The Alexamenos Graffito
Up until the fourth century AD, the Romans took a rather dim view of Christianity. They also had a variety of funny misconceptions about what the religion involved. “The religion of the Christians is foolish, “ stated Roman advocate Marcus Cornelius Fronto in the second century AD “inasmuch as they worship a crucified man and even the instrument itself of his punishment. They are said to worship the head of an ass and even the nature of their father.”
This idea of Ass worship may well come from Tacitus. The historian recounts how after their expulsion from Egypt, the Jews were lost in the desert and on the verge of collapse due to a lack of food and water. Suddenly, someone spotted a herd of asses who led them to an oasis. Once safely in the Promised Land, in the temple at Jerusalem, the grateful Jews “Consecrated an image of the animal which had delivered them.” (Histories, V3). The Romans believed the Christians were continuing this tradition.
Until the sixth century AD, Christian art rarely depicted the crucifixion. However, sometime in the second century, someone scratched the image of a crucified man into the plaster of the Domus Gelotiana. The Domus was a part of the imperial palace and by this time had been turned into a boy’s school. It seems that someone in the school added the graffito- using the standard Roman misconceptions about the Christian God-to produce a satirical piece of anti-Christian imagery.
The graffito is known as ‘The Alexamenos Graffito’ because of its inscription, which read: “Alexamenos worships God.” The artist depicted Alexamenos’ god as a man on a T shaped cross, his arms tied to the crossbeam while his feet rested on a shelf. Instead of a human head, however, the crucified man has the head of an ass. Below him, is a figure- presumably Alexamenos with his arms raised in supplication. The graffito is explicitly anti-Christian. Ironically, it is also the earliest known representation of the crucifixion.
Centuries later, however, it was the Christians who were doodling on their church walls.