Satyricon, vol 6, Editors Notes | Page 5

protected by their
customers, and they set a price upon their favors which was
commensurate with the jeopardy in which they always stood. The cells
opened upon a court or portico in the pretentious establishments, and
this court was used as a sort of reception room where the visitors
waited with covered head, until the artist whose ministrations were
particularly desired, as she would of course be familiar with their
preferences in matters of entertainment, was free to receive them. The
houses were easily found by the stranger, as an appropriate emblem
appeared over the door. This emblem of Priapus was generally a carved
figure, in wood or stone, and was frequently painted to resemble nature
more closely. The size ranged from a few inches in length to about two
feet. Numbers of these beginnings in advertising have been recovered
from Pompeii and Herculaneum, and in one case an entire
establishment, even to the instruments used in gratifying unnatural lusts,
was recovered intact. In praise of our modern standards of morality, it
should be said that it required some study and thought to penetrate the
secret of the proper use of several of these instruments. The collection
is still to be seen in the Secret Museum at Naples. The mural decoration
was also in proper keeping with the object for which the house was
maintained, and a few examples of this decoration have been preserved
to modern times; their luster and infamous appeal undimmed by the
passage of centuries.
Over the door of each cell was a tablet (titulus) upon which was the
name of the occupant and her price; the reverse bore the word
"occupata" and when the inmate was engaged the tablet was turned so
that this word was out. This custom is still observed in Spain and Italy.
Plautus, Asin. iv, i, 9, speaks of a less pretentious house when he says:
"let her write on the door that she is 'occupata.'" The cell usually
contained a lamp of bronze or, in the lower dens, of clay, a pallet or cot
of some sort, over which was spread a blanket or patch-work quilt, this
latter being sometimes employed as a curtain, Petronius, chap 7.
The arches under the circus were a favorite location for prostitutes;
ladies of easy virtue were ardent frequenters of the games of the circus
and were always ready at hand to satisfy the inclinations which the

spectacles aroused. These arcade dens were called "fornices," from
which comes our generic fornication. The taverns, inns, lodging houses,
cook shops, bakeries, spelt-mills and like institutions all played a
prominent part in the underworld of Rome. Let us take them in order:
Lupanaria--Wolf Dens, from lupa, a wolf. The derivation, according to
Lactantius, is as follows: "for she (Lupa, i. e., Acca Laurentia) was the
wife of Faustulus, and because of the easy rate at which her person was
held at the disposal of all, was called, among the shepherds, 'Lupa,' that
is, harlot, whence also 'lupanar,' a brothel, is so called." It may be
added, however, that there is some diversity of opinion upon this matter.
It will be discussed more fully under the word "lupa."
Fornix--An arch. The arcades under the theatres.
Pergulae--Balconies, where harlots were shown.
Stabulae--Inns, but frequently houses of prostitution.
Diversorium--A lodging house; house of assignation.
Tugurium--A hut. A very low den.
Turturilla--A dove cote; frequently in male part.
Casuaria--Road houses; almost invariably brothels.
Tabernae--Bakery shops.
The taverns were generally regarded by the magistrates as brothels and
the waitresses were so regarded by the law (Codex Theodos. lx, tit. 7,
ed. Ritter; Ulpian liiii, 23, De Ritu Nupt.). The Barmaid (Copa),
attributed to Virgil, proves that even the proprietress had two strings to
her bow, and Horace, Sat. lib. i, v, 82, in describing his excursion to
Brundisium, narrates his experience, or lack of it, with a waitress in an
inn. This passage, it should be remarked, is the only one in all his
works in which he is absolutely sincere in what he says of women.
"Here like a triple fool I waited till midnight for a lying jade till sleep
overcame me, intent on venery; in that filthy vision the dreams spot my
night clothes and my belly, as I lie upon my back." In the AEserman
inscription (Mommsen, Inscr. Regn. Neap. 5078, which is number 7306
in Orelli-Henzen) we have another example of the hospitality of these
inns, and a dialogue between the hostess and a transient. The bill for
the services of a girl amounted to 8 asses. This inscription is of great
interest to the antiquary, and to the archoeologist. That bakers were not
slow in organizing the grist mills is shown by a passage from Paulus
Diaconus, xiii, 2: "as time went on, the owners of these