An illustrated guide to the erotic images of Pompeii, as depicted in wall paintings, mosaics, ceramic decoration and relief sculpture. Individual chapters focus on the depiction of the phallus, irony and parody, eroticism at banquets, in the public, private and sacred spheres.

Offers an in-depth exploration of the only assured brothel from the Greco-Roman world, illuminating the lives of both prostitutes and clients.

The city of Pompeii, or Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeiorum, the stage of the action that takes place here, is seen by the author from the perspective of its integration in the macro-economic system of the Roman Empire. The characters that take the centre stage here are slaves, freed slaves and free citizens of low social status, distinguished from others by the place they occupy within relations of oppression and exploitation. In the pages that follow, the author brings the popular Pompeian soul to life, through its manifestations of love, sexuality, anguish and sadness. The work examines particular linguistic expression of popular Latin and, most specifically, through the graffiti written on the walls of a Roman colonial city, rendered there for the attention of the local community.

Pompeii brings back to life the city of Pompeii and the everyday existence of Roman people in a pluralistic society that provided the basis and roots of Western civilization