One of the earthly glories of the Roman Empire was its vast network of roads that criss-crossed the empire, built so as to facilitate the campaigns of their legions and to maximise trade.
In fact, so good were these roads that not only soldiers and merchants, but ordinary travellers were able to travel faster during the days of imperial Rome than under any later European state until the early 19th century. As a result the Roman world was a highly mobile one.
Now, in such a society, provision was needed for the lodging of travellers. One means of provision was the inns that were built on the major roads and in the major cities. Many of these inns, however, were disreputable establishments and some of them little better than brothels. Consider, for instance, the following account from the apocryphal Acts of John, as retold by historian Lionel Casson:
