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When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, the ash that buried Pompeii also preserved thousands of messages on its walls: election notices, jokes, love notes, prices and insults written by ordinary Romans.

Pompeii, AD 79

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Scholars have recorded more than 10,000 painted and scratched wall inscriptions from Pompeii and the nearby towns buried by the same eruption. Since 1871 they have been published in volume IV of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, the great collection of Latin inscriptions. Painted notices urged people to vote for candidates in local elections. Scratched graffiti include fans of the gladiator Celadus calling him the girls' heartthrob, and a weary writer telling a wall he is amazed it has not collapsed under so much scribbling. Others list prices, record debts, greet friends or simply leave a name. The spelling and grammar are often those of everyday speech rather than of literature, so the walls are one of the best sources for the spoken Latin that later grew into Italian, Spanish and the other Romance languages.

Türkçe oku
Vezüv Yanardağı MS 79'da patladığında Pompeii'yi gömen kül, kentin duvarlarındaki binlerce yazıyı da korudu: sıradan Romalıların yazdığı seçim ilanları, şakalar, aşk notları, fiyatlar ve hakaretler.
Pompeii, MS 79

Araştırmacılar Pompeii'den ve aynı patlamayla gömülen yakın kentlerden 10.000'i aşkın boyalı ya da kazınmış duvar yazısı kaydetti. Bu yazılar 1871'den beri, Latince yazıtların büyük derlemesi Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'un dördüncü cildinde yayımlanıyor. Boyayla yazılmış ilanlar, halkı yerel seçimlerde belirli adaylara oy vermeye çağırıyordu. Kazınmış yazılar arasında gladyatör Celadus'u “kızların iç çektiği adam” diye öven hayranlar da var, bunca karalamanın ağırlığı altında hâlâ yıkılmadığı için duvara şaştığını yazan bıkkın biri de. Başkaları fiyat listeleri, borç kayıtları, dostlara selamlar ya da yalnızca bir isim bırakmış. Yazım ve dilbilgisi çoğu zaman edebiyat dilinden çok gündelik konuşmayı yansıtır. Bu yüzden bu duvarlar, zamanla İtalyancaya, İspanyolcaya ve öbür Roman dillerine dönüşecek halk Latincesini tanımak için en iyi kaynaklardandır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Pompeii
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