Bolchazy-Carducci Pub.
An introduction to wall inscriptions from Pompeii and Herculaneum; introduction, inscriptions with notes, historical commentary, vocabulary.
Wallace (classics, U. of Massachusetts) examines the dipinti and graffiti of these doomed cities (particularly Herculaneum) which then, as now, were written primarily by the less educated. He starts by introducing the inscriptions and their orthographic and linguistic features. He continues with a representative sample of wall inscriptions from Pompeii sorted by purpose, such as electoral and gladiatorial announcements, advertisements, lost and found, and public statements. He follows with graffiti such as salutations and wishes, curses and insults (very little has changed from that time in this category), love and lust (ditto), and citations from Latin poets. He closes with dipinti and graffiti from Herculaneum, facsimiles, abbreviations, an index of proper names, and a vocabulary. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
