A piece of graffiti depicting a penis has been found near Hadrian's Wall in northern England.
The phallic carving, which dates back more than 1,700 years, was found in stone along with a crude insult in Latin that experts say roughlytranslates to " Secundinus, the shitter."
The CEO of the Vindolanda Trust said that the inscription raised their eyebrows.
The author had a big problem with Secundinus and was confident enough to make a statement on a stone. Secundinus would have been less than amused to see this when he was around 1,700 years ago.
The stone is 15 inches wide by 5 inches tall and was found by Dylan Herbert, a retired biochemist from South Wales.
Herbert was startled to see some clear letters when he turned it over.
After removing the mud, I realized the full extent of what I'd found.
The Roman phallus was often seen as a good luck charm or symbol of fertility, but experts say that the author subverted it as a personal insult.
The stone had a phallic image and words. "Secundinus, the shitter" was a mangled version of "Secundinus cacator," according to Roman specialists.
The researchers said each letter had been carefully carved, showing the deep feeling held by the author towards Secundinus.
The 13th carving to be found at the Vindolanda site is a phallic one.
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