Isidorus: sex-slave or candidate for aedile? The value of advertising in Pompeii

Rebecca R. Benefiel (Washington and Lee University)

Political campaign posters have long captured the attention of both scholars and visitors to Pompeii. These relatively easy to read inscriptions, painted in large red letters on the city’s walls, inform us about Pompeii’s local government and the broad spectrum of society that was involved with the political process.[1] Though these political programmata were the most common type of advertising posted on Pompeii’s walls, they were not the only one. This paper analyzes an intriguing inscription that has been misidentified as a political programma, but that actually advertises the services of a prostitute named Isidorus.  After restoring the inscription to its true context, I use the biography of Isidorus as a window into the dynamics of the Pompeian sex trade, as well as into the epigraphic culture of Pompeian street life.

My paper is in three parts. I begin by examining the wall inscription that has been explained as a notice of Isidorus’ candidacy for aedile, despite the fact that it boasts of his prowess at cunnilingus (CIL IV.1383). The mistaken identification stems, I argue, from a misreading of the text based on slight damage to the wall surface as well as ignorance of the larger context. Three additional inscriptions along the same street all name Isidorus as well, and make clear that he is a slave and one of Pompeii’s few known male prostitutes.

In the second part of my paper, I analyze the way in which Isidorus’ services are advertised. The inscriptions detail not just Isidorus’ specialty and his price, but also note that he was a verna, a home-bred slave, and that he hailed from nearby Puteoli. Why publicize so much information, and precisely these attributes? It is likely that these qualities made Isidorus’ services more attractive. The reference to his origins, in fact, may be an attempt to appropriate the recent prestige accruing to Puteoli after Nero bestowed honors on the city in 60 CE (these honors are the subject of an acclamation inscribed nearby).

I conclude by situating the advertisements for Isidorus among the other advertisements for prostitutes found in Pompeii.  I assess the various attributes used to advertise prostitutes of higher quality, the typical rates for prostitutes’ services, and the geographical distribution of the establishments that used this type of advertising.  My paper offers a nuanced sketch of an important aspect of Pompeian street culture, and one slave’s role within it.