Pompeii never ceases to amaze. Where for over two hundred years it was thought everything had already been seen and told, today stories of real life resurface: hastily declared love, ferocious insults, incitements, scenes of gladiatorial combat.
It is the passageway that connected the theater area to the Via Stabiana, a space crossed every year by millions of visitors and which, thanks to the most advanced technologies, speaks again.
Nearly 300 inscriptions emerge on the walls of this room: approximately 200 already known and 79 recently identified. Short phrases, sometimes crude, others surprisingly intimate, convey the direct voice of the ancient Pompeians. There is Erato loving—"Erato amat," "Erato loves..."—there is a drawing of a gladiatorial combat, but also invectives, jokes, and prayers entrusted to the gods. Traces that closely resemble the writings on the walls of contemporary cities or the messages that flow today in chat rooms and on social networks.
The project that led to this rediscovery is called Bruits de couloir ("Corridor Rumors") and was conceived by Louis Autin and Éloïse Letellier-Taillefer of Sorbonne University and Marie-Adeline Le Guennec of the University of Quebec in Montreal, in collaboration with the Pompeii Archaeological Park. The research, conducted in two campaigns in 2022 and 2025, led to a comprehensive reinterpretation of the corridor graffiti, as reported in the E-Journal degli Scavi di Pompei.
The approach is multidisciplinary, combining epigraphy, archaeology, philology, and digital humanities. A key aspect is the use of RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging), a computational photography technique that allows for the observation of surfaces under different lighting conditions, revealing engravings previously imperceptible to the naked eye. In this way, more than two centuries after the 1794 excavation, previously unseen details are still emerging.
Among the already known inscriptions, messages stand out that convey the full vitality of this public space: "I'm in a hurry; take care, my Sava, make sure you love me!"; or the colorful insult: "Miccio-cio-cio, you broke your father's stomach while he was shitting; look how Miccio is doing!" And even declarations of love entrusted to divine protection: "Methe, slave of Cominia, of Atella, loves Chresto in her heart. May the Venus of Pompeii be propitious to both of them and may they always live in harmony."
"Technology is the key that opens new rooms of the ancient world, and we must also share those rooms with the public," explained Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. "We are working on a project to protect and enhance the writings, of which there are over 10 throughout Pompeii: an immense heritage. Only the use of technology can guarantee a future for all this memory of life lived."
The work doesn't stop there. A 3D platform is being developed that will integrate photogrammetry, RTI data, and epigraphic metadata, creating an innovative tool for the joint visualization and annotation of the inscriptions. At the same time, the Park has planned to cover the corridor to protect the plasterwork and preserve this extraordinary concentration of ancient voices over time.
Thus Pompeii, once again, demonstrates that the past is not immobile: all it takes is the right technology to make it speak again.
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