Rome is home to Pasquino and five other “Talking Statues,” which are exceeding popular with tour guides. For the last three centuries of Papal Rule in Rome, the statues were used like social media bulletin boards, but with anonymous postings pinned up at night. They were often witty and irreverent toward the established authorities, and what is more delightful than irreverence toward authorities we don’t revere!

We identify these statues and give samples of their messages, but I conclude by suggesting that all Roman statues have much to say, even if they are more difficult to interpret.