The Lupanar of Pompeii, also known as Lupanare Grande, is the largest of the city’s many brothels. Located east of the Forum, it features 10 small rooms where brick platforms topped with mattresses once served as beds.
Some of the wall paintings at the Lupanar are sexual in nature, but it’s the graffiti that both the prostitutes and the clientele scrawled on the walls that most surprises visitors. Given that wealthy Roman generally did not visit brothels because of the availability of mistresses and slave concubines, the writers names cannot be connected to known historical figures but the graffiti do tell stories, however. In some instances, writers responded to the messages carved into the walls, creating an ongoing dialogue that offers a unique look at the history of Pompeii.
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