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3. Roman writing techniques
and materials
here are two basic Roman handwriting techniques: scratching
Tinto a surface and writing onto it with ink or paint. Usually,
pen and ink are associated with papyrus, parchment and wooden
leaf tablets, while scratching with a stylus or other pointed objects
was predominantly used for wax tablets, ceramics and soft metals. Fig. 8: Graffito on Samian ware from Lyon (France), showing a
However, it is common to find ink and paint inscriptions as well as drawing of Mercury along with the inscription Mercurio (‘To Mercury’).
scratched inscriptions on ceramics, and the occasional ink writing Lugdunum Musée & Théâtres Romains. © Morgane Andrieu.
on metal is also found. Painted inscriptions are best known on
pottery and walls.
walls of Pompeii, for example suggesting that a certain Cn. Helvius
Researchers distinguish different techniques used to write on these Sabinus and M. Samellius Modestus would make great aediles (CIL
various surfaces and the results by using specific terminology. IV 6616, see Kruschwitz 1999).
For writing scratched into a surface that was not intended primarily When broken ceramic vessels or sherds were repurposed for writing
for that purpose, researchers generally use the term ‘graffito’. the term used is ostraca, referring to the objects rather than the
Graffiti are usually short, and they can include drawings as well writing mode. The use of this term is not always consistent, but
as writing and can combine the two. They are, for example, found it can be used for sherds with both writing in ink and scratched
on tiles and pottery (often post cocturam, after firing, but also ante writing. Inscriptions on ostraca can be just a letter or two, but they
cocturam), on stucco covering walls, on wooden barrels or on the include long texts such as a military report on an attack written on
stone steps of a theatre. Their contents range widely and include a broken amphora from Krokodilo (Egypt, O.Krok. 1.87).
owners’ marks, votive inscriptions and the accounts of sexual
encounters. Writing could also be formed with a number of small holes or
indentations made with a pointed object into a surface such as lead,
Dipinto or titulus pictus refers to an inscription made with ink or paint, copper-alloy or leather. Researchers refer to these as ‘punched’
usually with a brush and again usually on surfaces not primarily inscriptions. They can be found on labels and various metal objects
intended for writing. The best-known kinds of dipinti are commercial and this technique is frequently used for owners’ marks and votive
information on amphorae but also voting recommendations on the inscriptions.
