2. Sex workers were believed to be essential for population control
There is a reason that prostitution is referred to as the world’s oldest profession. Sex workers are described in both testaments of the Bible, in the ancient texts of China and India, and in virtually all records of the ancient world. The Greek city-states did not make the practice illegal, rather it was a licensed profession, regulated and taxed by the government. At the same time, the crime of rape was punishable by death, and a man who engaged in an affair with a married woman could be legally killed by the offended husband if he had the opportunity to catch them in the act.
Sex workers were both male and female, though their clientele was overwhelmingly male. The women engaged in the profession practiced birth control, using various herbs and other methods to prevent pregnancy, and abortion to end it. As in all aspects of life in the ancient Greek city-states, they were divided by class and treated accordingly. An Athenian politician, Solon, was deemed the first to place sex workers in brothels, a measure he undertook to curb both sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. The establishment of brothels in Athens was recognized as a part of Athenian democracy, and members of all social classes were welcomed to use them without fear of being labeled immoral by their fellow citizens.
