Who or what is Publius?
If one topic managed to cause an even bigger rift between Pink Floyd fans than the endless which-one-is-Pink debate, it was the discussion on whether or not the Publius Enigma was a band sanctioned puzzle, just someone (or a group of someones) pulling our collective legs, or maybe simply Nick Mason having found a way to relieve the tediousness and boredom of touring. Whichever is the case, if there was a solution to the enigma, it has never been found (although many people have claimed to have found a solution). You are strongly discouraged to discuss the enigma, and anything related to it on Echoes. The Pink Floyd newsgroup (alt.music.pink-floyd) is the appropriate place for this kind of discussions. “The Enigma” [this section is written by Mark Brown, who also wrote the Publius section in the Pink Floyd Encyclopedia.] In June 1994, someone using the common Latin first name Publius began posting to Usenet’s alt.music.pink-floyd, using the title “>>>>>>>>>> T H E M E S S A G E <<<<<<<<
Publius is the name taken by an anonymous person (or persons) who has posted several cryptic messages to the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup. His or her claim was that there is/was a “central purpose and a designed solution” to an enigma related to The Division Bell. For solving this enigma, Publius promised a “unique prize.” Asked to furnish proof of his/her authenticity, Publius responded with a number of different signals — the words “ENGIMA PUBLIUS” displayed by the white lights at the bottom of the stage on the July 18th New Jersey show, the same words printed amidst the artwork of the Momentary Lapse of Reason MiniDisc, and the word “ENIGMA” scrawled on the circular screen during the PPV/Pulse video, at the beginning of “Another Brick in the Wall, pt.2” Following these signs, Publius was silent for several months, causing the initial excitement to die down. Also, several interviews with David Gilmour occurred over these months, in which Gilmour claimed no involvement with or know
