Brothels and Erotic Art
In 79 AD the concept of sin was nowhere to be found in Rome, sex was an overtly expressed concept that was celebrated and enjoyed by the individuals. The excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum revealed a large variety of brothels, with both public and personal rooms. Brothels were a decent supply of financial gain as a person would be expected to pay two sesterces, they helped the economy greatly. Pompeii’s and Herculaneum’s sexual expression would have over time been frowned upon within the latter ages of the Roman Empire. This is a result of how in the fourth century, the Roman Empire was introduced to the Catholic faith. In 391 AD the Roman Empire switched to the Catholic faith, this resulted in resulted in all openly expressed ideas for sex, straight or gay, was extraordinarily frowned upon unless married. Even then it was still not openly discussed. Pompeii’s and Herculaneum's exotic art is incredibly visual, it consists of many large penises and a large variety of paintings showing different sex acts. Once these pieces of art were initially found they were thought to be vulgar and inappropriate. Several of the works were destroyed, some were reburied and some were taken and bolted away at the National Museum of Naples. The remaining paintings and sculptures were still only allowed to be seen by the general public of Italy in 2000, although minors were still not allowed to look at them.
The significance of the brothels and erotic art includes how it shows that in a way, we have become more immature over time. As a result of the fall of the Roman Empire, sex became a topic that was shunned when talked about, and even now is still taboo.
The significance of the brothels and erotic art includes how it shows that in a way, we have become more immature over time. As a result of the fall of the Roman Empire, sex became a topic that was shunned when talked about, and even now is still taboo.
This is what the public brothels looked like. This bed would have had a wooden frame, a sheep wool pillow and a mattress of sorts. On the door or outside walls there may have been graffiti about the prostitute and visual drawings of some of the acts she did.
The rooms were small and fitted a maximum of three people at a time, this usually consisted of two men and one lady. We know this because there is many paintings about this taking place.
Having buildings like this preserved by the eruption has helped historians and archaeologists greatly. This is because is has taken a screen shot of the exact way sex was expressed and celebrated in 79 AD. Although these have provided a wide range of information, they still have their limitations. When the first artefact and buildings were found that were related to sex, they were shunned and many arts were distorted. This limited the amount of primary evidence there was to extract information from.
In this art work we can see a man weighing out his money and his fertility. It was very important to the Romans to keep these two things balanced out.
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This is an example of brothel graffiti, it showed exactly what the man should expect if he were to ask for this. The graffiti's were almost like a option list for the males.
This painting has been done in a private house brothel. We know this because the bed is much larger then those that were in the public brothels. |
This is a sign that was found outside a bakery. This shows how comfortable the people were with the idea of sex. The sign itself is believed to say one of two things; “Here lives happiness” or “Here lives good fortune”.
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If these artworks and brothels had not been preserved and sealed away for as long as they were they would have definitely been destroyed. This is because when the catholic church came to the Roman empire, it introduced the idea of sin, and that sex should be shared only between a man and woman and that you should only be married once. This also puts limitations on the sources as many were destroyed when they were excavated as they were believed to be vulgar and inappropriate.