Prostitution in ancient Rome

 was legal and licensed. Men of any social status were free to engage prostitutes of either sex without incurring moral disapproval, as long as they demonstrated self-control and moderation in the frequency and enjoyment of sex. Brothels were part of the culture of ancient Rome, as popular places of entertainment for Roman men.

Index Expurgatorius of Martial

 * Index Expurgatorius of Martial (1868), pp. 65, 86, 108


 * Lascivam tota possedi nocte puellam, Cuius nequitias vincere nulla potest. Fessus miile modis illud puerile poposci:  Ante preces totas primaque verba dedit. Improbius quiddam ridensque rubensque rogavi:  Pollicita est nulla luxuriosa mora. Sed mihi pura fuit; tibi non erit, Aeschyle: si vis,  Accipe et hoc munus conditione mala.
 * I passed a whole night with a lascivious girl, whose wickedness no one could surpass. Tired of a thousand pranks, I begged that boyish favour, before my prayer was finished, my first utterance, 'twas granted. Smiling and blushing I asked for something worse, she voluptuously promised it at once. But she was chaste to me. She will not be so to you, Aeschylus: if you want it, take this boon, but she will attach a condition. Last night the soft charms of an exquisite whore Fulfilled every whim of my mind, Till, with fucking grown weary, I begged something more,  One bliss that still lingered behind. My prayer was accepted; the rose in the rear  Was opened to me in a minute; One rose still remained, which I asked of my dear,—  'Twas her mouth and the tongue that lay in it. She promised at once, what I asked her to do;  Yet her lips were unsullied by me. They'll not, my old friend, remain virgins for you,  Whose penchant exceeds e'en her fee.
 * Martial, Book IX, LXVII. To Aeschylus.


 * Intrasti quotiens inscriptae limina cellae, Seu puer arrisit, sive puella tibi, Contentus non es foribus veloque seraque,  Secretumque iubes grandius esse tibi. Oblinitur minimae si qua est suspitio rimae  Punctaque lasciva quae terebrantur acu. Nemo est tam teneri tarn sollicitique pudoris,  Qui vel paedicat, Canthare, vel futuit.
 * When you enter the door of the numbered room, whether a boy or a girl has attracted you, you are not content with the door and the curtain and the bolt; but you order far greater secresy for yourself. If there is a suspicion of the least crevice, it is daubed out, and so are the punctures made by a wanton's bodkin. No one, Cantharus, is so delicate and so uneasily modest who either sodomises or fucks. When Suburan dens you enter And securely bolt the door— Door whereon the painted number  Marks the calling of a whore, Whether boy or girl allure you  Bolt and door will not suffice, Nor the heavy hanging curtain  Satisfy a mind so nice; If the smallest crack or crevice  Find a place the wall within, Plugged it must be like the peep hole  Punctured by the wanton's pin; Cantharus, no man's so modest,  From what place or race lie comes. Who to please his passions, only  Fucks or sods, or cunts or bums.
 * Martial, Book XI, XLV. To Cantharus.


 * Utere femineis complexibns, utere, Victor, Ignotuniqne sibi mentula discat opus. Flammea texuntur sponsae, iam virgo paratur,  Tondebit pueros iam nova nupta tuos. Paedicare semel ciipido dabit ilia marito,  Dum metuit teli volnera prima novi. Saepius hoc fieri nutrix materque vetabunt  Et dicent: "Uxor, non puer, ista tibi est." Heu quantos aestus, quantos patiere labores.  Si fuerit cunnus res peregrina tibi! Ergo Suburanae tironem trade magistrae.  Ilia virum faciet; non bene virgo docet.
 * Try, Victor, try a woman's embrace, and let your prick learn an operation now unknown to it. The veil is woven for the bride, the virgin is ready, your affiancee will now cut the hair off your slaves. She will allow her eager husband to sodomise her once, while she dreads the first wounds of an untried weapon. Her nurse and her mother will not allow this to be done oftener, and they will say she is your wife, she is not your catamite. Oh what toil, what labours will you undergo, if a cunt is strange to you ! Therefore hand over the tyro to a Suburan school mistress she will make him a man: a virgin is not a good teacher.Victor, quit your hateful life, Henceforth pledged to marriage joys, Wed the long unthought of wife,  And think of making, not abusing, boys! The veil is wov'n, the maidens come.  And timid hope the bride engages. Who shall soon adorn your home.  And turn your long-haired slaves to dapper pages. Prepare your weapon for the sheath  Where sexual fondness bids it glide, Nor in the scabbard underneath  Think, as your boyish loves, t' enjoy your bride: If at first but faint resistance  Meet a wrong directed aim, Her mother will compel desistance  And tell you, wives and boys are not the same. Then you'll toil, with ill feigned pleasure,  Through paths to your desires unknown, Nor esteem a priceless treasure.  The pretty virgin rosebud scarce full blown. First then, for instruction turn  To some vet'ran venal beauty, She will teach, what you should learn,  A woman's wants, a loving husband's duty.
 * Martial, Book XI, LXXVIII. To Victor.

The Plague of Lust

 * Reported in: Julius Rosenbaum, The Plague of Lust, vol. 1 (Paris, 1901)


 * Nuda in litore stetit ad fastidium emptoris; omnes partes corporis et inspectae et contrectatae sunt. Vultis auctionis exitum audire? vendit pirata, emit leno, excipit fornix. [...] Ita raptae pepercere piratae ut lenoni venderent; sic emit leno ut prostitueret.
 * Naked she stood on the shore at the pleasure of the purchaser; every part of her body was examined and felt. Would you hear the result of the sale? The pirate sold, the pandar bought. [...] For this the pirates spared their captive, that she might be sold to a pandar; for this the pandar bought her, that he might employ her as a prostitute.
 * Seneca the Elder, Controversiae, I, 2.