Take it from an Italian: Rome is used to vandals, we can handle this Colosseum graffiti scandal

It’s not hapless tourists chiselling their names into our ancient monuments that we need to watch out for – it’s the government’s criminal underspending on our crumbling national treasures, writes Alessandro Codognato

For the Colosseum, as well as countless other monuments in the Eternal City and around Italy, this latest vandalism, while despicable, is nothing new (PA)

If there’s one thing that doesn’t surprise me about the fact that an English-speaking tourist was caught defacing the ancient walls of the Roman Colosseum with his and his fiancee’s initials, it’s Italy’s viral outrage. As an Italian, take it from me: viral outrage is what we do. My country’s media landscape froths with a constant swell of stories that arouse rage and indignation rather than considered analysis and reflection on the difficult state of the Belpaese’s culture heritage. It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning before our first cappuccino.

For the Colosseum, as well as countless other monuments in the Eternal City and around Italy, this latest vandalism, while despicable, is nothing new (the silly tourist chiselled the words “Ivan + Hayley 23” into the brickwork of the Colosseum in full view of shocked onlookers). Humans have a long-standing obsession with leaving their mark, and the Romans were known for their enthusiasm for graffiti more than two millennia ago. In fact, for the archaeologists who brought the buried city of Pompeii back into the light, the numerous graffiti they found on the walls of the main houses or near the inns were celebrated as a treasure trove: they told them everything about ancient Romans’ daily life. Politics, war, family disputes, love and pleasure: the topics of ancient graffiti are among the most disparate.