Literature, Lust, and Lavatories (or, Books, Brothels, and Bottoms): Library of Celsus, Ephesus, Turkey

 

Ephesus lies in what is now Western Turkey, in Izmir Province. Although it was founded in the 10th century BC (probably, -ish), it was the Temple of Artemis which made the ancient city a pilgrimage centre from 6^th – 5^th centuries BC. The temple isn't there anymore, possibly because (after many reconstruction jobs) it was finally destroyed by the Goths in the 3rd century AD. At any rate, the Christians (who subsequently took over things) didn't bother rebuilding what was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, instead 'repurposing' (robbing) the building materials for other structures. Hum ho. Bloody heathens. There’s irony there somewhere. Mind you, there's a legend that one of these structures might have been Hagia Sophia, so perhaps we'll forgive them.

However, the remains of the Library of Celsus can still be seen and really are pretty impressive. The library was built somewhere around 115 AD by a Roman official, Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus, and actually intended as a monument to his late father, who had been a proconsul of Ephesus. Apparently, it wasn’t completed until after Aquila died, but it serves as both the burial place of his father and a library for the benefit of Ephesian citizens. Excellent dual usage going on there. There may have been about 12,000 scrolls within the beautifully designed library, but you didn’t get a card allowing you to borrow them, because they were all hand-done and a bit expensive. Sadly, the library and its scrolls were largely destroyed in a fire in 262 AD. This may or may not have been the fault of the Goths. (Them again?). Let’s not automatically blame foreigners for everything bad that happens, shall we? The library’s façade remained standing for several hundred years more, but then collapsed in a 10^th-century earthquake. It was subsequently reconstructed in the 1970s from fragments excavated by Austrian archaeologists in the early 20^th century.

Now for some titillating detail and a general lowering of the tone. I’m sure there were many Roman fellows who enjoyed some decent reading material but (being fully rounded human beings) also delighted in, umm, more fleshly pleasures. Conveniently, Ephesus’ brothel was across the road from the library. Which would you visit first?

In an early and effective example of advertising, a stone slab in the pavement outside the library shows a carved foot giving directions to the brothel, together with a woman’s face and a heart with lots of holes in it (to indicate there’s lots of room therein, but I don’t imagine a woman’s heart was top of a client’s priority list. Nice thought, though). A hole in the stone is supposed to indicate that you have to be able to fill it (with coins, of course. Please don’t be dirty-minded) if you want to be allowed in. No free love here. I presume this sort of coded message was easily understood at the time, otherwise it all seems a bit complicated. You could even enter via an underground passage (fnarr, fnarr). Imagine: 'I’m just off to the library. Don’t wait up.' Naughty.

Since we are now in this arena and heading firmly downhill, figuratively speaking, I might as well add that we were shown a set of 1st-century AD public toilets nearby. No cubicles, as the Romans were a bit social about this sort of thing and were seemingly entirely happy to fart and wipe their bottoms in front of one another whilst having a chat about Life and no doubt gossiping about everything from the latest political scandal to the nagging of ‘er-indoors’. This was, like so many things, only for men, we were told. Women had to make ‘other arrangements’. Not sure what that involved. Probably best, though, given that in this era a communal sponge was used to clean your private areas after doing your business. It was rinsed in vinegar in between uses. What an appalling thought. And imagine if you had a sore bottom. Doesn’t bare thinking about (spelling error there entirely deliberate to make the pun work). I’ve also read that slaves were required to sit on the seats to keep them warm. I wonder (slave status notwithstanding) what your job title would be?

If you’d like some proper (as opposed to improper) information regarding the library of Ephesus, this article is a good place to start:

Library of Celsus - World History Encyclopedia