Merētrix
（
πόρνη). A woman of loose character. There are a number of
words in Greek and Latin to designate the harlot;
ἑταίρα and
concubina usually implying one who has a quasi-recognized connection
with a single man, while
πόρνη,
meretrix,
scortum, etc., designate the common prostitute:
παλλάκή,
παλλακίς, and
pellex usually imply the kept mistress of a
married man. See
Concubina.
I. Greek.—In Greece the State not only tolerated but
protected the public courtesans. Solon is said to have established a brothel (
πορνεῖον) from whose profits he built a temple to
Aphrodité Pandemos. In later times the number of such places increased and were
licensed (
πορνικὸν τέλος), as in Paris and other Continental
cities to-day. Women living by themselves also paid a regular tax like the
filles inscrites. The keepers of houses of ill-fame were known as
πορνοβοσκοί. Private courtesans were very numerous at Athens and especially at
Corinth, which last city was proverbial for its loose morals and the beauty of its
hetaerae. Some of these persons were famous throughout Greece for their
wit and accomplishments, and seem to have prided themselves on their mental gifts. Thus the
Arcadian Lasthenea was a pupil of Plato, Leontion of Epicurus, and
Aspasia (q.v.) is said to have instructed Sophocles and Pericles. For
other famous courtesans, see the articles
Harmodius;
Laïs;
Phryné.
As virtuous women in Greece (outside of Sparta and a few Dorian communities) were kept
strictly at home and possessed few accomplishments, we find the
hetaera
occupying often the influential position which in modern times belongs to the lawful wife; and
so long as the husband did not altogether neglect his wife, any associations that he might
have outside his own home with
hetaerae were not regarded with
severity. It is probable that the indulgence with which women of this class were looked upon
sprang in part from the semi-religious character of the prostitute as being associated with
the worship of Aphrodité. At Corinth, for instance, a large number of these women
were formally dedicated to the service of that goddess and were styled
ἱερόδουλοι. Few citizens ever entered the ranks of the
πορναί, and whenever such a case happened loss of citizenship was the
penalty, as also for a person who kept a
πορνεῖον.
II. Roman.—In the early days of the Roman Republic
prostitution was little known, and when recognized was branded with infamy. It seems to have
been first introduced as a regular profession from Etruria, and at last assumed frightful
proportions and had little or no legal restriction. Its growth was fostered by the spread of
slavery among the Romans, since from the slave-markets both men and women, bred in the midst
of Oriental corruption, came from Asia and Africa to taint the old-time purity of Rome by
their influence. The pages of Ovid, Petronius, Juvenal, and Martial supply a mass of
information regarding the frightful prevalence of the social evil. Under the Empire, so
lightly was public debauchery regarded that ladies of noble birth voluntarily abandoned their
rank in order to enroll themselves in the police-registers as courtesans; while Juvenal states
that the empress Messalina, the wife of Claudius, used to steal away from the imperial palace
at night and under the assumed name of Lycisca occupy a harlot's cell (
Juv.vi. 638). Dancing-girls, actresses, musicians, and professional women in general
were regularly classed as
meretrices; and there were both those who
occupied public houses (
lupanaria) and those who lived in private
lodgings. The parts of the city that were most frequented by them were the Suburra (q. v.),
the Vicus Tuscus, the Vicus Patricius, the baths, the Summoenium (near the walls), and the
arcades of the Circus Maximus, where remains of their low-vaulted cells (
cellae) still exist. These places were small and a little lower than the sidewalk, and
were also known as
fornices from the arch (
fornix）
that formed their roof. At the entrance to each was usually a sign (
titulus) bearing the name of the
meretrix and her price. The
wording of one of them has been preserved for us in the
Apollonius Tyrius (ch.
xxx.). Besides the names given above, these women were called
lupae,
“wolves,”
prostibulae (pro+stabulum), prosedae
(pro+sedeo), bustuariae (as plying their trade near the
bustae or
cemeteries),
diobolariae, alicariae (from the bakeries), and
nonariae (as forbidden to appear on the streets before the
hora nona, 3 p. m.).
Some few attempts were made to control and regulate this evil.
Meretrices
were forbidden to wear the
stola of the matron, but dressed in a dark
toga; and the city praetor had power to imprison, scourge, or banish them without a trial. Yet
the restraint put upon them was only nominal, and as they were publicly recognized in some of
the great festivals, such as the
Floralia (q.v.),
they may be said to have had a sort of official standing.
Bibliography.—See Dufour,
Histoire de la
Prostitution, 6 vols.
(Paris, 1853); Lecky,
Hist. of European
Morals, vol. i.
(N. Y. 1884); Becker-Göll,
Charikles, vol. ii. pp. 85-104; vol. iii. pp. 306-398; Fr. Jacobs,
Vermischte Schriften, vol. iv.
(1844). The ancient authorities
for Roman prostitution are carefully collected by Jeannel,
La
Prostitution (Paris, 1874). A Roman
lupanar is among the
houses excavated at Pompeii, where it is now shown to visitors. The paintings on the walls are
still too plainly preserved. The other objects found in this house are now kept in the
Raccolta Pornografica of the Museo Nazionale at Naples.
