What swear words were used by the ancient Romans?

Federico Federighi has given a good list of obscenities in general, but you asked specifically about Pompeii before the eruption. That specific time and place happens to be remarkably well documented, because there's a whole lot of preserved graffiti at Pompeii and Herculaneum. read more

In Classical Greek is the word, putizo ("spit frequently, spurt") and from which there rather obviously seems to have derived (in modern Italian & Spanish cultures in particular) the slang-word, "puta" (whore, prostitute). read more

The Romans could cuss with the best of them. They used swear words before, during and after the days of Spartacus. But you won't find examples in your high school Latin books. read more

Obscene words could please gods such as Priapus, with his enormous, perpetually erect phallus, and were thought to promote fertility and to protect against the evil eye. In ancient Rome, in other words, the Shit itself could be Holy. Interestingly, many of these Roman swears weren't passed down to English. read more