Jokes & Pranks in Ancient Rome

The Romans loved to laugh. Their sense of humor survives in comedies, satirical poetry, graffiti, artwork, and the writings of ancient historians. While many Roman jokes still feel surprisingly familiar, others reveal just how different Roman society could be. Their humor ranged from clever wordplay and practical jokes to biting insults and, at times, downright cruelty.

Despite the nearly two thousand years that separate us from the ancient world, Roman humor reminds us that people have always enjoyed making one another laugh.

Imperial Pranks

Several Roman emperors are remembered not only for their political achievements but also for their wit and practical jokes. Many of these stories survive in the biographies of Suetonius and the Historia Augusta. Although modern historians treat the Historia Augusta with caution because of its mixture of fact and fiction, it preserves many entertaining anecdotes that illustrate how later Romans imagined their emperors.

One of its most colorful subjects is the emperor Elagabalus. According to the Life of Elagabalus (25.2), he delighted in embarrassing his dinner guests by seating some of his less distinguished friends on inflated air cushions. At the right moment, servants released the air, causing the unsuspecting diners to collapse beneath the table.

“Some of his humbler friends he would seat on air-pillows instead of on cushions and let out the air while they were dining, so that often the diners were suddenly found under the table.”

This may be history’s earliest recorded version of the whoopee cushion.

Elagabalus’ pranks, however, were not always so harmless. The Historia Augusta (21.1) claims that he kept tame lions and leopards as pets and would release them into the banquet hall during dessert, terrifying guests who had no idea the animals had been trained not to attack.

“Among his pets he had lions and leopards, which had been rendered harmless and trained by tamers, and these he would suddenly order during the dessert to get up on the couches, thereby causing an amusing panic, for none knew that the beasts were harmless.

The biography goes on to claim that he sometimes locked drunken guests in rooms with these supposedly harmless predators. According to the author, some victims died of fright upon waking to find a lion or leopard beside them. Whether this story is entirely true is uncertain, but it illustrates the emperor’s reputation for extravagant and often dangerous entertainment.

Comedy and Satire

Roman comedy flourished long before the emperors. During the second century BCE, playwrights such as Plautus and Terence delighted audiences with mistaken identities, clever servants, and fast-paced misunderstandings. Many of their plays continued to influence European theater for centuries.

By the late Republic, humor had also become a weapon in poetry. Catullus wrote sharp epigrams mocking political figures, rivals, and even Julius Caesar. Under the Empire, Martial perfected the art of the short, witty poem. His epigrams poke fun at doctors, lawyers, dinner guests, social climbers, and critics, often ending with an unexpected punchline.

Martial even published a collection celebrating the inauguration of the Colosseum. In one poem, he jokingly asks the emperor not to punish him for his satire, receiving a playful response that suggests even emperors could appreciate a well-crafted joke.

Juvenal, writing slightly later, took Roman humor in a darker direction. His biting satires criticized corruption, greed, vanity, and the moral decline he believed had overtaken Roman society.

Pompeii’s Graffiti

One of the richest sources for everyday Roman humor comes from the walls of Pompeii. Hundreds of graffiti preserve jokes, insults, advertisements, political slogans, and personal messages left by ordinary people before the eruption of 79 CE.

Some visitors complained about poor accommodations, including one unfortunate guest who blamed an innkeeper for failing to provide a chamber pot. Others criticized the quality of local wine or exchanged sarcastic insults.

Toilet humor was also alive and well. Near the Vesuvian Gate, one graffito reads: “Oh defecator, may everything turn out well, so that you can leave this place.”

Ancient Joke Books

The ancient world even produced joke collections. One of the best known is the Philogelos (“Laughter Lover”), compiled during the fourth or fifth century CE. It contains around 265 short jokes featuring absent-minded scholars, doctors, fortune tellers, and other familiar comic stereotypes.

Many of the jokes rely on puns or wordplay that are difficult to translate, while others reveal timeless observations about human behavior.

Famous Sayings of the Emperor

Roman emperors were often credited with memorable one-liners.

Perhaps the best known belongs to Vespasian. When his son Titus criticized a tax on collecting urine from public latrines, Vespasian reportedly held up the tax revenue and asked whether it smelled. When Titus answered no, the emperor replied: “pecunia non olet” (money does not stink). The phrase has become one of the most famous expressions to survive from the Roman world.

Vespasian also remained witty in his final moments. According to Suetonius, as he felt death approaching, he remarked: “Oh dear, I think I’m becoming a god.” The joke referred to the Roman practice of deifying worthy emperors after death, showing that Vespasian retained his sense of humor until the very end.

From slapstick pranks and sarcastic graffiti to satirical poetry and imperial one-liners, humor was woven into daily life in ancient Rome. Although some Roman jokes seem cruel by modern standards, many still resonate today, reminding us that laughter has always been one of humanity’s most enduring traditions.

Bibliography:

Corbeill, Anthony. Controlling Laughter: Political Humor in the Late Roman Republic. Princeton University Press, 1996.

Freudenburg, Kirk, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Roman Satire. Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Keegan, Peter. Graffiti in Antiquity. Routledge, 2014.

Manuwald, Gesine. Roman Republican Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Milnor, Kristina. Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Richlin, Amy. Rome and the Mysterious Orient: Three Plays by Plautus. University of California Press, 2005.