Scholars have yet to agree on the location and identification of Pompeii’s brothels and what the locations of brothels mean in a greater picture. Some archaeologists interpret the spread of brothels as an indication of free and open sex trade in ancient Pompeii; others prefer an interpretation of clear moral geographic boundaries.
Possible Existence of a Seedier Part of Pompeii
The arguments for a moral geography within the city of Pompeii are based primarily on the location of the ten identified purpose-built brothels. Some of these were located in poorer areas, but most were found to lie in the busy commercial district of the city, where people of all classes would have moved.
The lack of division between rich and poor neighbourhoods in the city centre meant that several brothels lay near upper-class homes. It is noteworthy, however, that the brothel entrances were not on the same street as the entrance to the elite houses. Scholars such as Ray Laurence have interpreted this as a deliberate attempt by the nobility to shelter women, who rarely ventured out of their houses unescorted, out of the shadow of prostitution.
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, a celebrated expert on Pompeii, suggests that the division between streets with brothel entrances and streets without such activity served a broader purpose. These purpose built brothels, he argues, create an area of the city centre which is polluted by impure activity and consequently also a section of the city centre which was “pure”.
A Street Called “Sober”: Arguments for Even Distribtion
Thomas McGinn, professor of Classical Studies at Vanderbilt University, would like to turn the moral geography theories on their heads. He argues that focusing on brothels instead of sex trade itself is misleading and overlooks the readiness with which paid sex was available in public places and even near the households of the elite. While there may not have been brothels in those areas, there was certainly prostitution.
Prostitutes would have been found at the circus, outside of temples, and working certain bath houses. Which particular such buildings in the city that were frequented by prostitutes, however, is impossible to tell. The theory thus relies on the assumption that prostitution was open and readily visible. This is certainly indicated at other Roman cities by some ancient writers. One street in Rome, for example, was known as Vicus Sobrius – “Sober Street”. If immorality was uncommon there would have been no need to make a special mark out of a certain street’s sobriety.
Sources
Clarke, J.R., Looking at Love-Making: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art, Berkeley 1998.
Laurence, R., Roman Pompeii: Space and Society, Abingdon 1994.
McGinn, T., “Zoning Shame in the Roman City” in Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World, Madison 2006.
Emma Oxenby Wohlfart - E P Wohlfart decided at age 14 that she was going to move to Scotland for university. Once there, she often sat in class thinking to ...
