The Latin satiric poet Juvenal commented that any who found themselves constrained to stay in a tavern of that kind may have found themselves “lying cheek - by - jowl beside a cut - throat, in the company of bargees, thieves, and runaway slaves, beside hangmen and coffin - makers...
यात्रियों को लूटने के अलावा, सराय - मालिक अकसर अपनी आमदनी को वेश्‍याओं से हुई कमाई से बढ़ाते थे ।