Prostitution in ancient Rome

• 1. Legal Status And Social Infamy

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  In 49 BC, the statesman Cicero expressed shock when he discovered that Pompey, a married man of immense power, allowed his mistress Cytheris to sit in the seat reserved for the family matriarch. This incident highlights the complex social standing of certain high-class prostitutes who could influence Roman politics and society. Most sex workers in ancient Rome were female slaves or freedwomen, yet their legal status remained precarious regardless of wealth. The law defined a prostitute as someone sexually promiscuous who received payment for sex, emphasizing promiscuity over financial gain. Prostitutes were classified as infamous persons, known as infames, which stripped them of many civil rights and protections under Roman law. They could not give evidence in court, and freeborn citizens were forbidden from marrying them. This loss of reputation was a life-long condition that persisted even if they retired from the trade. Pimps, known as lenones, were also considered infamous for purveying human flesh and sensual pleasure. Other groups sharing this disgraceful status included actors, gladiators, butchers, gravediggers, and executioners. Romans assumed that these individuals were available to provide paid sexual services, blurring the lines between performers and sex workers. Some courtesans named in historical records are indistinguishable from actresses and other public entertainers. Despite their lack of legal protection, some women managed to accumulate significant wealth and influence within the empire.

• 2. Terminology And Social Hierarchy

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  Latin literature distinguishes between several terms for sex workers, creating a nuanced social hierarchy based on class and registration status. The standard term meretrix referred to a registered female prostitute, often of higher class, while scortum described an impoverished low-class street-walker with a distinctly condemnatory edge. Scholars note that all these terms might be used to refer to the same individual depending on context, functioning as a hierarchy of politeness rather than strict categories. Amica served as a purely euphemistic lady-friend, used by naive adolescent clients to downplay the commercial basis of their relationships. Unregistered or casual prostitutes fell under the broad category prostibulae, meaning lower class. The relatively uncommon lupa, derived from lupus femina or she-wolf, was probably common among the lower social classes. Adams suggests that lupa implies a particularly low, predatory prostitute who works from graveyards. No low-class street prostitutes appear in Roman comedies, where only free-born women or slaves are depicted. In most modern scholarship, meretrices are taken to be the standard term for registered female prostitutes. Scortum can be used for prostitutes of either gender, carrying a pejorative tone when employed by Roman moralists. The greater emphasis in legal definitions lay on promiscuity rather than payment, reflecting societal views on excessive sexual appetite. Pimps were driven by greed for money, and this motivation colored how society viewed their profession.

• 3. Economic Structures And Daily Life

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  Prices for services in the Roman Empire ranged between 1 and 25 asses, yielding an average daily income of 10 asses before fees due to pimps or brothels. This amount represented about twice the income of a male day-labourer at the time. In Pompeii specifically, prices fluctuated between 2 and 20 asses per client. Exactly what services were provided for these sums remains unknown, as does the status of the women involved. According to Lucilius, the lowest payment for an unspecified service was recorded, though no upper limit existed for high class professionals. The wealth of dictator Sulla is said to have been founded on a high class prostitute's bequest, illustrating the potential financial power some courtesans held. Most meretrices earned little compared to their pimps and owners, yet some became among Rome's wealthiest and most influential women. Slave prostitutes could retain at least a proportion of their earnings, challenging assumptions about total exploitation. Some self-employed women rented rooms for work, while others lived with procuresses or madames known as lenae. A girl might go into business under the management of her natural mother, suggesting recourse by free-born women in dire financial need. Prostitutes working out of brothels received clients and protection from procurers who managed their affairs. Those working unescorted on streets or from graveyards faced virtually non-existent overheads but high risks of assault and non-payment. Ordinary women going out unescorted were frequently mistaken for prostitutes, highlighting the blurred lines of public perception.

• 4. Brothels And Physical Spaces

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  Roman brothels, called lupanaria or fornix, were concentrated in Regio II, including the Caelian Hill, Suburra, and valleys between hills. These areas housed the Great Market, cook-shops, barber shops, executioner offices, and barracks for foreign soldiers. The only remaining brothel in Pompeii, the Lupanar, exhibits how poor living conditions were for the prostitutes inside. Regular brothels were described as exceedingly dirty, smelling of characteristic odors lingering in poorly ventilated spaces and smoke from burning lamps. Seneca accused them of reeking still of soot, a detail echoed by Horace and Petronius in their writings. Some brothels aspired to a loftier clientele, employing hairdressers to repair ravages from frequent amorous conflicts and water boys with bowls for washing up. Licensed houses existed in two forms: those owned and managed by pimps or madams, and those where the latter acted merely as agents renting rooms. In former cases, owners kept secretaries known as villicus puellarum who assigned names, fixed prices, received money, and provided clothing. Mural decoration over door tablets displayed the name of the occupant and her price, with reverse sides bearing the word occupata when busy. Cubicles usually contained bronze or clay lamps, pallets or cots covered with blankets sometimes used as curtains. Fees recorded at Pompeii ranged from 2 to 20 asses per client, comparable to what a legionary earned around 10 asses daily. Some brothels may have operated token coin systems called spintria, facilitating transactions within these enclosed spaces.

• 5. Clothing And Public Appearance

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  Scholarly debate continues regarding whether prostitutes wore togas in public through compulsion or choice, distinguishing them from respectable citizens. Togas were formal attire for citizen men, while matronae wore stolas on formal occasions, long body-concealing garments forbidden to prostitutes and adulteresses. McGinn claims this represents assimilation of adulterous female citizens to prostitute status, as both groups could wear togas. Expensive courtesans wore gaudy see-through silk garments, bright colors known as colores meretricii, and jewelled anklets marking their availability. Radicke speculates that lower-class slaves might wear a woman's toga exigua, a skimpy version exposing legs and torso parts no respectable woman would tolerate. Free prostitutes and adulteresses could wear what they wished since laws or custom dictated otherwise. Some Roman authors indicate prostitutes displayed themselves nude, associating nudity and exposure with slavery. Seneca describes a condition where naked women stood at the shore for purchasers to examine every part of their bodies. Petronius narrates seeing men prowling between rows of name-boards and naked prostitutes in brothels. Juvenal describes a prostitute standing naked with gilded nipples at her cell entrance. Erotic wall paintings from Pompeii show women presumed to be prostitutes wearing bra-like garments even during sex acts. The adjective nudus can mean exposed or stripped of outer clothing, complicating interpretations of textual evidence regarding public display.

• 6. Religious Festivals And Rituals

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  The month of April was sacred to Venus, divine patron of sex, love, and prostitutes, creating unique intersections between religion and sex work. On the first day of the month, women worshipped Fortuna Virilis and Venus Verticordia conjointly at the Veneralia festival. Prostitutes and respectable married women shared ritual cleansing and reclothing of the cult statue of Fortuna Virilis. On the 23rd of April, prostitutes and common girls gave cult to Venus Erycina, whose temple lay just outside Rome's ritual boundary with Carthaginian origins. Her festival coincided with Vinalia, celebrating everyday wine of Venus and superior vintage fit for Jupiter and Roman elites. Pimped-out boys were celebrated on the 25th of April, same day as Robigalia protecting grain crops from fungal infestation. On the 27th of April and six days of ludi during Imperial era, Floralia honored goddess Flora, typically plebeian in character, disinhibited, colorful, and licentious. Juvenal and Lactantius describe erotic dancing and stripping by prostitutes instigated by crowds. Nude dancing possibly occurred alongside mock gladiatorial contests featuring prostitutes fighting each other. While most priestesses like Vestals were models of perfect chastity protected by lictors, some cults offered prostitutes central roles in religious observance. The line between respectable women and infamous persons was carefully drawn yet occasionally blurred during specific festivals honoring fertility and flowers.