Pompeii: Election graffiti

The active political life of Pompeii is well-illustrated by the number of election notices found throughout the town.  Over 1500 such notices have been discovered in Pompeii.  These notices were commonly painted on open wall space, usually in a bright red color - although black paint was occasionally used as in this example. 

The name of the candidate generally came first and was painted in a larger size than the rest of the notice.  Beneath the candidate's name was the name of the office he sought and frequently the name of the supporter or group of supporters was included. The example above supports Gnaeus Helvius Sabinus' candidacy for aedile.