Transcript Pompeii and Herculaneum

Shops and businesses
 It
is important to study shops and businesses
because it gives us an insight into the daily
life of Ancient Romans; what they ate,
bought, their likes and dislikes, and most
importantly how they behaved.
 In this lesson we will look at a number of
examples from Pompeii and one from
Herculaneum (only because it is covered in
volcanic rock!).
 Pistrinum
– bakery
 Fullonica – laundry
 Officina Coriariorum – tannery
 Garum production – fish sauce
 Lupanar – brothel
 Thermopolium – cafe/bar
Bread was a staple food item throughout the
Roman Empire; so it is of little surprise that
archaeologists have uncovered bakeries at both
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
 In most establishments the equipment for the
production of bread consisted millstones made
from porous lava, a very hard wearing stone that
wouldn't lose fragments and spoil the flour
produced.
 After baking, the bread, which came in several
different varieties, was then generally sold on in
an adjoining shop, although this was not always
necessarily so:
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At times was distributed to sellers or shops.
Pompeii
Herculaneum
 The
Fullonica was the ancient Roman version
of the laundromat. There were several
laundries in Pompeii of which the Fellonica
of Stephanus is a great example.
 Fellonica of Stephanus was formally a private
house but was renovated into a laundry
business.
 Clothes were cleaned using human urine and
clay; it was finally rinsed, dried and pressed.
a
b
d
c
e
f
g
h
j
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a.
Entrance (vestibule)
b.
Office
c.
Main Hall (atrium)
d.
Service room
e.
Living room (oecus)
f.
Dining room (tricilinium)
g.
Master bedroom (tablinum)
h.
Open courtyard (peristyle)
i.
Kitchen
j.
Rinsing pools
a
b
c
e
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f
h
j
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Notorious for its unpleasant smell, the tannery, or officina
coriariorum, was also part of urban life.

Process of preparing skins:
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Skins typically arrived at the tannery dried stiff and dirty with
soil and gore.
The tanners would soak the skins in water to clean and soften
them.
They would then pound and scour the skin to remove any
remaining flesh and fat.
Next, the tanner would loosen the hair fibres by soaking the
skin in urine, before scraping them off with a knife.
Once the hair was gone, the tanners would remove the outer
protein layer by pounding dung into the skin or soaking the skin
in a solution of animal brains.
It was this combination of urine, animal faeces and decaying
flesh that made ancient tanneries so malodorous.

Owning a tannery was not without its
rewards though (see mosaic to the
right)
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The skull is crowned with a carpenter's
square and plumb-bob, which dangles
before its empty eyesockets (death as
the great leveller), while below is an
image of the ephemeral and changeable
nature of life: a butterfly (the soul) atop
a wheel (fortune). On each side, kept in
balance by death, are the symbols of
wealth and power on the left (the
sceptre and purple) and poverty on the
right (beggar’s scrip and stick).
This is quite an intricate piece of work
and would have been expensive to
purchase. It suggests that being a
Tanner would have been quite a well
paid and respected profession.
 The
Garum Workshop was concerned with the
distribution rather than the production of
garum, a fish sauce which was a staple of
Roman cuisine and could be used as a
condiment with almost anything.
Garum was made by the
crushing and fermentation in
brine of the intestines of fish
such as eel, tuna, anchovies
and mackerel. The sauce was
stored in bulk in the workshop
and decanted into smaller
vessels for sale.
 The
production of garum
must have been carried out
at Pompeii as Pliny notes
that the city was renowned
for its garum:
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“no other liquid except
unguents has come to be
more highly valued.”
 Garum
production created
an unpleasant smell, its
fermentation was relegated
to the outskirts of cities as
must have been the case
with Pompeii as no
evidence of its production
has been found within the
city walls.
Storage of garum (see above)
Sold in containers (see above)
 The
‘Lupanar’ is one of well over thirty
possible 'houses' of prostitution known in
Pompeii, although it is believed to be the
only one purpose built for such use.
 The lupanar had ten rooms, five on the
ground floor and five larger ones on the
upper floor accessed by a wooden staircase
(see photograph on next page). The rooms
had built in masonry beds onto which
mattresses were placed.

Erotic scenes were painted above each
door and the walls bore a large
number of inscriptions (over 120)
scratched by the clients and the
working girls.
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The prices were very low, one of the
reasons being that these brothels were
frequented by the lower levels of
society and by slaves. On average the
cost of a sexual service was two asses,
the equivalent of the cost of a loaf of
bread.
A
thermopolium was the equivalent of a
modern day cafe/bar. Hot and cold food
was sold from what was usually an 'L'
shaped masonry counter containing
terracotta vessels.
 There
are more than 160 thermopolia in
Pompeii, of which almost half have
marble surfaced counters.
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They had complex socio-economic foundations in their towns and
cities.
The success of the Empire rested on agriculture, production and
distribution of goods, and trade.
The economy of Pompeii and Herculaneum was primarily agricultural
with a smaller number of trade and crafts practiced. The production
of bread, garum, wine and olive oil were primary industries.
Pompeii is an important centre for the:
sale of textiles, fabrics and clothing
 production of goods and trade
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Skills and training were paramount in maintaining successful
communities.
There is a shift from personal production of goods to a reliance on
purchasing goods from shops and factories.
The distribution of wealth is evident – many shops and businesses.
Pompeii and Herculaneum are wealthy towns due to foreign trade
and location.
Emphasis placed on a comfortable city life – taverns, brothels, cafes.