As in all Roman towns cauponae and thermopolia were an integral part of Pompeii’s life, providing its citizens with a hot meal to take out or eat in — and a place to enjoy a game of dice and a drink at the end of a long day. 

Asellina’s tavern provided all of this and more, with bar staff potentially offering more intimate services than merely serving food and drink. However, whatever Asellina’s tavern offered its customers, the owner — and her friends or staff — had sufficient clout to play a role in local politics. 

The Location and Layout of Asellina’s Tavern

Asellina’s caupona or tavern is in the ninth region of Pompeii, on the left-hand side of the Road of Abundance — the Via dell’Abbondanza — and not far from the triangular forum. The area was at the heart of Pompeii and a busy hub for industries, residences and businesses. 

Its situation in Pompeii meant Asellina’s was well-positioned for customers. A drawing of the god Mercury, painted on the right doorpost of the entrance greeted patrons. The bar staff were made aware of customers’ arrival by a phallic-shaped door chime, which also doubled as a lamp at night. 

This entrance opened directly into the caupona, a single small room that at night would have been atmospheric (and very smoky) judging by the numbers of pottery lamps found inside. One side of an “L” shaped counter, inset with four large pottery doliae served as a bar. These doliae contained snacks of dried fruit and pulses that bar staff would have served with drinks. They were found intact and in situ — as was a brazier and a lidded pot for warming wine on the other side of the counter. 

The other side of the counter extended in the opposite direction, across an entrance opening onto the street. It was here that bar staff could serve takeaway food and drinks to busy passersby.   

Was Asellina’s Tavern a Brothel?

Asellina’s tavern served not only food and drink but may also have offered cheap accommodation. Left of the entrance were stairs to an upper floor, which no longer exists, but that could have accommodated overnight guests — or as some have suggested, sexual clients.

Some evidence found in the tavern suggests Asellina’s doubled as a brothel. Some of the pottery lamps were shaped as phallic symbols. The phrase ‘”Hic habitat felicitas” — “here dwells happiness: — inscribed on the tavern’s doorpost, could be the review of a satisfied customer — or the owner’s recommendation of the services inside. There is also a tiny piece of graffiti inscribed within the letter ‘O’ of another of the scrawlings on the tavern’s plaster facade, referring to a patron having sexual intercourse with one of the barmaids.

However, this evidence does not necessarily mean that Asellina’s tavern was a venue for prostitution. Phallic symbols were not necessary lewd symbols to the Romans. They were common good luck charms, often found inscribed on street corners. The doorpost inscription could have been a charm used to ward off bad luck — or a reference to the prospect of a good night out, eating drinking or gambling. Patrons may well have had sexual relationships with female staff — but they are equally likely to have been free and easy relationships as paying ones.

Political Graffiti

Sexually suggestive scrawlings aside, the façade of Asellina’s tavern was covered in graffiti — but not of the kind usually found on buildings in modern cities. 

79 AD was an election year in Pompeii, and the graffiti on Asellina’s tavern consists mainly of electoral posters. Through these posters, we learn some of the names of the candidates for election and the offices they were standing for — and which locals supported them. In the case of Asellina’s tavern, this graffiti also gives us the building’s owner’s name.

“C LOLLIUM FVSCVM IIVIR(um) V(iis) A(edibus) S(acris) P(ublicis) P(rocurandis) ASELLINAS (sic) ROGANT NEC SINE ZMYRINA” reads one, which translates as “Asellina’s girls, as well as Zymyrina, ask that C Lollius Fuscus become duum vir for roadways and the maintenance of public and religious buildings.” (CIL IV 7863). 

Other women’s names on the tavern’s façade have been taken to refer to “Asellina’s girls”. CIL IV 7886 records how “Aegle,” asks for Helvius Sabinus’s election as aedile, while “Maria” recommends the same candidate in CIL IV 7866.  

The names of these women are non-Roman. Aegle is Greek, while Maria could have been Jewish. Asellina’s name is the only Roman name on the tavern façade, leading to the conclusion that she was the owner, while the others were either slaves or lower class immigrants who worked for her. However, although Zymyrina’s name indicates Syrian origins, the fact that she appears as a separate reference to Asellina and her girls — and in political notices elsewhere across the town — suggests she was a person of influence in her own right. Foreign origins did not necessarily mean a person was subservient. 

Women in Roman society could not vote or take part in official life. So why would they involve themselves in electioneering? It is possible that Asellina was a client of Fuscus or Sabinus and was so lending her wall to their election notices out of obligation — or for payment. If Maria and Aegle were women in her employ, their names would lend extra weight — especially if they were popular with the tavern’s customers. Clearly, Asellina and the women she employed — slave or free, barmaid or prostitute — were deemed to have sufficient clout locally to influence their customers and neighbours’ political decisions.

Sources

Pompeii: Archaeological Guide. Instituto Geografico de Agostini

Cooley, Alison E and MGL, (2004), Pompeii: A Sourcebook. Routledge: London and New York.

Dobbins, John j and Foss, Pedar W(Eds) 2002, The World of Pompeii. Routledge: London and New York

Sheldon, Natasha (2018), Discovering Pompeii. Strigidae Press

Akar, P., & Stevens, A. (2016). Women as political activists in Pompeii. Clio. Women, Gender, History, (43), 166-174. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26242548