AILSA CHANG, HOST:

All right. Let's go to northern England now, where an amateur archaeologist discovered a rock graffitied with an ancient Roman message that feels, well, not so ancient.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

Inscription specialists identified the letters etched into the rock as Secvndinvs Cacor, which translates to Secundinus the, let's say, the pooper. And based on the time it would have taken to etch the letters into the rock and the accompanying phallus also engraved just beneath the letters, experts believe it was definitely meant as an insult.

CHANG: Oh, yeah. This latest phallus is one of 13 carved into Hadrian's Wall in northern England. The wall was the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire at one time.

PFEIFFER: So apparently, modern-day middle schoolers and ancient Romans have more in common than you might think.

CHANG: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.