THE (ROMAN) WRITING IS ON THE WALL
They came, they saw, and – as Marion McMullen found out – they left their graffiti. She looks at historic scrawls
1 NEW Roman graffiti has been discovered by experts recording carvings made by soldiers quarrying stone in Cumbria to repair Hadrian’s Wall. The carvings include a caricature of the commanding officer, a phallus and an inscription dating to 207 AD. Archaeologists are making a 3D record of the markings and expert Mike Collins says they were a valuable insight to Hadrian’s Wall and also offered “some very human and personal touches”.
2 GRAFFITI was common in the ancient Roman world. Thousands of examples have been found on the walls of Pompeii including lines like “Gaius Pumidius Diphilus was here” and “Marcus loves Spendusa”. Not everyone was a fan though, and one person wrote: “O walls, you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have not already collapsed in ruin.”
3 THE urge to paint and scratch on walls goes back even further. Hand stencils and animal and human figures at the El Castillo Cave in Spain are more than 40,800 years old. It is thought the markings were created by the first anatomically modern humans in Europe or perhaps Neanderthals.
4 THE final messages of many World War One soldiers were discovered at Berwyn Station in Wales. The poignant farewell messages to loved ones included serviceman Alfred James Candy’s graffiti saying “I want this baby” to his unborn child. He sadly died in action and never returned to see his offspring. 5 GRAFFITI drawn by men who refused to fight in the First World War has also been found at Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire. The messages were drawn on the prison block walls as the men awaited court martial. They included hundreds of pencil drawings, political slogans, portraits of loved ones, hymns and poetry. 6 THE west side of the Berlin Wall was covered in graffiti and artists from all over the world added their contribution. One Russian painted Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and DDR’s Erich Honecker kissing with a caption that translated as “God! Help me stay alive”. 7 GRAFFITI has now become an art form and James Cochran, aka Jimmy C, was granted permission by Network Rail to create an image of William Shakespeare on a wall in Clink Street, near London’s Globe Theatre, in 2016. Jimmy C is also well known for his David Bowie piece in Brixton and it became a focal point for tributes after the singer’s death. 8 STREET artist Qubek created the Bee Memorial in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in 2017 following the terrorist attack in the city. It features 22 worker bees – each one representing one of the 22 innocent people who died in the bombing. Qubek said he wanted to create something “simple but effective”. 9 EUROPE’S largest street art and graffiti festival was held in Bristol last year. Around 400 artists took part in the three day event. Among those painting the town red were artists such as Insane51, L7m, London Police, Nomad Clan, Odeith and Paris. 10 BANKSY’S work has appeared all over the world. In 2005 he installed a hoax cave painting in the British Museum in London depicting a spear-wielding caveman pushing a supermarket trolley. On his website he noted the 10inx6in rock “remained in the collection for quite some time”.