The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History and the Brothel

Title Page, Copyright Page

www .press .umich .edu michigan THE ECONOMY OF PROSTITUTION IN THE ROMAN WORLD THE ECONOMY OF PROSTITUTION IN THE ROMAN WORLD N M A Study of Social History & the Brothel Thomas A. J. McGinn the university of michigan press Ann Arbor for all 343 Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2004 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2007 2006 2005 2004 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGinn, Thomas A. The economy of prostitution in the Roman world : a study of social history and the brothel / Thomas A. J. McGinn. p. cm. Includes bibiographical references and index. ISBN 0-472-11362-3 (alk. paper) 1. Prostitution—History—To 1500. 2. Prostitution—Economic aspects—Rome. 3. Brothels—Economic aspects—Rome. I. Title. HQ113.M34 2004 306.74'0937—dc22 2003021579 ISBN13 978-0-472-11362-0 (cloth) ISBN13 978-0-472-02582-4 (electronic) PREFACE We seem to be as far from a general history of brothels as we undoubtedly are from a history of prostitution. Attempts at accomplishing such projects run a certain risk of appearing to validate the status of venal sex as “the oldest profession,” an idea that has not only been repudiated but successfully refuted.1 Nearly three decades of feminist scholarship have turned the tide, which is not turning back at any time soon, to judge from all appearances.2 Yet, it seems obvious that the task of understanding the business of prostitution , above all the form and function of brothels in different cultures, as well as their place on the map, remains a fundamental prerequisite to understanding the place of prostitution in historical experience.3 As an intellectual enterprise, however, this task barely seems to have begun. For many of the cultures that have been examined by the avatars of New 1. For a sense of the world we have lost (and do not miss) consult Murphy, Great Bordellos of the World (1983), a book representative of a larger genre that might be described as “coffee-table titillation.” As for Pompeian brothels, before the 1970s, and especially the 1990s, the reader found little to consult, aside from widely scattered references in various publications. An exception is found in two chapters devoted to this subject in D’Avino, Women of Pompeii (1964), 39–59, a work of a popular nature, at best. 2. Many would regard Walkowitz, Prostitution in Victorian Society (1980), as the breakthrough book in this ‹eld. There are important antecedents, among which Rubin, “The Traf‹c in Women” (1975), merits mention. In any case, the 1980s and 1990s have been a true golden age for feminist work on prostitution. 3. I note here that a working title of this study was Brothels in the Roman World. Understanding brothels in any culture requires a high degree of contextualization, which this book seeks to provide. Prostitution Studies, information on the profession’s economic aspects, including such issues as location, ownership, management, and price, is still sometimes surprisingly dif‹cult to come by. The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World has a fair claim to inaugurate a new genre in this ‹eld.4 Too often the subject is left embedded in a broader discourse, with key questions left unasked, let alone unanswered. Other studies have proven that it is possible to write a fairly effective study of venal sex without raising the problem of venue at all. One might draw the conclusion that the problem of brothels is quite incidental to the study of prostitution. This book will, I hope, serve as a corrective to that mistaken impression. It is original in its extensive reliance on comparative evidence drawn from a variety of cultures. I defend the use of this material for reasons of method in chapter 1; at the same time, I recognize the limitations of this use. The material is of intrinsic interest all...