In ancient times Rome was a palace of debauchery. Gore Vidal wrote the script for Caligula , the story of the emperor who epitomized the debauchery that was Rome. In Mamma Roma , Pier Paolo Pasolini tells the tragic story of a retired prostitute who seeks to better herself and the life of her son. Indeed, the poverty of post-war Rome forced many women into prostitution. But today Rome's primary business is tourism and as you negotiate your way through the buses of American, German and Japanese tourists who flock to the Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla and the famed wedding cake, the monument to Victor Emmanuel II , there's nary prostitute in sight.
Where are the whores of Rome? Well here is a comment on TripAdvisor written by a guest who stayed at a hotel on the Viale Guglielmo Marconi in the EUR, the area where Mussolini built his fascist housing remember that scene in Mamma Roma where Anna Magnani goes to locate one of her old sex worker friends in a similar part of town? SO as you are walking back from the metro to your hotel you are bombarded by women with bras showing and butt cheeks hanging out. I was horrified and immediately felt unsafe.
There are streets for transvestites, streets for very young girls, streets for male prostitution. Us residents need a bit of peace. It's just that the prostitutes have merely moved from the great monuments of antiquity, where they once openly plied their trade, to a different part of town. When in Rome News U. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Newsletters Coupons. Follow Us.
Suggest a correction. Newsletter Sign Up.
