Tourist fined €20,000 for carving initial on Rome’s Colosseum

theguardian.com ^ | Sunday 23 November 2014 14.47 EST | Rosie Scammell in Rome

[BenLurkin]

In the latest episode of tourists behaving badly in Rome, a Russian has been fined €20,000 (£15,800) for carving his initial into the Colosseum.

The 42-year-old tourist used a stone to carve a 25cm “K” into a wall inside the ancient amphitheatre. He was caught in the act by a guard and arrested by police, before being fined and given a four-month suspended prison sentence.

The director of the Colosseum, Rossella Rea, said the €20,000 fine was justified as the visitor had damaged “a magnificent and symbolic monument”. “You cannot write on a historic wall, it’s absolutely forbidden,” she said.

However, she denied tourists were running amok at the world-famous site. Out of six million annual visitors, five have been stopped by police this year for scrawling on the amphitheatre. An Australian and his son were caught, as well as a teenager from Brazil and another from Canada. The minors escaped being fined because of their age.

[Fresh Wind]

Speaking of Pompeii, the ancient graffiti has been cataloged, translated, and presented here:

http://www.pompeiana.org/resources/ancient/graffiti%20from%20pompeii.htm

Some things haven’t changed much since then.

[Bigg Red]

Flog the jerk!