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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This large house, built in the 2nd century B.C. and restructured during the Imperial age, opens onto Via di Nola and consists of a double Tuscan atrium and a peristyle with a double order of columns at the front. The house was given this name as it was discovered in 1879, the year of the eighteenth centenary of the eruption which completely buried Pompeii. It is divided into two sections: the main house, for the master’s family, and the servants’ quarters, with a separate entrance from a side street. In line with tradition it has a private bath-house and swimming pool. A particularly beautiful nymphaeum with a fountain is situated at the rear of the peristyle and a b ... continue

(Apic. 5, 2, 17) Ingredients:

• 1 fillet stockfish
• 1 calves’ brain
• 4 chicken livers
• 7 eggs
• 250 gr. ‘ricotta’ cheese
• 12 grain pepper
• 12 grain lovage
• 1 tblsp dry oregano
• 1 rue berry
• 1/2 glass dry wine (like Marsala)
• 3 tsp honey
• 3 tblsp oil
• Cumin

Instructions:
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Softening stockfish in water for 5 - 6 hours, dry, skin, bone and fry in a little bit of oil. Blanch calves’ brain for 5 minutes and cool. Blanch chicken livers for ... 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.