Hic habitat felicitas ("Happiness lives here" or "Good luck lives here"). We might think this is the entrance sign to a Roman brothel, but it isn't. For the ancient Romans, sexuality had the same importance it has for us today, but certainly this image didn't mean the same thing to them as it does to us.
Nor did it have the same meaning for people in the 18th century, when those things were discovered, and censored, ended up in a secret room in the museum. In the censored collection there was indeed erotic art from Pompeii and Herculaneum, but also the fascinum, which for the ancient Romans had nothing to do with eroticism. The secret room collection finally became accessible to everyone in 2000.
Fascinus -Tintinnabulum from Pompeii. It would be hung outside a house or shop doorway to ward off evil spirits. National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
In ancient Rome, phallic amulets, called fascinum, had no connection with sexuality; they were used, among other things, as protection against the evil eye, a strong belief that an envious person can cause bad things to happen to you in your life just with a look full of bad vibes.
This belief still exists intact in many cultures; millions of people believe it. The only thing that has changed is that today, no one would wear something shaped like a phallus as an amulet, and that's because it's precisely us, not the ancient Romans, who associate the figure of a phallus with sexuality. Furthermore, for them this amulet was linked to the Roman deity Fascinus.
Four Roman fascinum. They were highly valued amulets used as a protection among children and soldiers. They were used to ward off the evil eye, to invoke the protection of the god Fascinus, or to promote the germination of plants.
The funniest thing I've ever read about this topic is that this stone phallus in Via dell'Abbondanza, Pompeii, is a signpost indicating the route to the brothel. I would say it was to prevent envious people from spreading bad vibes as they walked past the many shops and bars on that street.
Fascinus was the Roman deity who personified the divine phallus and was invoked for protection. He was also referred to as medicus invidiae, meaning "doctor" for envy or the evil eye.
He was depicted as a giant flying penis with wings, hind legs, and a penis of his own. He was associated with the Greek god of fertility, Priapus . He was used as a protective amulet, especially among children and soldiers. Houses were decorated with this symbol. They were hung around the necks of babies and children. They were also very common among legionaries.
“Should we believe that it is right to do so upon the arrival of a stranger, or that if a baby is seen sleeping, the nurse should spit on it three times? Although these are looked after by Fascinus, protector also of generals, not only of children, a divinity whose cult among Roman religious rites is attended to by the Vestals and who, doctor of the evil eye, protects the chariots of victors by hanging beneath them and, as a remedy similar to a voice, orders them to look behind them in order to obtain the benevolence of Fortune, executioner of glory, behind them.” (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XXVIII, 39)
If you've seen the image of Fascinus in a series set in Ancient Rome, in the inevitable brothel scene, it's because no one on the production team took a moment to find out what this figure meant to the ancient Romans.
In the only real Roman brothel discovered, the one in Pompeii, there are sexually explicit paintings depicting people, but not the image of Fascinus.
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