Pompeii - Eroticism and Prostitution

Pompeii has a reputation for lasciviousness and was often a by-word for sex and prostitution but in reality the people were no more promiscuous than other roman towns and cities and the erotic artwork discovered in Pompeii were sources of art, titillation, fertility and lucky charms as well as some being deliberately explicit.

The many phallus symbols embedded in to the walls of walls of the city thoroughfares have been crudely analyzed as clever directional arrows pointing to Brothels or marking the brothels themselves. It is more likely that they symbolized both male dominance and prosperity. For instance the giant phallus found outside a bakery is accompanied by the slogan above it

Good fortune dwells here

Also outside the House of the Vettii a large painting of the god of fertility Priapus The family was wealthy and had a high reputation in the city so it is unlikely they would have painted this depiction if it was thought in any way unseemly.

Inside the houses in the public areas paintings often mixed food and wine with suggestive depictions of Pan, Venus and Mars. Most likely these were scenes designed to put visitors at ease and provide a little entertainment over dinner. More explicit scenes were reserved for the private ares of the house and in public Baths. The most graphic of these can be found and Suburban Baths where depictions of explicit sex, group sex, and homosexuality. These paintings were drawn above what looks like locker numbers. They could be suggestive of prostitution services but it is unlikely to be a Chinese menu of choice to choose from. The most innocent explanation is that it could be an aide memoir to where you had placed your clothes before entering the baths as well as a jokey cartoon scenes that the men could chat about while changing. However, it is not beyond speculation that a prostitute might be available in the vicinity of the Baths or outside. We do know that these explicit scenes were painted over before AD79 with non-erotic decoration.

Prostitution was tolerated but the girls were considered a low category of person. However, in theory any Pompeian could prostitute themselves or their slaves. They were taxed and regulated to a degree. At least one brothel has been positively identified and others only guessed at, and may have been located inside private houses. The brothel that has been identified is a slightly squalid building. Known as the Lupanar it was on two floors and had five small dark rooms with (presumably uncomfortable) masonry beds. Pictures of now faded explicit scenes can be found here along with graffiti from clients and prostitutes both attesting to the good time they had here with a girl or the girl (or boy) advertizing their services. It is not known if the owner of the Lupanar was a pimp or whether the girls worked freely for him/her or perhaps, whether they were independent girls who paid rent to the owner so that they could carry out their business.