Evidence: The Economy Flashcards
Role of the forum, trade, commerce, industries, occuptations
Size and Nature of Commerce
Commerce
Pompeii:
- a market town for the sale of agricultural produce and an industrial centre for small-scale businesses
Herculaneum:
- Not a manufacturing/trading and commercial town
- Had food, wine, and goods shops to cater to the needs of the local population
Shops and business establishments: Pompeii
Commerce
- Public buildings concentrated within the Forum served commercial and political purposes
- Private shops extend to the north-west of the Forum along the main decumanus, but were also interspersed with residences
- Most small private shops were associated with either workshops or the sale of food and drinks
- The Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus in the via dell’Abbondanza had a lararium (private shrine)
Shops and business establishments: Herculaneum
Commerce
- A porticoed courtyard with shops and commerce appears to have been largely limited to the provision of food and clothing
- Numerous shops including a bakery, thermopolia, and taverns served the needs of the local population
- Residential and commercial activity often coexisted in the same building. The House of Neptune and Amphitrite had a shop annexe on the ground floor and accommodation on the second storey
- Goods sold in shops were sometimes made on the premises or sometimes bought from other local merchants or foreign traders.
- Food was sold in shops and the provision market, or in street stands at fixed locations by wandering vendors
Herculaneum: coexistence of residential and commercial activities
House of Neptune and Amphitrite
Commerce
Ground floor was a shop annexe containing olive oil and garum containers. Upper floor was an accommodation unit.
Organisation of commercial activity: Pompeii
Commerce
- Most shops had an area of ~3 sqm, with only enough room for 1-2 people behind the counter
- Shops were located in most insulae, but along the via dell’Abbondanza there was a particularly high concentration of them.
- Some shops were set into the walls of large houses, exemplifying the ambiguous segregation of commercial and residential space in Pompeii.
- Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill said there was “no real attempt at commercial segregation or concentration beyond the tendency of shops to line the main roads” in the via dell’Abbondanza
- Like in Herculaneum, a building could be subdivided for shops on the lower storey and residence for merchants or businessmen on the upper storey
Olive oil production*
Industries
- An important local industry for local consumption and export - used for perfumes, cooking, lighting, bathing
- Large olive groves were located outisde the city on the rocky sides of the mountain
- Local volcanic rock were used as olive crushers, and most farms had their own presses and vats for the production of olive-oil
Pompeii:
* The Villa Rustica had an olive press
* Cato’s Agriculture stated that Pompeian presses, called trapeta, were built of lava stone and were the highest in quality
Herculaneum:
* The House of Neptune and Amphitrite’s interior shop annexe contains olive oil containers
Agriculture
Industries
Mild climate + volcanic soil = fertile region, yielding 3 crops a year
Land was divided into agricultural estates belonging to freeborn men - landholding and agriculture was considered a very respectable and admirable way of earning a living
1. Luxury villas
2. Villa rusticas (working farms) - owners did not live there year-round
3. Farmhouses - farmers lived + worked there for entire year
Pompeii:
* The Garden of the Fugitives: uncovering fossilised root systems → grape vines, olive trees, fruit trees
* Carbonised pollen grains seeds, and roots have been found around the city → identified olives, walnut, almond, pear, apple, and fig
Herculaneum: NOTHING
How archaeologists determined the crops in Pompeii
- Carbonised pollen grains, seeds, and roots have been found around the city → identified olives, walnut, almond, pear, apple, and fig
- Plaster casts of vine root system cavities by Professor Wilhelmina Jashemski established the presence of vineyards in Pompeii and at villas like the villa at Boscoreale
- Prof. Jashemski estimated that market gardens took up 10% of urban areas, mostly concentrated around the southeastern part. Shows that divisions between the city and rural area was not extremely pronounced
Villa Boscoreale vineyard
- Investigated by Professor Wilhelmina Jashemski using plaster casts of root systems
- Had a wine storage area, dining room, and vineyard with evidence of 195 vine stakes and 300 vine cavities.
Garum*
- Important for the import and export market
- Made from mackerel, sardines, tuna, or anchovies
Pompeii:
* Pliny the Elder described Pompeii’s garum as “excellent”
Herculaneum/both:
* Labelled garum containers have been found, such as at the House of Neptune and Amphitrite
* Salt works were located on the coastal road between Pompeii and Herculaneum
Metalwork
Industries
Metalworkers made hammers, compasses, pots, jugs, altars, spoons, and plates of silver. Materials included iron, copper, bronze, silver, and gold.
Pompeii:
Had 12+ metal workshops with specialised tools.
* House of the Vettii shows scenes of metalworking
* Marble relief shows copeprsmiths at work
* Fresco from the House of Quadrighe shows the Forge of Vulcan
Herculaneum: NOTHING
Potters*
Industries
Pottery was manufactured locally.
Pompeii:
Pompeian pottery was red in colour.
* Fresco from Hospitium dei Pulcinella depicts 4 potters and a female assistant
* A wall painting shows potters using simplekick wheels and a figure of Vulcan
Herculaneum:
* There is a potential potter’s workshop with 2 kilns in Herculaneum.
Bakeries*
Industries
- Local volcanic rock made high-quality millstones which were also exported.
- Archaeologists have determined the type of bread made by examining carbonised remains discovered in ovens from the day of the eruption.
Pompeii:
The highest concentration of bakeries in Pompeii was east of the Forum, near/on Via degli Augustali. Bakeries with mills were concentrated in the north where it was easier to bring grain in from rural farms.
At least 33 bakeries in Pompeii
- Fresco in the House of the Baker shows a bread shop with round bread loaves being served
- Bakery of Modestus contained 81 loaves of bread sealed in the oven - 8-segment round loaf
Herculaneum:
- The Bakery of Sextus Patulcus Felix has millstones that were turned by small donkeys whose remains were found nearby.
Vineyards and Wine
Industries
- Wine industry was the principal source of income
- Vineyards were largely owned by the wealthy because poor landowners couldn’t be sustained by long wait times between planting and harvest, and presses were costly
- Wine was kept in dolia buried in the ground
- According to Pliny, the 2 best wines were the Vesuvinum and the Pompeianum
- No conclusive evidence of export beyond Campania
Pompeii:
* Wilhelmina Jashemski took plaster casts of vine root systems in the ground
* Villa Rustica at Boscoreale → plaster casts of vineyards, with 195 vine stakes and 300 vine cavities
* Found a 2000 grape vine vineyard for commercial production inside Pompeii
* Smaller vineyards found adjoining the Inn of Euxinus and the Inn of the Gladiators
Herculaneum: NOTHING
Fishing*
Industries
A local primary industry
Pompeii:
* Remains of the fish market in the macellum → drainage system and a long bench
* House of the Ephebus: fresco of fish
Herculaneum:
* Fish hooks, nets, a large wooden boat
