Martial on Prostitution in ancient Rome

“I passed a whole night with a lascivious girl, whose wickednessNequitias, wickedness," so we say playfully of an accomplished performer, "a wicked little devil," meaning that she was up to every dodge; in a word, an accomplished prostitute. no one could surpass. Tired of a thousand pranks, I begged that boyish favour,Boyish favour, i.e., I asked her to let me have her a l'Italienne. before my prayer was finished, my first utterance, 'twas granted. Smiling and blushing I asked for something worse,Something worse or literally more "shameless," i.e., I asked her to gamahuche me. she voluptuously promised it at once.She made no objection on the score of filthiness, but promised to do it; however, she wanted so much extra that I couldn't afford it, and consequently she was quoad her mouth, chaste to me. But you, Aeschylus, won't grudge your money on your favourite vice; go to her then and be gamahuched. But she was chaste to me. She will not be so to you, Aeschylus: if you want it, take this boon, but she will attach a condition.Conditio mala, literally "take this boon under an evil condition," similar to this use of mala is the phrase "to levy black mail."Last night the soft charms of an exquisite whore   Fulfilled every whim of my mind, Till, with fucking grown weary, I begged something more,   One bliss that still lingered behind. My prayer was accepted; the rose in the rear   Was opened to me in a minute; One rose still remained, which I asked of my dear,—   'Twas her mouth and the tongue that lay in it. She promised at once, what I asked her to do;   Yet her lips were unsullied by me. They'll not, my old friend, remain virgins for you,   Whose penchant exceeds e'en her fee.”

“Try, Victor,Martial advises his friend Victor, who was about to marry, and who had never had a woman, to take some lessons from a whore, since he would not learn the " twists and the turns" from an inexperienced virgin, and would consequently, think poking (somewhat unjustly) poor fun, since two unsophisticated people would make a bungle of it. try a woman's embrace, and let your prick learn an operation now unknown to it. The veil is woven for the bride, the virgin is ready, your affiancee will now cut the hairYour slaves, whom you have used as catamites, will have their long hair cut off, for your wife, now that you are married, will make you give them up, and they will not be so likely to be attractive when their long girlish hair is cropped. off your slaves. She will allow her eager husband to sodomise her once, while she dreads the first wounds of an untried weapon. Her nurse and her motherNurse and mamma will question her about the event, and wliat her husband did to her, how she liked it, etc. will not allow this to be done oftener, and they will say she is your wife, she is not your catamite. Oh what toil, what labours will you undergo, if a cunt is strange to you ! Therefore hand over the tyro to a Suburan school mistress she will make him a man:Modernised, "Go to a Haymarket prostitute." a virgin is not a good teacher.Victor, quit your hateful life,   Henceforth pledged to marriage joys, Wed the long unthought of wife,   And think of making, not abusing, boys! The veil is wov'n, the maidens come.   And timid hope the bride engages. Who shall soon adorn your home.   And turn your long-haired slaves to dapper pages. Prepare your weapon for the sheath   Where sexual fondness bids it glide, Nor in the scabbard underneath   Think, as your boyish loves, t' enjoy your bride: If at first but faint resistance   Meet a wrong directed aim, Her mother will compel desistance   And tell you, wives and boys are not the same. Then you'll toil, with ill feigned pleasure,   Through paths to your desires unknown, Nor esteem a priceless treasure.   The pretty virgin rosebud scarce full blown. First then, for instruction turn   To some vet'ran venal beauty, She will teach, what you should learn,   A woman's wants, a loving husband's duty.”

“When you enter the door of the numbered" Numbered" lit. " with the names over the doors," which is difficult to translate in one word. " Numbered" gives, perhaps, the best idea. Professed harlots had their names inscribed over the doors of their rooms. These rooms or "cellae" were the harlots' bedrooms, not the brothel itself, which contained many of these "cellae." This method was very convenient for the public, as the prostitutes used to stand naked at the doors of their "cellae," that they might be inspected by the visitors of the bawdyhouse, who turned them round and examined them to see that they had no secret blemishes. room, whether a boy or a girl has attracted you, you are not content with the door and the curtain and the bolt; but you order far greater secresy for yourself. If there is a suspicion of the least crevice, it is daubed out, and so are the punctures made by a wanton's bodkin.Bodkin, compare Tertullian de Virgine Velanda, c. 12. No one, Cantharus, is so delicate and so uneasily modest who either sodomises or fucks.There is a beautiful antithesis here. No one, says Martial, is so careful of not being seen as an utter debauchee. So has Seneca remarked, and it holds good at the present day. But it may admit of another explanation. The fast man who has had the pleasure of peeping through crevices and chinks at other people, would naturally take care that he was not watched himself. But the idea Martial intends to convey is, that a man who fucks or sodomises does not much care if he is seen, as these were mere peccadilloes, but he does care if he's seen gamahuching, therefore as Cantharus is so very cautious about crevices and chinks, we may fairly conclude that he gamahuches. Uneasily modest. So Byron, "ladies of the most uneasy virtue."—DON JUAN.When Suburan dens you enter   And securely bolt the door— Door whereon the painted number   Marks the calling of a whore, Whether boy or girl allure you   Bolt and door will not suffice, Nor the heavy hanging curtain   Satisfy a mind so nice; If the smallest crack or crevice   Find a place the wall within, Plugged it must be like the peep hole   Punctured by the wanton's pin; Cantharus, no man's so modest,   From what place or race lie comes. Who to please his passions, only   Fucks or sods, or cunts or bums.”