‘Viral’ 2nd-century text suggests modern poetry arose much earlier
nypost.comwhatever.The angsty-artist stereotype may have taken root during the Roman Empire, according to newly identified evidence, which also reveals a potential new ancestor in the evolution of mainstream music.“They say / What they like / Let them say it / I don’t care,” the newly unveiled lyric goes — written on a slab of concrete that likely went up on a village wall as graffito.The anonymously written text concludes, “Go on, love me / It does you good,” a verse that was then inscribed elsewhere throughout the domain of the empire during the second century, according to a new study — like a viral meme of the era, suggested Cambridge professor Tim Whitmarsh.“The closest modern equivalent is probably a quote T-shirt,” said Whitmarsh, who studied.
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