The Economy: Trade, Commerce, Industries & Occupations

Commerce• Pompeii was a market town for the sale of agricultural produce and a centre for

small-scale manufacturing• The number and variety of shops and 2 collections of wax tablets recording

business transactions suggest that Pompeii had a healthy commercial life• Although there is little evidence of manufacturing or trade at Herculaneum, a

number of shops have been uncovered, most of which sold food and clothing

• In Pompeii commerce was conducted in public buildings in and around the forum and in private shops extending along the main street and scattered among residences in most blocks (insulae)

• Owners of large houses often rented out rooms as workshops, shops or taverns

Commerce

INSULA ARRIANA POLLIANA

• Goods sold in these shops were usually made on the premises or in adjoining workshops, or sometime bought from local merchants or foreign traders

• Food shops were common• More than 130 hot food and drink shops (thermopolia) and 20 taverns (cauponau)

have been identified in Pompeii

Commerce

Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus

• The macellum in the north-eastern corner of the forum at Pompeii was the main food market

• Around the perimeter were small shops and stalls and in the centre was a covered fish market

• Raw and prepared foods were also sold in street stands at fixed locations

Commerce

• A stone table of official weights and measures (mensa ponderaria) was built into the eastern wall of the Temple of Apollo near the macellum

• Early inscriptions show that Oscan weights and measures were first used, but the table was later modified to suit Roman standards

Commerce

• 2 collections of carbonised waxed wooden tablets record a variety of business transactions

• In the house of the banker Lucius Caecilius Jucundus, 154 tablets were found recording the receipts for rents and loans

Commerce

• Another collection of waxed tablets belonged to the Sulpicii, a firm of freedmen operating as financiers

• They lent large sums of money to local businessmen

• More than 80 of the Sulpicii tablets are business documents, including contracts of sale, loan and lease, IOU’s and accounts

• 40 of the texts relate to judicial matters , court proceedings and oaths

Commerce

• In Herculaneum no forum or commercial centre has been found• However, there were shops including a bakery, a number of thermopolia and a

tavern• The shop at the front of the House of Neptune and Amphritrite is an example of

the mixture of residential and commercial activity which characterised both towns

Commerce

• There was a sex industry in Pompeii and Herculaneum and some prostitutes operated from brothels

• The largest identifiable brothel was a multi-roomed establishment in Pompeii called the lupinarium

• Other prostitutes operated from single rooms at the back of houses or taverns

Commerce

OccupationsArea Examples

Agriculture Farmer, grape picker

Animal Husbandry Herdsman, pig breeder

Fishing Fisherman, net maker

Manufacturing Iron monger, potter

Textiles Fuller, weaver, dyer

Art and Craft Gem cutter, fresco painter

Commerce Money lender, landlord, banker

Food and Drink Baker, inn keeper

Transport Mule driver, waggoner, porter

Construction Carpenter, stone mason

Technical occupations Doctor, architect, surveyor

Service occupations Bath attendant, prostitute, barber