You might not expect a book on the literary landscape of Pompeii to begin with discussion of a group of texts stating, cacator, cave malum (‘Shitter, watch out!’), but that's where Kristina Milnor begins her book and that decision speaks to her goal to look broadly across Pompeii for metrical graffiti. M. covers much ground in this volume, examining the literary influences on graffiti, from epigram to ekphrasis, from funerary to epistolary, from elegy to panegyric. Her perspective prioritizes the literary aspects of Pompeian graffiti, and she is deeply interested in considerations of genre and how to classify graffiti writers. The goal of her work, variously stated in the introduction, is to see the place of literature in the urban landscape of Pompeii, a goal that she ultimately accomplishes well.

The first chapter ranges widely, beginning with public inscriptions as a backdrop for the painted cacator inscriptions in Pompeii. Two of these include additional text in metre, drawing authority, she suggests, from more formal inscriptions while alluding to the tradition of epigram. Another inscription presents a joke that combines three genres: funerary epitaph, epigram and signage; a graffito of four pentameters raises questions about epigram as a literary exercise; another, well-known graffito tricks the reader into insulting himself (‘… et ego verpa qui lego’), evoking the addresses of funerary epitaphs. M. folds in painted and incised inscriptions (some issues arise in mixing these two forms) from the Tavern of Salvius, House of the Epigrams and Caupona of Euxinus, while discussion ranges from Catullus to pastoral to the satires of Persius.

M. begins the second chapter by evoking literary mention of graffiti as ‘sharply critical of the actions of the powerful’ (53), then must explain why the Pompeian material does not agree with this representation. This framing skews expectations because M. does in fact locate a few poetic graffiti that provide comment on the political scene. Even if we do not fully understand the referents, comments on leading families would seem to underscore that all politics are local. Political discourse, oratory, an anecdote from Strabo and epigram come into play. Two poetic verses among the programmata elegantly endorse candidates, inspiring discussion of panegyric and ekphrasis. (It should be noted that in Pompeii the position of aedile was not a ‘fairly low-level magistracy’ (61); these were two of the four magistrates elected annually to govern the city.) Then, graffiti in the House of Iulius Polybius: a possible allusion to Euripides' Bacchae, messages naming Nero and Poppaea, and a vow for safe return (on these, see also M. Corbier in M. Corbier and J. P. Guilhembet (eds), L’Écriture dans la maison romaine (2011), 7–46). At one point, M. asks why these inscriptions would be inside a well-appointed house and repeats ideas from a generation ago: the house had been damaged in the earthquake and was no longer functioning as an élite dwelling. Yet graffiti are found in élite dwellings across Pompeii.

The third chapter begins, ‘Who wrote Pompeian graffiti?’ M. problematizes the question further, marshalling Foucault, Barthes and contemporary critical theory, and describing graffiti writers as ‘heirs to complex questions about authorial self-representation and identity’ (93) inherent in literature, especially elegy. Her interest in authorship lies more in copying, quotation and originality. After thoughtful analysis of the Tiburtinus poems, M. chooses a group of verse graffiti from the basilica for comparison, considering them written by one person. Handwriting, however, shows this series of texts was added to by multiple writers. Rather than explaining selection via Hellenistic epigram collections, it could have been interesting to consider how poetic graffiti can inspire others to respond. M. then looks to letter-writing and finds a few graffiti that show epistolary influence, yet she over-extends the model to the extremely common greetings (she counts 170) of the type secundus primae sal. The wide popularity of these greetings and their regular use of sal, rather than salutem, likely suggests the influence of other graffiti rather than familiarity with letter-writing. M. argues further that these epistolary texts suggest Romans were taught to consider authorship ‘as a collaborative or corporate enterprise’ (130). This over-reliance on generic influence obscures another important point, namely, that lots and lots of people were writing graffiti.

Chs 4 and 5 are the strongest parts of the book. In ch. 4, M. focuses on a single, lengthy, exceptional graffito (CIL 4.5296) and provides a thoughtful reading of the text and associated issues: Who wrote? Who was the audience? Was the writer actually composing or making a selection of material? Is there a change of speakers? What do the metre and inconsistencies add to understanding the message? The additional challenge here is that feminine forms are used for both writer and addressee. Could a woman actually have written this? M. makes a decent case for it. Ch. 5 focuses on quotations of Vergil, and previously appeared as a chapter in W. A. Johnson and H. N. Parker (eds), Ancient Literacies: the Culture of Reading in Ancient Greece and Rome (2009), 288–319. It presents an excellent treatment of popular quotation of the Aeneid, with an appendix listing all quotations from Vergil's works. Ch. 4 likewise includes an appendix on the location of CIL 4.5296, helpfully providing the reader with a better sense of space in Pompeii. If M. had begun her monograph with ch. 4 or 5, close treatment of an especially interesting poetic graffito or survey and analysis of quotation of literary passages, it might have been an easier point of access to this material. Beginning rather with questions of authority and influence, and a heterogeneous mix of texts, M. conveys how varied and idiosyncratic these personal writings can be and how challenging it can be to study them.

Kruschwitz and Varone are surprisingly all but absent from the bibliography, as is G. Stefani and A. Varone's reference work, Titulorum pictorum Pompeianorum … Imagines (2009).