Welcome to my tavern! Please take a seat. Here is a good glass of Falernian wine and some olives from Campania. My name is Asellina and I am the keeper of this tavern. I spend most of my time behind this counter, welcoming guests and taking their orders. I’m not trying to boast or anything, but I have a good nose for business: I have chosen three beautiful girls as my assistants, Zmyrina, Aegle, and Maria. They serve food and drink with me but then place themselves at the disposal of the clientele in the rooms upstairs. Their names are oriental, Greek and Jewish, but I will never reveal whether they are really foreign or whether they use pseudonyms to make themselves sound more exotic and attractive. In the city, competition between the taverns is rife, you know, so you have to keep finding new ways to attract more customers.
Often the city’s prominent figures come to my bar as well. One of these is Gaius Lollius Fuscus who has my endorsement for his election. Just look at the notice on the top right outside the door. Those of you who can read will recognise his name and the office for which he is running – the duumvirate, two of the highest positions in the city. I hired a professional scribe who has done an excellent job: the letters are very tidy and precise! For an aspiring politician, it is an excellent opportunity to have visibility on the wall of my thermopolium. It is a very busy place, and many people pop in, just to say hello.
Although we women here in Pompeii cannot hold public offices or even take part in elections, a tavern keeper like me, who meets so many different customers every day, trust me, can still contribute by supporting candidates in the local elections. Other colleagues of mine have publicised other politicians on the walls of their inns but rest assured that Lollius Fuscus is the right choice for Pompeii!
Thermopolium of Asellina
Asellina managed this tavern located on via dell’Abbondanza, one of the busiest streets in the city, at No. 2 of Insula 11 in Regio IX (ninth district): her name appears in an electoral painted inscription to the side of the door of this caupona (tavern). The building consists of a ground floor with a masonry counter with holes opening into four terracotta vessels. These contained the cooked food and drinks to be sold to the customers. There are also a few rooms, where another three women probably practised prostitution. During excavation, almost all the utensils used for the serving of food and drinks were found.
