LUPANAR - POMPEII

The Lupanar was the official brothel of Pompeii. As a trading town, it was visited every day by a large numbers of people, especially traders from other towns. The brothel is situated at the intersection of two side roads on Via dell’Abbondanza near the town centre, not far from the Forum and the Stabian baths (which had a rear entrance on the Vicolo del Lupanare). Phalluses engraved on the basalt road surface or on the stone set into the facades of houses gave visitors clear indications on how to reach the brothel. We find explicit reference to the use to which this building was put, unlike many other brothel in the town (there were probably 25 in all) which were situated on the first floor above taverns and houses. The lupanar had ten stone beds with mattresses, each bed set in its own small room. Five of these were found on the ground floor, while the larger rooms were situated on the first floor which could be reached by an independent entrance and a wooden staircase. The customers expressed their opinions on the brothel and the performance of the prostitutes by scratching them on the walls, as can be seen by the approximately 120 examples of explicit graffiti. The brothel was managed by a “leno” (an owner of prostitutes) who bought the girl as slaves, primarily in the East, at an average price of 600 sesterces. The brothel’s tariffs varied from 2 to 16 asses (1 as equal to about half a sesterce).

 

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A multitude of inscriptions covered the facade of this house, but they were unfortunately lost in the bombardment of 1943. In the front, the house is laid out around an atrium with a basin in the centre, surrounded by the various rooms. The first cubicle on the left is decorated with full II style paintings with the name of the owner of the house, Valens, scratched into one of the walls. In another cubicle, on the right, the discovery of a casket with precious objects and ointment jars would seem to indicate that it was the mistress’s bedroom. On this side there is also a rectangular hall with birds and other animals painted on the back-ground walls. As usual, the b ... continue

(Apic. 4, 2, 12) Ingredients:

• Leftovers of cooked fish
• 5 grains pepper
• 5 leaves rue
• Liquamen (or 2 tblsp soya sauce + 2 tsp anchovy paste)
• 2 tblsp oil
• 2 eggs
• Seaweed

Instructions:
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Finely chop enough baked or boiled fish to fill a casserole dish of the size you want to use. Pulverize pepper and rue, add Liquamen, oil and raw eggs, then whip. Pour the mixture over the fish and mesh. Gently place sea nettles on top, taking care to see they do not mix with the eggs. Cook by steaming so that the seaweed ... continue

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.