The Lupanare (the bothel) in Pompeii

The Pompei’s city dwellers were pagans therefore, as all the pagans, they loved the pleasures of the flesh and they didn’t have any problems about showing their passion. Many houses of the ancient town of Pompei had a secret room where the slaves prostituted themselves. It was possible to buy a little company paying from two to eight assi (“assi” were the currency used in Pompei), it was a price affordable almost to everyone, if you consider that a portion of wine cost one asse. The “Lupanare”, so called because “lupa” in Latin means prostitute, it was the only building built in Pompei that had this purpose. It was the brothel of the city. It was composed of two floors, each one reserved to a kind of customers. The ground floor had five bed rooms, a corridor and a bathroom, it was made to the lower classes. The first floor was for the leisured classes: it had a different entrance and a balcony from which they could reach the rooms that were richly furnished. On the walls there are still visible little paintings representing lovers in different erotic positions: perfect for lazy lovers looking for inspiration. At the entrance of the Lupanare it was possible to buy condoms.