to present nearly 4000 additional wall-inscriptions that had been discovered in the intervening decades. A third Supplementum came out in four fascicles between the years of 1952 and 1971 and these together published more inscribed instrumenta, the wall-inscriptions of Herculaneum, and 2000 more wall-inscriptions from Pompeii (through CIL IV 10913). The twenty-first century has now brought Supplementum 4, which likewise is appearing in stages. These fascicles are each substantial folio volumes in their own right. The first fascicle of Supplementum 4 (Suppl. 4.1) provided commentary on the painted wall-inscriptions. The handwritten ancient graffiti are the main subject of Supplementum 4.2 (under discussion here), 4.3 (recently published), and 4.4 (not yet published). A final fascicle is planned to contain Indices for the entirety of CIL vol. IV and its supplements.
The most significant contribution of Supplementum 4.2 is the commentary and bibliography it provides. Addenda and corrigenda appeared already at the end of the very first 1871 publication of CIL vol. IV, on pages 189-225. The readings of graffiti can often be improved by visits under different lighting conditions, which can reveal more than was originally seen, and subsequent discoveries can enlighten earlier mysteries. For this reason, addenda and corrigenda were also inserted in subsequent supplements, on pages 460-466, 696, and 704-705. The comments in Suppl. 4.2 (which contains 408 pages) dwarf those in earlier additions. This volume offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance for two scholars who have each worked on ancient graffiti for decades—Heikki Solin and Antonio Varone, former Director of the Scavi di Pompei (joined by Peter Kruschwitz)—to provide improvements or explanatory comments on nearly the entire corpus. This fascicle provides commentary for CIL IV 1205-7108. Addenda will continue in Suppl. 4.4.
It is important for a reader to realize that, following the format of earlier addenda et corrigenda, the actual text of the inscription is usually not given. Instead, the entry (all in Latin) provides location, bibliography, and commentary. The text is given only if the editors are correcting or proposing a new reading. A scholar will therefore need to have the earlier CIL IV text nearby when consulting this supplement. The lack of text may provide a stumbling block for a non-epigrapher or someone who just wants a transcription, but the entry provides valuable information. For example, the entry for CIL IV 1904 (a well-known graffito that begins: admiror paries te non cecidisse ruinis…) presents preliminary information, a bibliography of 29 citations, and five paragraphs of commentary that includes linguistic, metrical, and paleographic explanation, as well as scholarly interpretations; e.g. Gigante and Canali-Cavallo interpret the taedia scriptorum as referring to electoral programmata, while other scholars see them simply as other wall-inscriptions or obscene writings.
This is a good point to explain the introductory information as presented in Suppl. 4.2, which for CIL IV 1904 is as follows:
1904 (cf. p. 213. 465) = CLE 957. Tit. extat valde corrosus Neapoli in museo in tab. XXII (inv. n. 4706) supra ad dextram tit. 1902, scriptus litteris tenuissimis. Contulit A. VARONE a. 2004; recognovit a. 2006 et iterum a. 2018 H. SOLIN.
Im. phot. D/110905. SOLIN, 2577. 2607. 2608 (a. 2017); 3313. 3341 (a. 2018).
VARONE, Imagines 381.
A few explanations will be useful:
- cf. p. 213. 465 – these are references to earlier addenda sections where this inscription has been discussed. The page numbers have run continuously for CIL IV and its supplements. Since this inscription is discussed in Suppl. 4.2 on p. 1711, a full reference to it is now: CIL IV 1904, cf. pp. 213, 465, 1711.
- Tit. = titulus and refers to the inscription.
- a. = anno, the year in which Solin or Varone photographed or personally studied the inscription.
- im. phot. D/[number] = reference to the Pompeii photographic archives (D = diapositivo).
- VARONE, Imagines = A. Varone, Titulorum graphio exaratorum qui in CIL vol. IV collecti sunt Imagines, Roma 2012. If the inscription still exists, this is usually the source for any published photographs. When ancient graffiti have perished and vanished, which is frequently the case, the introductory information will contain the phrase: Periit, neque im. phot. servantur.
Entries might also provide an inventory number if the graffito has been removed to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, references to the Carmina Latina Epigraphica, or location details that can be checked with the Parco Archaeologico di Pompei (PAP) map at open.pompeiisites.org.
The text of the inscription is supplied for approximately 150 ancient graffiti. Sometimes the supplied text will present restorations that were not given previously, e.g.:
(original) CIL IV 4246: QVI M////I NON MENTLA / I///// G I I T
(Suppl. 4.2) → CIL IV 4246, p. 1819: Qui m[ih]i non mentla / ḷ[in]get.
In the case of longer inscriptions (e.g. CIL IV 1227, 1410, 1837, 2457, 2508, 4008), Suppl. 4.2 will present the text with modern punctuation for guidance. With other texts, the editors put forth a revision or new reading. For example, the intriguing inscription initially read as Isidorum AED… optime cunulincet (CIL IV 1383) is now revised → CIL IV 1383, p. 1655: Isidorum a(ssibus) III Demo[- – -] / optime cunu lincet ++++++++++. The mystifying ludi gallinarii are now resolved as hens and a rooster given out as awards, CIL IV 3890, p. 1790: IIII Non(as) Nov(embres) in lud(os) / gallin(ae) dat(ae) V et gall(us). / XV K(alendas) Nov(embres) / Puteolana peperit mascl(os) III, femel(las) II. And, a mime is newly identified at CIL IV 1873, p. 1703: Staphis / mima, va(le). Other improved readings include the challenging graffiti from the Casa degli Amorini Dorati: CIL IV 6819, p. 1897: Quinq⟨u⟩agi{ge}nta / ub’ erant / exinde{di} ocide(t); and CIL IV 6825, p. 1899: Quo bibet f̣elexs, ossa c̣inisque tegunt.
Often these revised readings concern personal names, the use of Greek, or price lists (CIL IV 4422, 5380). Here are a few brief examples:
CIL IV 1812: CAESIVS FIDIILIS AMAT M[IICOVII NVCIIRINi]
→ CIL IV 1812, p. 212, 1690: Caesius Fideles amat Meṛọve Nucerina
CIL IV 2324: +L SIINTIVSIL / CELSVS A IIIIA//LIANI / TABIIRNA AD DIIXT\
→ CIL IV 2324, p. 1756: L(ucius) Sentius Ḷ(uci) l(ibertus) / Celsus a Sei Aẹliani / taberna ad dextṛ(am).
CIL IV 4207: IISVRIT DANNII / CO SVMA (with a note: Danne pro Danae)
→ CIL IV 4207, p. 1815: esurit Dapine, / cûṃ suma.
CIL IV 4423: (line-drawing with no transcription)
→ CIL IV 4423, p. 1830: Ἑτοίμου / Ἰσομάχου / [Τε]λαμών.
It is also important to note that Suppl. 4.2 will present the text as it was written while any unusual forms are discussed in the commentary. This is a resource that should be used carefully; readers should not stop at the text but consult the full commentary. For example, CIL IV 1213: PYRAMVS / AMARANTVS / MITRICTAS is revised to CIL IV 1213, p. 1634: Pyramus, / Amarantus, / Mitridas. The end of the commentary notes that the name Mithridas “(hic omissa aspiratione scriptum)” is found at Rome.
Another example is CIL IV 1234, p. 1637: Pupa que bela is tibi / me misit qui tuus es⟨t⟩. Val(e). The commentary (the beginning of which is provided below) explains that que was written for quae and is for es. There is no discussion of the form bela for bella, which the editors assume a reader will already recognize.
1 Num qui aut que (i. e. quae) legendum esset in dubio reliquit ZANGEMEISTER (similiter HEHL, Formen lat. 1. Deklination 40), quamquam ex im. del. tab. XVI 6 lectio qu(a)e satis certa esse videtur; qu(a)e habent etiam AUCTORES RECENTIORES paene omnes nisi FLINCK, qui scripsit quae, errore aperto. – IS inscriptum; an recte ⸢e⸣s corrigant auctores nonnulli, incertum (Pompeis exempla certa scribendi rationis IS = es extant, cf. H. SOLIN, in Veikko Väänänen 19 adn. 40).
CIL IV 4430, a rare graffito to include negative wishes, has also been revised: CIL IV 4430, p. 1831: Glove dicet: Sympore, / Valeria Euce male periat / opordet. (The commentary explains the names here are Chloe, Symphore, and Valeria Euche, and that dicet should be present tense.)
While this framework can be frustrating to those who simply want the text of an inscription, the editors are honest about the ambiguity of these handwritten messages. For example, CIL IV 1755: SA IVENI//S, is now presented as CIL IV 1755, p. 1686: Sa(lvete), ivenẹs. But the commentary then follows up with another possibility: Scriptum fortasse IVENI[I]S, i.e. iuvenes. Nisi est sa(lve), I(u)venis cognomen.
Possible readings may also be discussed in the commentary without an offset text provided. The original entry for CIL IV 5273 presented a line-drawing instead of a transcription, along with the editorial comment, Ultima admodum incerta. The new entry for CIL IV 5273 on p. 1878 includes the comment: Intellegendum proponere possis etiam amicus Cerd[o(nis)] vel Amycus cerd[o].
This volume is available to purchase as a PDF and that format facilitates specific research queries. For example, scholars interested in meter will find that six graffiti are noted to be or possibly thought to be a hemiepes, or a half metrical line, while another eight inscriptions may have been intended as a septenarius.
This fascicle also contains:
- Addenda and corrigenda for the entries published in Supplementum 4.1.
- Dipinti discovered after the publication of CIL IV Suppl. 3. These have appeared in dispersed publications and are now given the numbers CIL IV 10914-11053.
- Ca. 50 inscriptions that were formerly classified as Inscriptiones lectionis falsae vel suspectae (CIL IV 1*-142*), now reexamined and judged to be genuine.
Finally, a section of color photos concludes the volume. Plates I-V (fig. 1-19) present painted inscriptions. Plates VI-VIII (fig. 20-26) show graffiti on wall plaster of different colors, several on panels removed to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. These photos demonstrate a range of letter forms but more than anything they make it clear how difficult it is to read or photograph ancient graffiti.
It should be evident how much this new fascicle offers scholars of ancient graffiti. The past two decades have transformed how Pompeii and Pompeian epigraphy can be studied. Resources now include: the Epigraphic Database Roma, the Ancient Graffiti Project, Pompeiiinpictures.com, the Clauss-Slaby Datenbank, PBMP, and most recently the PAP map and CIL IV Suppl. 4.2. This abundance means that a student or scholar of Pompeii has many tools at their disposal and it is fundamentally important to understand what each offers and how best to use them.