Laudator Temporis Acti

Frank Frost Abbott (1860-1924), "Municipal Politics in Pompeii," in his Society and Politics in Ancient Rome: Essays and Sketches (1909; rpt. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912), pp. 3-21 (at 14-18):

Among the group inscriptions two or three are found which deserve passing mention. One reads "I beg you to support A. Vettius Firmus as sedile. He deserves well of the state. I ask for your support. Ball-players, support him."¹ Other still more astonishing recommendations are found in the announcements: "All the sleepy men nominate Vatia as sedile," "the petty thieves propose Vatia for the sedileship," and "I ask your support for M. Cerrinius Vatia for the sedileship. All the late drinkers nominate him. Florus and Fructus painted this notice."² We are not surprised at the eagerness which Firmus's friend shows to win the support of the ball-players. They were held in high favor by the people. One of them in his epitaph celebrates his popularity, and records the fact that he had played ball frequently with the emperor.³ As for the "sleepy-heads," the "sneak thieves," and the "heavy drinkers," the support of such people is sought to-day by some politicians, but they are studiously kept in the background for fear of frightening away serious citizens. Shall we conclude that the Pompeians were less scrupulous or fastidious on this point than we are? The city was a wicked one, and its people were surprisingly frank in recognizing the existence of human vices and weaknesses, and scholars seem to be agreed in regarding these three recommendations as striking illustrations of Pompeian depravity or of Latin frankness in such matters. In this conclusion they find confirmation in the fact that the placard of the "heavy drinkers" was put on the wall by the professional painters Florus and Fructus, who, as we have noticed above, were working in the interest of Vatia. This hypothesis, however, seems to me to put too great a strain on our credulity. Is it possible that Vatia was the candidate of the underworld, and stood for a "wide open town"? That explanation seems improbable, because some of his supporters whose names appear in other posters were men of standing in the community. Possibly these organizations are social clubs which have taken humorous names, or have good-humoredly accepted a sobriquet given them by others, but there would seem to be no parallel to such a name in any of the other hundreds of guild and club inscriptions which have come down to us. It is much more probable that all three posters are the work of a wag or of a malicious opponent of Vatia who wished to intimate that all the bad elements in the city were rallying to his support. The announcement at the end of the third notice that Vatia's employees, "Florus and Fructus, painted it" would only show a keener sense of humor on the part of the supposed wag, or would be a more convincing proof of the authenticity of the placard in the eyes of the passer-by, if it emanates from one of Vatia's enemies. This explanation is supported by the fact that these three recommendations are all found in the same street and, therefore, may well be the work of the same person. A friend suggests that the same humorous or malicious hand was at work in painting the inscription quoted above, "To Vatia for the sedileship Verus Innoces gives his support," and that this supporter of Vatia existed only in the imagination of the composer of the notice. If we accept this conjecture we may be sure that the quick-witted Pompeian would see the point in the statement that Verus Innoces, or "the truly guileless man," was supporting Vatia in his candidacy for the office of police commissioner, especially when he read on neighboring walls the endorsements which Vatia had received from the three groups mentioned above.

¹ A. Vettium Firmum aed(ilem) o(ro) v(os) f(aciatis). Dignum rei publicae. O(ro) v(os) f(aciatis). Pilicrepi facite, 1147.

² Vatiam aed. rogant ... dormientes universi, 575; Vatiam aed. furunculi rog., 576; M. Cerrinium Vatiam aed. o. v. f. Seribibi universi rogant. Scr(ipsit) Florus cum Fructo, 581.

³ CIL. VI, 9797.

References in footnotes 1-2 are to Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum IV.