flesh1
Spectator
Two weeks ago, right today wednesday, I was in Pompei, for an afternoon visit.
Few hours, too short for what the place deserves.
I promised to myself that when I'll be retired, in a few months, I will visit again Pompei but not less than a full day, from opening till closing time: it deserves, believe me.
The price of the ticket is fully justified to cover the expenses for maintaining the place in order and preserving it from environmental deterioration.
Let's come to the point:the bug in our minds, at least mine: SEX !!!!!
In Pompei prostitution was very widespread.
Not always prostitution like we mean nowadays, of sex for money.
Not just money, but favours, devotion towards someone, man or woman, we appreciate, or just friendship.
So prostitution in a broader meaning than a mere job.
Between the insulae (the blocks of houses) there were several apartments where prostitution was ecercised, called postribula.
The name of these women was lupae, like wolves.
There were many words meaning prostitutes, one of these was quadrantaria, meaning woman whose fare was a quarter of an axe, a cheap value, but there were also prostitutes for the upper classes clients.
Anyway, there were many,and only a few of them were full time prostitutes doing nothing else than sex for money, a pretty large number were prostitutes as asecond job.
But first: who were the Pompeianeae, the women of Pompeii ?
The eruption of early autumn 79 has crystallized men and women and their feats, covering people and actions in a thick coat of ashes, as if they were frozen in motion, to talk to us as the coat has been removed.
What do they say ?
There are writings on the wall of shops and the names on the doors. Really !
There is a villa, a nice house with a garden in the backyard full of roses. We know from the paintings on the wall and the remains of charred plants.
In that same garden now there are rose plants, modern age roses.
That same house belonged to a woman, she was the landlord.
We don't know what she looked like, presumably a mature woman, we know only her name, a name without face.
A wealthy single woman,perhaps a widow or a liberta, that is to say a woman originally slave who gained freedom by her master. Many of these were into business and trade, and earned money as well. And often they continued the collaboration with her master in the free woman status.
Obviously there was sex between them.
The latin for slave is servus, serva if female.
These women were called ancillae, like maids.
We don't really know for sure if the landlord of the house of the roses was a real liberta,but we are sure that a shop on the opposite side of the street was owned by a liberta. And we know her name as well. It's written on the wall in front of her shop.
It was a laundry.
Three girls were working with her.
One was named Maria, andshe was Jewish, the other two were a Greek and a Osca, an ancient ethnic group coming from the Appennine mountains, more or less where nowadays there are the regions of Molise and Abruzzo, at the Adriatic side of the Appennine chain.
During working hours they used to wash garments and sheet for customers.
Their flat was on the upper floor, on the laundry.
In that room they were used to entertain customers seeking for quick sex.
How do we know this ?
In those times public authorities were elected, like nowadays you elect politicians (for example the next 8-9th june for us Europeans).
Before the elections the candidates had to advertise their name, and who made this were people who wrote phrases about that candidate on the walls, at nightime since the owner of the walls were not very happy to have the front of the house written.
The case of the laundry girls was a bit different.
The owner was the woman for whom these girls were working for, and the candidate was very likely a customer of those girls. Almost sure he was.
So they wrote on the wall of the laundry a phrase in which are praised the talents of that man,like he is good, honest, and so on to convince people to vote forhim.
The problem is the second job of Maria and the other two girls, pretty well known.
It doesn't look good fora politician been praised by a prostitute in our times, and so was also in those times.
So the name is scratched off the wall, but not the rest of the phrase.
And in the rest there are the names of the woman landlord and her girls, the liberta and her ancillae.
With clear signs of scratching.
Perhaps those four women were a bit disappointed.
I would like that just for an hour they could come back to life and talk.
And since we are talking,why not having sex ?
The time machine is only in science fiction movies. Unfortunately.
I can just imagine appealing to my imagination the faces of Maria and the other girls,their garments, their talk, their move, their steps.
Close your eyes, they are here for you.
She is unfastening the knot of her tunic to show her breast and with a mischievous smile she invites you upstairs.
Hi, Maria, how long have you been waiting for me ?
A dick carved on the stone of the pavement indicates that here you could buy sex
They were like us.Few hours, too short for what the place deserves.
I promised to myself that when I'll be retired, in a few months, I will visit again Pompei but not less than a full day, from opening till closing time: it deserves, believe me.
The price of the ticket is fully justified to cover the expenses for maintaining the place in order and preserving it from environmental deterioration.
Let's come to the point:the bug in our minds, at least mine: SEX !!!!!
In Pompei prostitution was very widespread.
Not always prostitution like we mean nowadays, of sex for money.
Not just money, but favours, devotion towards someone, man or woman, we appreciate, or just friendship.
So prostitution in a broader meaning than a mere job.
Between the insulae (the blocks of houses) there were several apartments where prostitution was ecercised, called postribula.
The name of these women was lupae, like wolves.
There were many words meaning prostitutes, one of these was quadrantaria, meaning woman whose fare was a quarter of an axe, a cheap value, but there were also prostitutes for the upper classes clients.
Anyway, there were many,and only a few of them were full time prostitutes doing nothing else than sex for money, a pretty large number were prostitutes as asecond job.
But first: who were the Pompeianeae, the women of Pompeii ?
The eruption of early autumn 79 has crystallized men and women and their feats, covering people and actions in a thick coat of ashes, as if they were frozen in motion, to talk to us as the coat has been removed.
What do they say ?
There are writings on the wall of shops and the names on the doors. Really !
There is a villa, a nice house with a garden in the backyard full of roses. We know from the paintings on the wall and the remains of charred plants.
In that same garden now there are rose plants, modern age roses.
That same house belonged to a woman, she was the landlord.
We don't know what she looked like, presumably a mature woman, we know only her name, a name without face.
A wealthy single woman,perhaps a widow or a liberta, that is to say a woman originally slave who gained freedom by her master. Many of these were into business and trade, and earned money as well. And often they continued the collaboration with her master in the free woman status.
Obviously there was sex between them.
The latin for slave is servus, serva if female.
These women were called ancillae, like maids.
We don't really know for sure if the landlord of the house of the roses was a real liberta,but we are sure that a shop on the opposite side of the street was owned by a liberta. And we know her name as well. It's written on the wall in front of her shop.
It was a laundry.
Three girls were working with her.
One was named Maria, andshe was Jewish, the other two were a Greek and a Osca, an ancient ethnic group coming from the Appennine mountains, more or less where nowadays there are the regions of Molise and Abruzzo, at the Adriatic side of the Appennine chain.
During working hours they used to wash garments and sheet for customers.
Their flat was on the upper floor, on the laundry.
In that room they were used to entertain customers seeking for quick sex.
How do we know this ?
In those times public authorities were elected, like nowadays you elect politicians (for example the next 8-9th june for us Europeans).
Before the elections the candidates had to advertise their name, and who made this were people who wrote phrases about that candidate on the walls, at nightime since the owner of the walls were not very happy to have the front of the house written.
The case of the laundry girls was a bit different.
The owner was the woman for whom these girls were working for, and the candidate was very likely a customer of those girls. Almost sure he was.
So they wrote on the wall of the laundry a phrase in which are praised the talents of that man,like he is good, honest, and so on to convince people to vote forhim.
The problem is the second job of Maria and the other two girls, pretty well known.
It doesn't look good fora politician been praised by a prostitute in our times, and so was also in those times.
So the name is scratched off the wall, but not the rest of the phrase.
And in the rest there are the names of the woman landlord and her girls, the liberta and her ancillae.
With clear signs of scratching.
Perhaps those four women were a bit disappointed.
I would like that just for an hour they could come back to life and talk.
And since we are talking,why not having sex ?
The time machine is only in science fiction movies. Unfortunately.
I can just imagine appealing to my imagination the faces of Maria and the other girls,their garments, their talk, their move, their steps.
Close your eyes, they are here for you.
She is unfastening the knot of her tunic to show her breast and with a mischievous smile she invites you upstairs.
Hi, Maria, how long have you been waiting for me ?
A dick carved on the stone of the pavement indicates that here you could buy sex
One thousand nine hundred fortyfive years separate us, but we are the same people.
At least, I feel like this.
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