Italian archaeologists recently discovered “violent” comics drawn by ancient Roman children dating back roughly 2,000 years..
The Pompeii Archaeological Park announced the discovery on May 28. The graffiti was found on a wall along Via Abbondanza, Pompeii’s main street.
Pompeii is an ancient Roman city that was buried under volcanic ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and remained largely hidden for centuries until it was officially rediscovered in the late 16th century.
The charcoal drawings show gladiators and hunters, and historians say children were routinely exposed to violence in Roman amphitheaters. In a statement translated from Italian to English, the archaeologists draw a connection between the violence children witnessed in ancient times and the brutal images children today see in popular media.
“Exposure to extreme violence, even among young children (estimated to be between five and seven years old) through video games and social media, appears not to be a unique problem today,” the group said.
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The Pompeii Archaeological Park announced on May 28 that a rare piece of ancient graffiti had been discovered. (@pompeiiparcoarcheologico via Facebook)
“difference [is] In ancient times, blood was shed in the arena, and few people considered any possible effects on the mental development of the children of Pompeii a “problem.”
In a video posted by the Pompeii Archaeological Park on May 29, archaeologist Gabriele Suftriegel explained in Italian that the cartoons were found in a courtyard where children were likely playing.
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Archaeologists say the painting depicts hunters and gladiators. (@pompeiiparcoarcheologico via Facebook)
“You can imagine that children could have played here all afternoon and drawn these pictures all over the walls, which were also the construction site of this house, probably unnoticed by adults,” he explained.
Archaeologists worked with the University of Naples Federico II to unravel the meaning of these statues, and experts concluded that they were not art or imagination, but rather reflected what the children saw in reality.
Psychologists determined that the children who drew the pictures had been exposed to real-life violence. (@pompeiiparcoarcheologico via Facebook)
“We came to the conclusion that these paintings of gladiators and animal hunters were painted from direct observation, not from painted models,” Suftriegel said in a video later translated into English. “And these were very young children, around six or seven years old, as can be seen from the figures depicted as cephalopods, that is, with legs and arms growing directly from their heads. Even today, small children draw like this.”
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“Here in Pompeii, even very young children are thought to have been exposed to extreme forms of violence, both between humans and animals, in the arena of the ancient city’s amphitheatre,” the expert added.
These paintings shed light on what childhood was like in Ancient Rome. (@pompeiiparcoarcheologico via Facebook)
The Archaeological Park of Pompeii said the discovery means the drawings “contribute to a deeper understanding of childhood in ancient Rome.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Pompeii Archaeological Park for comment.
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