A politician from Pompeii had his own bakery, where he distributed bread for votes

The walls of an excavated house are decorated with colorful snakes made from stucco

Two thousand years after the satirist Juvenal joked that Roman emperors As the plebeian hordes were contented with «bread and circuses», archaeologists have uncovered physical evidence of brazen vote-buying.

Experts have discovered a house in Pompeii that was used as a campaign base for an aspiring Roman politician, as well as a bakery with a large oven for making loaves of bread.

Bread was given away freely or sold cheaply to ordinary Romans in exchange for their votes, archaeologists say. tell me.

Graffiti and inscriptions indicate that the man scheming for political office was a wealthy Roman named Aulus Rustius Verus, who hoped to be elected an aedile, or high-ranking official.

Usually such inscriptions are found on the exterior walls of a church. building where passersby could read them.

But they were found on the interior walls of the villa, indicating that the house was used as a campaign office, meeting place and dinner place.

< img src ="/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/e4124205c7e44edec4acbfbd9d0ded59.jpg" />Graffiti and inscriptions show that the man plotting to gain political office was a wealthy Roman named Aulus Rustius Verus, who hoped to be elected an aedile or high-ranking official

“Aul Rustius Verus would have understood when he was plotting to become an aedile and during his election campaign, voters relied primarily on bread for their survival,” said Maria Chiara Scappaticcio, an academic at the University of Naples Federico II and co-author of the discovery report. “Magistrates and bakers cooperated to the limit of legitimacy.”

Archaeologists have found the aspiring politician's initials on a millstone in a bakery, lending further weight to the theory that he financed the bread business «for both political and economic purposes.»

Although he may well have owned the property, it is likely , it was rented out to one of his business partners, friends or even a freed slave, said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii archaeological site.

“We know from ancient sources that there was often a connection between bakeries and politicians, because through the distribution of bread they could influence the electorate and secure votes,” he said.

“This is what would happen today » could be considered illegal campaign financing or corruption, but it was quite common at the time. Without Pompeii, we would know much less about how it all works.»

Archaeologists also discovered at the villa a lararium, a sanctuary for the house's guardian spirits, where family members performed regular rituals.

The discoveries suggest that Aulus Rustius Verus was «a very important figure in those last years of Pompeii.» before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, said Professor Zuchtriegel.

Archaeologists also discovered at the villa a lararium, a sanctuary for the guardian spirits of the house, where family members performed regular rituals.

Analysis of the shrine showed , that the last offerings to be made before the villa and the rest of Pompeii were covered in ash and volcanic debris were figs and dates.

The wall behind the shrine was decorated. with a pair of snakes writhing against a blood-red background, and below them is a third snake with crimson frills around its head.

This was referring to Juvenal's oft-quoted statement about “panem et circenses,” bread and circuses. as a mockery against the Roman population, accusing them of having been bribed into submission by chariot races, gladiatorial shows, and food distributed by the emperors.