Ancient Pompeii’s Hidden Messages, Preserved in Graffiti | Jacqueline DiBiasie-Sammons | TED

翻译人员: Jacky He 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

On Saturday, August 2, at around 9:30pm,

8 月 2 日，星期六 晚上大约 9 点 30 分，

Iuvenilla was born.

卢维尼拉出生了。

While I do have a daughter, her name isn’t Iuvenilla,

我的确有个女儿， 但她的名字并不是卢维尼拉。

and she wasn't born on August 2.

也不在 8 月 2 日出生。

This was a graffito,

这是一件涂鸦，

a message written by a proud papa or a proud mama,

一位自豪的父亲或者母亲

on the walls of ancient Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago.

在近两千年前于古代庞贝的 城墙上写下的讯息。

And while we might send a birth announcement

我们可能会发布出生公告

or take to social media,

或者借助社交媒体，

this Pompeiian took to the walls to exclaim their happy news

而这位庞贝居民利用城墙 宣布了他们的好消息，

and even accompanied the message

甚至在消息后边附上了

with a drawing of little Iuvenilla herself.

小卢维尼拉的画像。

The reason why we have this graffito and thousands like them

我们见到了这件涂鸦及 数千件类似作品的原因，

was the destructive and deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

是维苏威火山在公元前 79 年 致命的毁灭性喷发。

This volcanic eruption preserved this graffito for us today.

这次火山爆发使得 这块粗糙雕刻保留至今。

We might wonder what happened to little Iuvenilla,

我们可能会思考 小卢维尼拉的命运如何，

likely only a few weeks old when the eruption happened.

她在喷发时也许才几周大。

I hope she was able to escape with her family as many did.

我希望她像许多人一样， 和家人顺利逃离了。

I've been interested in the Romans since I was little

我从小便对罗马人，

and Pompeii, especially,

尤其是庞贝感兴趣，

as I share my birthday with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24.

因为我的生日，8 月 24 日， 是维苏威火山喷发的那一天。

I started learning Latin in high school,

我在高中开始学拉丁文，

and while I enjoyed the language

虽然我喜欢此语言，

and enjoyed learning about the Romans,

也乐意了解罗马人，

I couldn't connect with the stories of Julius Caesar

但我很难代入凯撒大帝的故事，

or even the love poetry of Ovid.

或者是奥维德的情诗。

I wanted to know what were ordinary Romans doing and thinking.

我想知道普通罗马人的生活和思想。

And in college, I was introduced to Latin graffiti.

读大学时，我了解到了拉丁涂鸦。

Now for the first time I could hear the thoughts and words of ordinary Romans.

我仿佛第一次听到了 普通罗马人的言语和想法。

When I went to Pompeii, I could put myself in their sandals

当我去到庞贝， 我穿上了他们的拖鞋

standing next to a column,

站在立柱旁，

imagining the messages they might write to one another.

想象着他们写给他人的讯息。

Line graffiti allow us to hear the thoughts and words of ordinary people

线条涂鸦使我们得以认识古代

who lived in antiquity.

普通平民的言语、想法。

But I believe by studying Roman graffiti,

但我认为通过研究罗马涂鸦，

we can learn a lot more about what makes us human

我们能学到很多关于人性

and a lot more about ourselves too.

和关于我们自身的东西。

Now, when you hear the word graffiti,

那么，当你听到“涂鸦”这个词，

you're probably imagining spray-painted messages in urban centers,

你可能会想到城市中心的喷枪艺术、

bathroom graffiti or maybe graffiti artists like Banksy.

厕所涂鸦和 班克斯之类的涂鸦艺术家。

But ancient graffiti were much different than modern graffiti.

但古代涂鸦较现代涂鸦截然不同。

Modern graffiti are typically illegal or at least taboo in cities today.

现代涂鸦通常是违法或不受欢迎的。

Ancient graffiti were welcome or even permitted.

古代涂鸦是被鼓励，甚至被允许的。

They appear in nearly every space in the ancient city:

它们几乎出现在了 古城中的所有地点：

temples, tombs, bars, public spaces and even inside homes.

庙宇、墓地、酒馆、 公众场地，甚至住宅内。

Almost nothing was off limits.

几乎没什么是越界的。

Modern graffiti are typically written in spray paint

现代涂鸦通常是用喷漆写成，

or scratched into a surface like a bathroom stall.

或者刻在像厕所间的墙面上。

Ancient graffiti were typically scratched into the wall plaster

古代涂鸦通常是刻在墙壁石灰里，

using a sharp instrument like a stylus or a nail.

利用尖锐工具，像手写笔、钉子。

In fact, our English word "graffiti" comes from the Italian word meaning "scratched"

事实上，“涂鸦”这一英语单词来自于 一个意大利单词，意思是“刻过的”，

and was coined when 19th century archaeologists first encountered

创造于 19 世纪， 当时考古学家第一次见到

the scratched graffiti of Pompeii.

庞贝的雕刻涂鸦。

Ancient graffiti were written by a wide variety of people,

古代涂鸦的作者鱼龙混杂，

and they're some of our best evidence

它们也是文学历史中

for people marginalized from the literary record,

被边缘化人群的最好证据，

like women and the enslaved.

如妇女和奴隶。

Now the reason why the Pompeiians wrote so many graffiti

庞贝人刻下这么多涂鸦

is they didn't have access to inexpensive writing tools like paper.

是因为他们没有廉价的 书写材料，如纸张。

So they took to the walls to send messages to one another,

所以他们利用墙面传达讯息，

record observations

记录所见，

or even record things using tally marks

甚至用计数符号记事，

in the same way we might use scrap paper,

像我们用草稿纸、手机

our phones or even social media.

以及社交媒体那般。

Now on the screen now are two of the most famous graffiti from Pompeii.

屏幕上是庞贝 最为著名的两个涂鸦。

Unfortunately, both of them don't survive for us today,

不幸的是，它们未能留存至今日，

but drawings made at the time of their excavation

但它们出土时的图画

allow us to see what they once looked like.

让我们得以看见其原先的模样。

The one on the top says,

这上面的意思是，

"This is the labyrinth,

“这便是迷宫，

the Minotaur lives here,"

牛头怪在这里。”

and is accompanied by a drawing of a labyrinth from mythology.

后面是来自神话的迷宫绘画。

This graffito was written inside a private person’s home.

这幅涂鸦是在居民私宅里出现的。

There wasn't the same taboo about writing in personal space like there is today.

当时没有像现在这样 在私人空间刻字的限制。

I doubt any of us would be too happy if somebody came into our living room

我不觉得任何人会在有人 进入自家客厅并写下这条消息后

and wrote a message such as this.

感到高兴。

The bottom graffiti shows us

下面的涂鸦告诉我们

that the Pompeiians themselves had a keen awareness

庞贝人敏锐地

of how many graffiti covered their walls.

意识到了他们墙上的涂鸦之多。

It says, "Oh wall, I'm amazed you haven't fallen down

意思是，“墙啊， 我很惊奇，你承载着

holding up so many scribblings."

这些涂鸦而未倒塌。”

This message was repeated several times throughout Pompeii.

此信息在庞贝多次出现。

This particular one comes from the amphitheater,

这条信息来此露天剧场，

which is the space in which the gladiators would fight.

即角斗士比赛的地方。

Now, most graffiti in Pompeii were scratched as I mentioned,

我提到过，庞贝大部分 涂鸦是手刻的，

but some were written with perishable materials

但有些是用消耗性材料写的，

like charcoal and chalk.

像木炭和粉笔。

These graffiti are the subject of my present research,

这些涂鸦也是我目前研究的主题，

and they've been almost totally ignored by modern scholars

而它们几近被现代学者完全忽略，

in part because very few of them survived to this day.

部分原因是它们很少留存至今天。

This is a shame,

这非常遗憾，

as these graffiti are often more flourishing,

因为这些涂鸦通常 更流畅、新颖、优雅，

inventive and elegant than their inscribed counterparts.

相较于雕刻的那些。

It was far easier to draw on top of the wall plaster

在石灰墙上绘画要容易得多，

than to inscribe into it.

而不是刻进去。

Now here's an example of one of these graffiti.

这里是这种涂鸦的一个例子。

This one was written on one of the gates leading out of the city,

这个是在通往城外的一扇大门上，

and it was likely made with chalk or maybe even just a clod of earth.

用的可能是粉笔或者只是粘土。

It says, "Victor with Phyloterus everywhere."

意思是，“维克多和费洛特瑞斯 一起无处不在。”

You can see the very elegant Roman cursive in which this message was written.

你能看到这段文字 非常优雅的罗马斜体。

Can you trace the large flourishes on the V, Y and R letters?

你看到 V, Y, R 字母上的长线吗?

The author included a playful branch to the right to complete the message.

作者还在右边 添了条树枝，给信息收尾。

Now, just above this one was a graffito made in charcoal.

在这条之上是 一件由木炭画下的涂鸦。

This time the name Victor, with a flourishing V.

这一次，维克多的名字， 和拉长的 V。

And right below it, a portrait, maybe of Victor himself.

而在正下方，是一副画像， 也许是维克多本人。

We can just make out the right side of his face, his eye and his nose.

我们只能辨认出他的右脸颊、 眼睛和鼻子。

Now, I'm interested in ancient aesthetics.

我对古代审美感兴趣。

What does the way the graffito was written tell us about the person who wrote it

这个雕刻风格反映出 这个人的哪些个性

and their motivations?

以及动机？

Now, here's a graffito you don't need to know Latin to understand.

这是你不需懂拉丁文 就能理解的雕刻。

This one was inscribed into one of the bathhouses of the city.

这一个被刻在城市里的澡堂内。

Can you read it?

你读得出来吗？

How about now?

现在呢？

That's right.

对了。

This was originally written upside down.

原本是上下颠倒的。

Now we don't know if the author wrote it upside down while standing right side up

我们不清楚作者是站着将其反着写，

or if they twisted their body to write it upside down.

还是扭着身子倒过来写的。

But either way it shows us the playfulness of so many of the Roman graffiti.

但不论怎样，这反映出了 罗马涂鸦中的趣味性。

Have you figured out what it says?

你能读懂吗？

What if I do this?

这样呢？

This was an alphabet.

这是个字母表。

It's the Latin alphabet interspersed forwards and backwards.

这是改变次序的拉丁字母表。

So it starts with A,

那么它从 A 开始，

then it goes to X, which is the last letter of the Roman alphabet,

到 X，即罗马字母表的最后位，

then B,

然后 B，

then U, which is the second to last,

再到 U，本来是倒数第二个，

then C, then T, which is the third to last,

再是 C，接着 T， 原本是倒数第三个，

and so on and so forth.

依此类推。

So we have the alphabet written upside down

所以最终是颠倒的，

and interspersed forwards and backwards.

次序更改的字母表。

It doesn't get more playful than that.

太有趣了。

And we can see a utilitarian message such as an alphabet

我们看到字母表这类实用信息

could even be written with elegant writing.

可以被优雅地书写出来。

The C and the D letter tails are so long, they cross.

C 和 D 字母拖得很长， 尾部交叉起来。

For the Pompeiians, it wasn’t enough to write on the walls.

对于庞贝人来讲，光在墙上写字还不够，

They wanted to write beautifully.

他们想漂亮地书写。

Now looking at graffiti in isolation such as this is interesting,

看看这些独立的涂鸦挺新奇，

but we can gain so much more

但我们结合背景

when we examine them in context

能够发现更多

to understand how these graffiti relate to each other

这些涂鸦之间的联系，

and the places they were written in.

以及它们创作的地点。

But to do that we're going to have to travel to ancient Pompeii.

但以达到这个目的， 我们得前去古代庞贝。

Now I wish we could all go there together.

我希望我们能一起走一趟，

Instead I'm going to take us there virtually.

但我就虚拟地带大家过去吧。

We're going to walk down one avenue in ancient Pompeii

我们将走在古代庞贝的大道上，

to find the graffiti that were once written there

去寻找曾刻在那儿的涂鸦，

and figure out what can these graffiti tell us

并找出这些涂鸦能告诉我们什么，

about life in antiquity and life in the 21st century.

关于古代和 21 世纪的生活。

This is our avenue that we’ll be walking down,

这是我们将踏上的道路，

the Vicolo del Menandro,

Vicolo del Menandro，

a small street in a residential district.

住宅区的一条窄街。

We're one block off from the main avenue in town,

我们离镇上的主干道差一条街，

in between the theater and the amphitheater.

在剧院和露天剧场之间。

As we walk down the avenue, we see many names.

当我们沿着道路前行，

Most of the names are male,

大部分的名字是男性，

as we believe many more men than women were literate in ancient Pompeii,

因为我们认为古代庞贝 男性识字的居多，

but some female names jump out to us too.

但也出现过女性名。

It used to be assumed that very few women in the ancient world were literate,

曾经的设想是 古代很少有女性识字，

but graffiti from Pompeii have truly complicated that picture.

但庞贝的涂鸦使事情显得更复杂了。

Amongst all the names,

在所有的名字中，

we see a greeting.

我们看到了一句问候。

This greeting says,

问候是，

"Prima sends many greetings to Secundus."

“普瑞玛向塞昆杜斯 送去很多祝福。”

Now Prima and Secundus mean first and second in Latin.

普瑞玛和塞昆杜斯在 拉丁文中意思是第一和第二，

So these might be names or they might be nicknames.

有可能是名字， 也有可能是昵称。

So we have a message from one person to the other.

这是一位给另一位的通讯。

Well, why did Prima write her message here on the facade of the wall plaster?

为什么普瑞玛将 她的信息写在了石灰墙面上？

Well, partly to get her message to Secundus

其实，是将信息送至塞昆杜斯，

and to make sure the rest of Pompeii could read it.

同时对其他庞贝居民可见。

This is the equivalent of a tweet or a Snapchat.

这相当于是推特或朋友圈。

Wall posts have been around for over 2,000 years.

墙面公告存在了两千多年。

Now we can take a look at how Prima wrote her message.

我们来看看普瑞玛 是怎么写她的信息的。

She wrote it in Roman cursive,

她用的罗马斜体，

but we can see it looks a lot different

但我们看到这和我之前

than the charcoal and chalk examples I showed earlier.

展示的木炭和粉笔差异很大。

It's difficult to inscribe into wall plaster

刻进石灰墙中比较难，

so some of the letter forms become economical,

所以某些字母形态被简化了，

such as the Es which are underlined on the slide.

像加下划线的 E，

They become just two vertical marks.

它们变成了两道竖杠。

We can see though that Prima included an interpunct,

我们可以看到普瑞玛加了个间点，

a horizontally centered dot between the first and second word

首个和次个单词间水平居中的点，

and I literally mean first and second.

“第一”，“第二”，

That's what those words mean in Latin.

是两个单词拉丁文中的含义。

This interpunct helped to show where the first word stopped

这个间点表示第一个词结束，

and the second word began and was a mark of elegant writing.

第二个词开始， 是优雅文体的标志。

Now, just below this graffito there were several drawings.

在这个涂鸦正下方是几幅绘画。

Unfortunately we don't have these ones today,

不幸的是， 如今这些都烟消云散，

but I've drawn them here to show you what they might have looked like

但我画在这里，向大家展示 从庞贝的其他绘画中

based on other drawings found at Pompeii.

得出它们可能的样子。

There were four boars, three birds,

上面有四只野猪、三只鸟、

a gladiator, a ship and a partridge in a pear tree.

一位角斗士、一艘船 和一只树上的鹧鸪。

I'm kidding about the last one.

最后一个我是开玩笑的。

Now, scholars such as Katherine Huntley have used developmental psychology

像凯瑟琳·亨特利（Katherine Huntley） 这样的学者通过发展心理学

to propose that some drawings were the work of children,

提出一些绘画是小孩的作品，

but others like these could be the work of adults, too,

但这些也可以是成人所作，

replicating things they'd seen or heard in picture form.

将他们的所闻所见用图像表现出来。

My point here is that just like the urge to write on a wall is as old as time,

我想说的是就如在墙上 写字的冲动未曾变化，

I believe the urge to doodle is a feature of the human spirit.

作画的冲动也是人类本性。

Now, a little bit further down our wall

再往下看这面墙，

we might have a reply from Secundus to Prima.

我们也许会找到赛昂杜斯 对普瑞玛的回复。

Again, these might be nicknames,

同样，可能是昵称，

so we're not sure, but it's possible.

所以我们不确定，但也有可能。

This message says, "Secundus too greet his Prima everywhere.

这条信息说到，“赛昂杜斯 也在到处问候着普瑞玛。

I ask, mistress, that you love me."

我的情人，我求你爱我。“

Now let's look at the way Secundus wrote his message.

那么我们来看看 赛昂杜斯写信息的方式。

He didn't write it in the Roman cursive like Prima

他没有像普瑞玛一样用罗马斜体，

and definitely not like the flourishing cursive we started with.

也不是我们提到的夸张斜体。

Instead, he wrote his message in capital letters

而是，他是用大写字母写的这条信息，

so that Prima and the rest of Pompeii wouldn't miss it.

这样普瑞玛和庞贝居民 就无法无视它了。

And if we look, he accentuated the message with the box surrounding it

再细看，他用边框强调了他的信息，

as a way to highlight the message and to make it look more official

突出了信息， 看起来更加正式，

like official inscriptions.

像政府的篆刻。

If we look at the way Secundus spelled his words,

如果我们看赛昂杜斯拼写的方式，

he left off the [As] on most of the words,

他把多数词语里的 A 去掉，

likely because they weren't being pronounced at the time.

因为它们在当时不发音。

If you've ever said "gonna" instead of "going to,"

如果你曾经用 “gonna” 代替 “going to”，

you're familiar with this sort of phenomenon.

你是熟悉这种情况的。

Just below this message, Secundus wrote two further greetings.

在文字下边，赛昂杜斯 又写了两条问候。

Unfortunately we don't have drawings of these ones,

不幸的是我们没有这些图像，

but the excavator who discovered them

但发现它们的考古者

said that they were written by the same person

提到它们是同一个人写的，

and using the same instrument.

用的相同器具。

So they probably looked pretty similar to the message above.

所以它们应该看着差不多。

And these ones say, "Secundus greets his Prima, Secundus."

意思是，“塞昂杜斯问候 他的普瑞玛，塞昂杜斯”；

"Secundus greets his Prima."

“赛昂杜斯问候他的普瑞玛”。

Can we just feel Secundus's love through these messages?

大家能从这些文字中 体会到塞昂杜斯的爱吗？

Again, Secundus has left off the A in spelling Prima's name,

他去掉了普瑞玛名字中的 A，

all three times.

三次皆是这样。

Probably because it wasn't pronounced.

大概因为它不发音。

I tell my Latin students, "Don't be afraid of making mistakes.

我告诉我的拉丁文学生， “不要害怕犯错。

Even the Romans made them."

就算是罗马人也不完美。”

Now, why did Secundus and Prima write these messages to one another?

为什么赛昂杜斯和普瑞玛 要互相传达这些信息呢？

Well, partly it was to get their messages to the other person.

部分原因是将信息传递过去。

But I believe there's something else going on here too.

但我认为还有一些什么原因，

Part of it is to take part in this thrill of discovery.

也许是新发现的刺激感。

How many of us have left a sticky note for somebody

有多少人为别人留过便签，

or put a note in a lunch box

把纸条塞进午餐盒里，

or written on somebody's social media to find later?

或者在社交媒体上留言， 留给别人发现？

Oh, come on, everybody's hands should be up.

说真的，每个人都该举手的。

Right.

好的。

You want to get your message to the other person,

你意图将你的信息传递给另一个人，

but it's also taking part in the thrill of discovery,

但也包含了发现的乐趣，

knowing you're leaving something behind for somebody to find later.

知道你留下了什么，供人之后发现。

And I believe that's a motivation for these greeters in Pompeii.

我认为这也属于 庞贝问候者的动机。

Now we continue down our walk and we find more evidence of elegant writing.

我们接着走，会发现更多 优雅书写的证据。

Here we have a farewell greeting, "Veneria, goodbye."

这是句送别， “威尼利亚，再见。”

And the ends of the letters made to look like branches.

而字母的尾部像枝杈那般。

Just below it is a graffito that has stumped scholars.

下面是让学者困惑的一个涂鸦。

It doesn't really make sense in Latin.

在拉丁文里缺乏逻辑。

I believe it was a first attempt for the graffito above.

我认为这是以上涂鸦的初次尝试，

Or perhaps somebody was replicating the elegant graffito above

或者谁在复制上面的优雅涂鸦，

in rather simpler form, and they weren’t as effective.

以更简便的形式， 但成效不佳。

These two graffiti show us the true elegance that was possible

这两种涂鸦向我们展示了 一些拉丁涂鸦中

in some of these Latin graffiti.

真正的优雅。

As we continue down our avenue,

随着我们继续前进，

we end with a graffito that shows us a group

我们看到了一个涂鸦描述了

almost completely left out of the literary record,

一个几乎不存在于 文字史中的群体，

and these are the enslaved.

即那些奴隶。

This graffito says,

这个涂鸦意思为，

"Amianthus, slave of Coelius Caldus, a clothes washer."

“埃米安瑟斯，考利乌斯·卡尔杜斯的 奴隶，洗衣工。”

Now, clothes washing was a notoriously dirty business in antiquity.

在古代，洗衣服 是出了名的脏活。

One of the materials used to wash clothes was urine.

用于洗衣服的材料之一是尿。

While we wish we could know more about Amianthus's life,

虽然我们希望能够知道更多 关于埃米安瑟斯的生活，

this graffito has at least given us the name

这个涂鸦至少给了我们

of one of the many enslaved

那么多在历史中隐姓埋名的

whose lives have been lost to history.

其中一位奴隶的名字。

We end our tour with one final graffito.

我们来用最后一个涂鸦结束此程。

This one says, "On September 3, Satura was here."

这写着，“9 月 3 日，撒图拉到过这里。”

How many of us have seen a graffito such as this

有多少人看到过类似这样、

or such as this

这样的涂鸦，

while waiting at the train station or using the restroom?

在火车站等候或用洗手间的时候？

Satura could hardly have known

撒图拉很难预见到，

that a destructive and deadly eruption in 79 AD

79 年一场致命的毁灭性喷发

would preserve this graffito

会留下这个涂鸦

and thereby her memory for us today.

和她的记忆至今。

The urge to write on the wall,

在墙上写字的本能，

to leave your name behind in space and time,

让你的名字穿越空间和时间，

is as old as time.

是一直存在的。

While I am by no means advocating

虽然我不倡导

that we all go out and start writing graffiti,

大家跑出去涂鸦，

I hope we can consider what messages we're leaving behind

我希望我们能考虑自己留下来的信息，

and what we hope will last for the next generation.

我们希望为我们的下一代留下什么。

Thank you

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）