10 Things You Could Only Get Away With In Pompeii

What happens in Pompeii stays in Pompeii! (Buried under a thick level of hardened ash and soot!) Be sure to see Pompeii in theaters on February 21.

1. Graffiti.

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The Pompeii ruins showed street Latin carved into the sides of buildings. Way to be a malum asino.

2. Bootlegging alcohol.

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Bottles of wine with forged stamps suggest that Pompeii was one of the earliest sites of wine fraud.

3. Bathing in public.

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Public baths. Gotta love them ancient Italians!

4. Sexy art.

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In 1599, Domenico Fontana — an architect working on excavating Pompeii — found erotic art that he reburied either to protect a more conservative representation of Pompeii or to protect the art from being destroyed in the name of decency.

5. Sexy candles.

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In the ruins, tons of phallic decor was unearthed, including "erotic votives."

6. Gladitorial fighting to the death.

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Like most of Ancient Rome, Pompeii had gladiators who fought for entertainment. A lot of what we know about gladiator fights came from the preserved arena in Pompeii.

7. Chasing Benjamins.

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A preserved business sported a description that said "Salve, lucru!" or "Welcome, profits!"

8. Getting a cheap prostitute.

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Prostitution was available in most of the Roman Empire, but Pompeii's prostitutes were allegedly the cheapest.

9. Joining a cult.

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Some recovered art displayed rituals associated with the cults of ancient Roman gods, which — to be fair — was pretty standard for the time.

10. Getting high.

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Opium — a drug that contains a lot of morphine — was standard in most medical kits of the time.