Caligula, the first modern joker

[Dan Howard]

There was a Roman bowl recently found in Croatia that had a concealed siphon in it. When the bowl was filled past a certain level, the liquid would flow into the siphon and out onto the user's lap. A similar device called a Pythagorean Cup was invented even earlier.
https://99percentinvisible.org/article/p...eek-humor/

Fart jokes were popular; Greeks and Romans both used "whoopee cushions".

Here are some ancient Greek jokes.

"The slave you sold me died."
"He never did anything like that when I had him."

"Lend me a knife as far as Smyrna"
"I don't have one that reaches that far."

Talkative barber: "How should I cut your hair?"
Annoyed customer: "Silently."

A Kymean is shopping for windows for his new house and asks the vendor if he has any that face south.

A miser writes his will and names himself as his heir.

A man's despised wife recently died. At the funeral a passerby asks him, "who rests in peace here? He replies, "me, now that I'm rid of her."

A bald man swore at Diogenes. The great philosopher replied, "I won’t respond to your abuse, but I would like to say 'congratulations' to your hair for freeing themselves from such a mean head!"

A father asked Aristippos to teach his son. The philosopher said he would for a fee of 500 drachmas. The outraged father replied, "I could buy an animal with so much money!" Aristippos said, "go ahead, then you'll have two!"

The Philogelos is the oldest extant collection of Greek jokes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philogelos

Here is a Muslim one that dates to the Crusades:
"Why are there no trees in Palestine?"
"Because every Frank has a piece of the True Cross."