The oldest type of prostitution must have been the ancient form of "street-walking," where a woman clearly desported herself in the hope of financial or other reward. It is likely that there are professions as old as prostitution, but unlikely that there are any older. It has even been suggested that a form of prostitution can be detected in pre-human animal communities: for example, if a baboon offers herself sexually to a male she may

This is almost certainly Christine Keeler, born in 1942, the British call-girl at the centre of the "Profumo Affair" scandal of 1963. She left home at 16, met Stephen Ward, and later became involved in a wide range of sexual activities in the Ward circle - nude parties, group sex, flagellation, voyeurism, etc. Christine met John Profumo, then Secretary of State for War, at Cliveden: he was attracted to her after seeing her swimming nude in the pool of Lord Astor. After a security warning Profumo stopped seeing Christine, but later lied about the affair to the

Solon, the law-giver, introduced the first publicly administered brothel in the Athens of 550 B.C. The brothel, soon copied in nearby cities, was run by slaves; and the inmates were also slaves. the lowest class of Greek prostitute. From the taxes collected from the licensed brothels (Dicteria), Solon built a temple to the Goddess Aphrodite. There is a passage in Athenaeus to show the gratitude of the citizens for Solon's wisdom in establishing a brothel which would give an outlet to lustful impulse without endangering the social order-

Many societies, ancient and modern, have made provision for high-ranking prostitutes (we have already met Kitty and Laura Bell). The Greek hetairai were a class of high-status prostitutes as were the English and French courtesans. The temple-harlots of ancient Babylon (mentioned in Herodotus) had their own high status in society, as did the Japanese geishas. In ancient China high-class prostitutes were classified as ch'ing-kuan-jen and

Court brothels existed during the time of Charlemagne and later a well-equipped brothel was established by contemporaries of George III. This latter establishment comprised a group of houses near St. James's Palace, in a lane called "King's Place": the employed girls were only allowed to walk in the royal parks, and only the innermost circle of the court was allowed to frequent the court brothel.

Every imaginable type of human being has been required for purposes of prostitution. In Italy a ring of grand-mother prostitutes was uncovered by the police.

Amputees have also been immensely popular. Not so long ago a woman with one leg was operating in the San Francisco area: "she claimed to have more business than she could handle." Hunchbacks and women with one or both breasts amputated have also been immensely popular. Similarly some men apparently desire a woman with a club foot or females with hideous scars.

Soldiers and sailors have always been keen to frequent prostitutes. This is as true of the modern conscripts in foreign lands as it is of the enlisted man in the armies of antiquity. One startling use of campaign funds was brought to the attention of Richard I at the beginning of a European enterprise. "When Richard arrived at Marseilles he found that the English knights who had preceded him had squandered all the campaign funds on prostitutes."

Sacred temple prostitution existed throughout the bulk of the ancient world. It has been described for Egypt, Babylon, Greece, etc. and was generally seen as having deep religious significance. The first recorded instances of such types of prostitution are for the Mesopotamia of 2300 B.C. From this region it spread throughout the Near East.

Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn (or Gwynn or Gwynne) (1650-1652 - 14 November 1687), was one of the earliest English actresses to receive prominent recognition, and a long-time mistress of King Charles II.

Prostitution in China is certainly as old as human life in that part of the world. But as a thorough-going institutionalised form it can first be dated to the Feudal Period of 841-221 B.C. At that time the aristocracy keep huge numbers of courtesans, paid companions, actors and musicians, not merely for use but as status symbols. The courtesans were chosen for abilities which could be sexual, musical, poetic, etc.