Abstract
This thesis aims to discern the appeal and the experience one could find at the purpose-built brothel in Pompeii. While we know certain aspects of Roman prostitution like the range of prices and different vocabulary terms for the word “prostitute”, my passion and curiosity for Roman daily life led me to question why a Roman male went to the brothel? What was the appeal of going to a purpose-built brothel rather than soliciting sex publicly in bathhouses or in the streets? I hypothesize that the appeal for the brothel was its disposition as an accepted sexual outlet for married men, the availability of non-normative sex, and the elite experience of reclined dining its majority sub-elite clientele could participate in. To examine this, chapters in this thesis look at the context of marriage and prostitution, the vocabulary of prostitution, the archaeology of the brothel in Pompeii, and the graffiti on the walls of the brothel and Pompeii.