McGinn Thomas A. The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: a study of social history and the brothel

The University of Michigan press, 2007. — xv+359 p. — ISBN: 0-472-11362-3 (alk. paper)We seem to be as far from a general history of brothels as we undoubtedly are from a history of prostitution. Attempts at accomplishing such projects run a certain risk of appearing to validate the status of venal sex as “the oldest profession,” an idea that has not only been repudiated but successfully refuted. Nearly three decades of feminist scholarship have turned the tide, which is not turning back at any time soon, to judge from all appearances. Yet, it seems obvious that the task of understanding the business of prostitution, above all the form and function of brothels in different cultures, as well as their place on the map, remains a fundamental prerequisite to understanding the place of prostitution in historical experience. As an intellectual enterprise, however, this task barely seems to have begun.