15 ms·

Brothels of Ancient Pompeii

137 points by diodorus 7y ago

kipchak 7y ago
If you'd like to read some more (very amusing) Pompeii graffiti examples there's some more here. The original page is slightly broken now. https://web.archive.org/web/20171124060939/http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20171124060939/http://www.pompei...
- cultus 7y ago
  It's fascinating that aside from being Latin, most of that ancient graffiti could have just as easily been scribbled on a modern toilet stall. Dick jokes are fundamental to what it means to be human.
  - 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
    In the case of the brothel, it was their version of Backpage (with reviews and everything!)
  - pjmlp 7y ago
    I also found fascinating reading Herodotus book, we really haven't changed much in that regard.
- clSTophEjUdRanu 7y ago
  I like the graffiti complaining about graffiti.
- badrabbit 7y ago
  > "Defecator, may everything turn out okay so that you can leave this place" I guess they had shit-bandits back then too.
Jun8 7y ago
Article mentions Mark Twain's visit to Pompeii brothels in passing, as if he stumbled upon it during his travels, which certainly is not the case. Twain is probably not the first name that pops to mind when erotica is mentioned but he was quite into it. His posthumous 1601 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1601_(Mark_Twain) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1601_(Mark_Twain)) was an early example of "pornography" in America; scare quotes since the content is quite tame by today's standards (you can judge for yourself: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3190/3190-h/3190-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3190/3190-h/3190-h.htm) His sex toys were in the news about a decade ago (https://www.thedailybeast.com/mark-twains-sex-toys https://www.thedailybeast.com/mark-twains-sex-toys, but see for a less hysterical writeup)
- crunchatized 7y ago
  > but see for a less hysterical writeup) See where? Did you miss including another link here?
  - Jun8 7y ago
    Thanks for pointing out, link is this one: https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/9857/mark-twain-his-own-devices/ https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/9857/mark-twain-his-own-devices...
LessDmesg 7y ago
Romans... Slavers who washed their mouths and clothes with urine, and shat on the streets. They really weren't into this "treating people humanely" thing. Most of their lives were quite brutal: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2016/05/arthritis-brought-ancient-romans-to.html?m=1 https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2016/05/arthriti... > The average ancient Roman worker was riddled with arthritis, suffered broken bones and was dead by 30 thanks to a diet of rotting grains and a lifetime of hard labour, a new study has found
- oh_sigh 7y ago
  What does any of this have to do with the article? And I'm not positive, but maybe the average lifespan in Rome was 30(considering all the newborn deaths), but I really doubt adult workers were keeling over at 30 on average.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - iguy 7y ago
    In the city of Rome, I think many adults did actually die young, in addition to infant mortality. And they were replaced by imports from the countryside. In fact I think no large city was self-sustaining, perhaps until London, c 1800? Having that many people in proximity simply wasn't healthy. For much the same reason, very few wars before WWI (perhaps none?) had more men killed by the enemy than by disease.
  - kasey_junk 7y ago
    It doesn’t have to do with the article but the life expectancy of a Roman slave was shockingly low https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome#Demography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome#Demo...
- biztos 7y ago
  I'm probably too squeamish to wash my mouth with it (did Romans really do that?) but washing clothes with publicly collected urine is generally considered to be a pretty impressive bit of urban engineering, not to mention very environmentally friendly. Wouldn't knock it till you've tried it.
peteretep 7y ago
This article gets confused. A particular example: > Enslaved men and women most often staffed ancient brothels ... like all enslaved persons, their bodies were also vulnerable to sexual assault, rape What? If they were enslaved people compelled to engage in sexual services, that was just straight up rape/assault, not vulnerability to rape/assault. An enslaved person can't give consent.
- simonh 7y ago
  I think they’re just trying to find a way to point out that all enslaved people were vulnerable to this, not just brothel slaves.
- ramblerman 7y ago
  they had no rights. Hence they were vulnerable to rape. It must be tiring to read everything so trigger happy.
  - thulecitizen 7y ago
    It must be difficult to be so unaware of consent. Even more difficult for anyone who comes on your path.
    - ramblerman 7y ago
      The fact your only contribution to the argument is a personal attack reveals more about you. People are discussing the tediousness (and value) of applying specific 'modern' language to a historic piece. Nobody denies that a slave being forced to have sex is being raped.
      - thulecitizen 7y ago
        "It must be tiring to read everything so trigger happy." That's not a personal attack? Hypocrite. Stop being a fool.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]

137 points by diodorus 7y ago

If you'd like to read some more (very amusing) Pompeii graffiti examples there's some more here. The original page is slightly broken now. https://web.archive.org/web/20171124060939/http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20171124060939/http://www.pompei...

cultus 7y ago
It's fascinating that aside from being Latin, most of that ancient graffiti could have just as easily been scribbled on a modern toilet stall. Dick jokes are fundamental to what it means to be human.
- 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
  In the case of the brothel, it was their version of Backpage (with reviews and everything!)
- pjmlp 7y ago
  I also found fascinating reading Herodotus book, we really haven't changed much in that regard.
clSTophEjUdRanu 7y ago
I like the graffiti complaining about graffiti.
badrabbit 7y ago
> "Defecator, may everything turn out okay so that you can leave this place" I guess they had shit-bandits back then too.

Jun8 7y ago

Article mentions Mark Twain's visit to Pompeii brothels in passing, as if he stumbled upon it during his travels, which certainly is not the case. Twain is probably not the first name that pops to mind when erotica is mentioned but he was quite into it. His posthumous 1601 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1601_(Mark_Twain) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1601_(Mark_Twain)) was an early example of "pornography" in America; scare quotes since the content is quite tame by today's standards (you can judge for yourself: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3190/3190-h/3190-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3190/3190-h/3190-h.htm) His sex toys were in the news about a decade ago (https://www.thedailybeast.com/mark-twains-sex-toys https://www.thedailybeast.com/mark-twains-sex-toys, but see for a less hysterical writeup)

crunchatized 7y ago
> but see for a less hysterical writeup) See where? Did you miss including another link here?
- Jun8 7y ago
  Thanks for pointing out, link is this one: https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/9857/mark-twain-his-own-devices/ https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/9857/mark-twain-his-own-devices...

LessDmesg 7y ago

Romans... Slavers who washed their mouths and clothes with urine, and shat on the streets. They really weren't into this "treating people humanely" thing. Most of their lives were quite brutal: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2016/05/arthritis-brought-ancient-romans-to.html?m=1 https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2016/05/arthriti... > The average ancient Roman worker was riddled with arthritis, suffered broken bones and was dead by 30 thanks to a diet of rotting grains and a lifetime of hard labour, a new study has found

oh_sigh 7y ago
What does any of this have to do with the article? And I'm not positive, but maybe the average lifespan in Rome was 30(considering all the newborn deaths), but I really doubt adult workers were keeling over at 30 on average.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- iguy 7y ago
  In the city of Rome, I think many adults did actually die young, in addition to infant mortality. And they were replaced by imports from the countryside. In fact I think no large city was self-sustaining, perhaps until London, c 1800? Having that many people in proximity simply wasn't healthy. For much the same reason, very few wars before WWI (perhaps none?) had more men killed by the enemy than by disease.
- kasey_junk 7y ago
  It doesn’t have to do with the article but the life expectancy of a Roman slave was shockingly low https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome#Demography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome#Demo...
biztos 7y ago
I'm probably too squeamish to wash my mouth with it (did Romans really do that?) but washing clothes with publicly collected urine is generally considered to be a pretty impressive bit of urban engineering, not to mention very environmentally friendly. Wouldn't knock it till you've tried it.

peteretep 7y ago

This article gets confused. A particular example: > Enslaved men and women most often staffed ancient brothels ... like all enslaved persons, their bodies were also vulnerable to sexual assault, rape What? If they were enslaved people compelled to engage in sexual services, that was just straight up rape/assault, not vulnerability to rape/assault. An enslaved person can't give consent.

simonh 7y ago
I think they’re just trying to find a way to point out that all enslaved people were vulnerable to this, not just brothel slaves.
ramblerman 7y ago
they had no rights. Hence they were vulnerable to rape. It must be tiring to read everything so trigger happy.
- thulecitizen 7y ago
  It must be difficult to be so unaware of consent. Even more difficult for anyone who comes on your path.
  - ramblerman 7y ago
    The fact your only contribution to the argument is a personal attack reveals more about you. People are discussing the tediousness (and value) of applying specific 'modern' language to a historic piece. Nobody denies that a slave being forced to have sex is being raped.
    - thulecitizen 7y ago
      "It must be tiring to read everything so trigger happy." That's not a personal attack? Hypocrite. Stop being a fool.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]