Satyricon, vol 6, Editors Notes | Page 4

regulations and arrangements of the brothels,
however, we have information which is far more accurate. These
houses (lupanaria, fornices, et cet.) were situated, for the most part, in
the Second District of the City (Adler, Description of the City of Rome,
pp. 144 et seq.), the Coelimontana, particularly in the Suburra that
bordered the town walls, lying in the Carinae,--the valley between the
Coelian and Esquiline Hills. The Great Market (Macellum Magnum)
was in this district, and many cook-shops, stalls, barber shops, et cet. as
well; the office of the public executioner, the barracks for foreign
soldiers quartered at Rome; this district was one of the busiest and most
densely populated in the entire city. Such conditions would naturally be
ideal for the owner of a house of ill fame, or for a pandar. The regular
brothels are described as having been exceedingly dirty, smelling of the
gas generated by the flame of the smoking lamp, and of the other odors
which always haunted these ill ventilated dens. Horace, Sat. i, 2, 30,
"on the other hand, another will have none at all except she be standing
in the evil smelling cell (of the brothel)"; Petronius, chap. xxii, "worn
out by all his troubles, Ascyltos commenced to nod, and the maid,
whom he had slighted, and, of course, insulted, smeared lamp-black all
over his face"; Priapeia, xiii, 9, "whoever likes may enter here, smeared
with the black soot of the brothel"; Seneca, Cont. i, 2, "you reek still of
the soot of the brothel." The more pretentious establishments of the
Peace ward, however, were sumptuously fitted up. Hair dressers were
in attendance to repair the ravages wrought in the toilette, by frequent
amorous conflicts, and aquarioli, or water boys attended at the door
with bidets for ablution. Pimps sought custom for these houses and
there was a good understanding between the parasites and the
prostitutes. From the very nature of their calling, they were the friends
and companions of courtesans. Such characters could not but be
mutually necessary to each other. The harlot solicited the acquaintance

of the client or parasite, that she might the more easily obtain and carry
on intrigues with the rich and dissipated. The parasite was assiduous in
his attention to the courtesan, as procuring through her means, more
easy access to his patrons, and was probably rewarded by them both,
for the gratification which he obtained for the vices of the one and the
avarice of the other. The licensed houses seem to have been of two
kinds: those owned and managed by a pandar, and those in which the
latter was merely an agent, renting rooms and doing everything in his
power to supply his renters with custom. The former were probably the
more respectable. In these pretentious houses, the owner kept a
secretary, villicus puellarum, or superintendent of maids; this official
assigned a girl her name, fixed the price to be demanded for her favors,
received the money and provided clothing and other necessities: "you
stood with the harlots, you stood decked out to please the public,
wearing the costume the pimp had furnished you"; Seneca, Controv. i,
2. Not until this traffic had become profitable, did procurers and
procuresses (for women also carried on this trade) actually keep girls
whom they bought as slaves: "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, that he might employ her as a prostitute"; Seneca, Controv. lib.
i, 2. It was also the duty of the villicus, or cashier, to keep an account of
what each girl earned: "give me the brothel-keeper's accounts, the fee
will suit" (Ibid.)
When an applicant registered with the aedile, she gave her correct name,
her age, place of birth, and the pseudonym under which she intended
practicing her calling. (Plautus, Poen.)
If the girl was young and apparently respectable, the official sought to
influence her to change her mind; failing in this, he issued her a license
(licentia stupri), ascertained the price she intended exacting for her
favors, and entered her name in his roll. Once entered there, the name
could never be removed, but must remain for all time an
insurmountable bar to repentance and respectability. Failure to register
was severely punished upon conviction, and this applied not only to the
girl but to the pandar as well. The penalty was scourging, and
frequently fine and exile. Notwithstanding this, however, the number of
clandestine prostitutes at Rome was probably equal to that of the

registered harlots. As the relations of these unregistered women were,
for the most part, with politicians and prominent citizens it was very
difficult to deal with them effectively: they were