Graffiti was a powerful form of protest in ancient Rome – as Gladiator II shows

By Claire Holleran, Associate Professor Classics and Ancient History, University of Exeter

Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for Gladiator II.

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II features a scene in which a senator, seated at a pavement cafe in Rome, reads a printed newspaper. The moment has caused history buffs around the world to wince – the printing press wouldn’t be invented for another 1,200 years. But the film also depicts a much more authentic form of mass communication in the ancient city: writing on walls.

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