Prostitution in Ancient Rome
Much was said about the decadent lifestyle of the Romans, especially by later authors. However, if we look at it pragmatically, they weren’t worse than our modern societies by most metrics. Let’s discuss prostitution in Ancient Rome, for example.
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Prostitution in Ancient Rome
Romans’ attitude toward sex, in general, and prostitution, in particular, is cited as proof of their perversion and degeneracy. However, I dare say the Romans were no more sexually perverse than Americans or Swiss. Allow me to exemplify.
Prostitution is legal in Switzerland and illegal in most of the USA. Does this mean the Swiss are degenerated while the Americans are pure and chaste?
Judging by movies, TV series, and advertisements, American life seems to revolve around half-naked women and men posing in sexually provocative poses. By the same measures, the Swiss seem to worship chocolate, elegant watches, and cows.
Despite these cultural and legal differences, I suspect the percentage of degenerates is similar in the USA and Switzerland.
Was Prostitution Legal in Ancient Rome?
Prostitution wasn’t only legal, but one had to obtain a license and pay tax to practice it. Yep, the Roman gifts that keep on giving are regulations and taxes.
We can only guess the proportion between free and slave prostitutes. That is to say, some sex workers did it as a professional choice, while others were forced to do it by their owners. Yet, there is evidence suggesting that slave prostitutes were able to keep a percentage of their earnings. I guess it depended on the master.
Most prostitutes were female, but there were male prostitutes as well. However, Romans had an issue with male citizens being penetrated for some reason. So, it was fine for a citizen to be a male prostitute as long they were the active party, but only “degenerates” submitted to penetration.
Was Buying Sex Legal in Rome?
Today, there are countries where selling sex is legal, but buying it is not—Canada and Sweden come to mind. In Rome, however, both were legal.
Moreover, calling on prostitutes of either gender was acceptable as long as one did it in moderation. It is like drinking today: it is ok as long as you are not drunk every evening. As said, though, a male customer paying to be penetrated was frowned upon.
There were recorded cases of female customers paying for sex. It was fine as long as the husband had no issue with it.
Infamia
Despite being legal, practicing the oldest profession was stigmatized by the society that required it. Obviously, hypocrisy is not a modern invention.
Gladiators, actors, dancers, prostitutes, butchers, executioners, and gravediggers were considered infames. As a result, they couldn’t appear as witnesses in court, for instance. Moreover, infamy was a life-long label: once someone got it, there was no removing it.
How did prostitution work in Ancient Rome?
To operate as a prostitute, one had to register with the local authorities (i.e., the aediles) and get a license. Most professional sex workers did register, although some moonlighted under the radar. Apart from the tax, the occasional prostitutes tried to avoid the infamy one presumes.
Romans had a predilection for metaphors, riddles, and euphemisms. Although brutally practical, they weren’t straight talkers. For instance, prostitutes were referred to as girlfriends (amica) or girls (puella).
Some prostitutes were self-employed and worked out of a rented room. Others lived with their madam (lena), who acted as their manager. In some cases, the lena was the sex worker’s biological mother.
Obviously, many prostitutes worked in brothels, bathhouses, and taverns under the supervision and protection of a pimp (leno). The need for hygiene was paramount in this business, so waterboys waited on the prostitutes and their clients, bowls in hand.
Nearby hair saloons and beauty parlors were also on hand. Oftentimes, customers were rough, so the sex workers needed makeup to hide the consequences.
The most desperate prostitutes worked on the streets and graveyards. They had no protection and were often abused, robbed, or even murdered.
Fun fact: The arches of the chariot arenas (e.g., Circus Maximus) were some of the best spots to pick up prostitutes. Moreover, the word fornication originates from the perceived resemblance between these arches and ancient furnaces. I guess Romans would say, “Let’s have fun at furnaces!”
Type of Prostitutes
Some modern authors assume that there was a more or less official hierarchy in the world of prostitution. I believe things were more fluid than that, the same as they are today. Some establishments are cheaper while others are considered premium, yet the distinction has nothing to do with an official grading.
Keeping the above in mind, we can identify different types of prostitutes.
Meretrix (plural: meretrices) was the official designation of a licensed female prostitute. However, the term was mainly used to describe a free-born call girl, implying a higher quality of service.
Also, the term could denote a refined lady who offered quality conversation, poetry, and music in addition to sex. It was similar to the Greek hetaira, or what we would call today a premium escort.
Lastly, Romans had strict laws against women committing adultery, although it was enforced only for those belonging to the ruling class. Married women from good families who were condemned for adultery were also designated as meretrices, whether they sold sex or not.
Scortum was used as a derogatory term but also as affectionate banter, depending on the context. Some authors believe it described impoverished women who became prostitutes. The term was also used to describe male prostitutes. Personally, I think there was no actual distinction between meretrix and scortum other than context and gender (there were no male meretrices).
Prostibulae were unregistered sex workers, usually streetwalkers. On the lowest rungs were those who plied their trade in graveyards. These were called she-wolfs or lupae.
Apart from professional and occasional prostitutes, actors, dancers, and singers of both genders were known to provide sexual services. Even gladiators sold their bodies to affluent ladies who could afford them.
Fees
The fees were usually scribbled on brothel walls—alongside the visual depiction of the services available—so we have a pretty good idea about them.
The prices for a round ranged between 1 and 25 asses, but select high-end courtesans could earn insane amounts of money and gifts. To put this in context, the average daily income of a laborer was 10 asses.
Still, after deducting taxes, protection money, rental, and cosmetic services, I guess many girls would have preferred to switch places with male laborers.
Fashion and Clothing
There were suggestions that female prostitutes had to wear specific attire by law. However, this is highly unlikely. While slave prostitutes had to follow their masters’ instructions, free women could wear whatever it pleased them.
This being said, let’s remember that marketing is the soul of commerce. So, female prostitutes wearing the male toga was one way to draw attention and be provocative. Also, it is said that jeweled anklets, garish colors, and see-through silks were associated with promiscuous women.
Conclusion
Sex was never a clean business. For every satisfied customer, there was a desperate human being, oftentimes abused and exploited.
Granted, not every prostitute was a victim; some lived in luxury on the proceeds. Still, I suspect pampered courtesans were a small minority.
While the life of ordinary prostitutes was one of misery and abuse—the same as today, I might add—the Romans’ candor about their sexuality was, in a way, refreshing. After all, people have always paid for sex from the dawn of civilization up to our enlightened days. Why should we pretend otherwise?
