Sex Work in Pompeii

When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, his homecoming turns into a ruthless reckoning. Tristan Hughes and Dr. Emily Hauser dive into the shocking climax of Homer’s Odyssey, where hospitality, vengeance and survival collide in a blood-soaked finale.What drives Odysseus to unleas ...  Show more

Long before the age of the Inca and Maya, a remarkable city once flourished on the coast of modern Peru. Founded more than five thousand years ago, the sacred city of Caral is home to monumental pyramids, lavish temples and one of the world's earliest urban societies.Tristan Hugh ...  Show more

Sex work was everywhere in the ancient world, but a known dedicated space for it (a brothel), is an extremely rare and important thing.Pompeii offers exactly that, with details such as graffiti and drawings immaculately preserved in the only known brothel from this period.Who wer ...  Show more

Warning: this episode contains explicit language and discussions of sex.Pompeii is a city frozen in time and shows us exactly how the Romans really lived. Buried by volcanic ash and debris from a catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, visitors to the Roman town can still see ...  Show more

What did it look like inside a Roman brothel? Who was the sex worker involved in a murder plot to kill an Emperor? And why was the Pope getting sex workers to race chariots?!In this first episode of our brand new limited-series on sex work through history, Kate is joined by Profe ...  Show more

*WARNING this episode includes explicit language and adult themes*What were your medieval ancestors getting up to in the bedroom? Join sex historian Kate Lister, Betwixt the Sheets, to find out.Medievalist and George Michael super-fan Dr Eleanor Janega is on the podcast to chat a ...  Show more