The 2,000-year-old paintings are shown quite “vivid”, making today’s viewers may have to blush.
la maIn the 18th century, when starting to excavate Pompeii – the ancient Roman city buried by volcanoes in 79 BC, archaeologists were extremely surprised to discover a large number of murals with the content of porn in the houses of this city.
This discovery has shown that ancient Roman culture was more liberal than most modern cultures and Pompeii became a living museum of Roman sex culture.
According to historians, brothels were quite common in Pompeii, and paintings also depict scenes of pleasure at these venues.
In general, prostitution was a relatively inexpensive service for Roman men.
But even with low prices, prostitutes still earn more than three times the wages of unskilled workers.
It is estimated that Pompeii had up to 35 brothels per 20,000 inhabitants, a “terrible” ratio compared to today’s urban areas.
The 2,000-year-old paintings are shown quite “vivid”, making today’s viewers may have to blush. In addition to the brothel, baths for sexual services were found during excavations.
Like brothels, these baths are decorated with “happy” images of couples.
The writings show that a sex industry had flourished in Rome since the period BC. After being excavated, many “perverse” works were brought to the Secret Museum – which displays artifacts excavated from Pompeii in Naples, Italy.
In 1819, when King Francis I of Naples visited the museum with his wife and daughter, he was puzzled by the “depraved” works. He decided to lock the door to the room containing these works, allowing only “admired elders and virtuous people” to visit.
This room was later re-opened and closed several times, because of persistent ethical arguments between the “radical” and “conservative” camps on the subject of sex.
During the 20th century, the room was mostly closed, except for a brief time in the late 1960s, when the sexual revolution broke out in the West.
The room was finally reopened to the public in 2000, but children can only enter in the presence of a guardian or with a permit.
