Macellum of Pompeii
Encyclopedia
The Macellum of Pompeii was located on the Forum
and as the provision market (or macellum
) of Pompeii
was one of the focal points of the ancient city. The building was constructed in several phases. When the earthquake of 62 CE
destroyed large parts of Pompeii, the Macellum was also damaged. Archeological excavations in the modern era have revealed a building that had still not been fully repaired by the time of the eruption of 79 CE.
Of particular interest to researchers is the section of the Macellum located on the west side that is thought to have been dedicated to the imperial cult
. It makes manifest how central a role the Emperors played in the lives of Romans as early as the 1st century. The other rooms on the west side are also interesting as examples of the link between economic and public life. Additionally, the market is an eloquent testimony to the everyday culture of the Romans, which is illustrated by archeological finds such as food remains, items of daily use and necessity, up to examples of Roman wall paintings.
The Macellum of Pompeii is located outside the northeast corner of the forum. As the city continued to grow, it was necessary to relieve pressure on the forum. When the Macellum was first discovered, because of the twelve column bases in the center, the excavators at first believed it was a kind of pantheon, a temple dedicated to many gods. However, when subsequent excavation turned up the remains of cereals and fruits in the north side of the building and fish scales and bones in the middle of the courtyard, the archeologists realized that this was a market.
The Macellum had three entrances: two main entrances, one in the middle of the west side to the forum and one in the middle of the north side to Via degli Agustali (a local road), plus a side entrance on the southeast that could only be reached using a small stairway.
The shape of the Macellum is slightly misaligned with the forum because it had to fit between the two roads that flanked it to the north and south, the Via degli Augustali and the Vico del Balcone Pensile. To compensate, the shops that abut the forum on the west side increase in size from north to south.
of the forum, with Corinthian capitals
, remain standing in front of the facade
. The lower third of two of the columns is decorated with piped fluting, while the upper portion lacks fluting. Part of the entablature remains on top of the capitals. The lobby of the Macellum was particularly closely connected to the portico of the forum. Two rows of columns rose one above the other with no intermediary level. Hence, the portico appeared more like a facade.
The bases for honorific statues, which stood behind each column, are also still in place, but they lack their original marble cladding. Further bases for honorific statues were located in front of the corner columns of the taberna
e (shops) at the front of the building. These spaces constructed in opus incertum
(rubble stonework) were probably currency exchanges. A further portico must have been located inside the Macellum itself, but none of its columns remain. The only recognizable traces are a water gully and signs of where columns stood in it.
The main entrance was divided into two by an aedicula
for a statue with two elegant Corinthian columns. The statue was probably that of an emperor, in which case, the imperial cult is to be presumed to have begun at the entrance to the Macellum. Both columns are decorated with chimera
e, which were not originally part of the Macellum, but belonged to one of the major tombs: the Tomba delle Ghirlande(Garland grave) on Via del Sepolchri (Street of Sepulchres) before the Herculaneum
gate. The chimerae were presumably not produced in Pompeii, but probably originate from a workshop in Greece
. However, it is also possible that they were manufactured in a neo-Attic
workshop in Naples
or Puteoli.
In addition, on the west side an example of the fourth style of Roman (so-called Pompeiian) decorative mural painting has been preserved. It apparently dates to the period after the great earthquake of 62 CE. Above the plinth are painted fields of black bordered in red. In the center of each, a mythological scene is depicted. In these Penelope
recognizing the returned Odysseus
, Io
watched over by Argus
, and Medea
ruminating on the deaths of her children are recognizable. Between the individual panels are architectural vistas on a white background, with green and pale red buildings depicted in perspective.
The delicate architectonic elements dominate the black panels and divide the upper area into fields in which single figures are depicted on a blue background. A girl with sacrificial equipment and a satyr
playing an aulos
can be seen. Above these, on large wall panels are painted still lifes with birds, poultry, wine-jars, fruit, flowers, baskets, and fish in a style similar to folk art. These depictions facilitate the identification of the building as a macellum. Another picture shows a donkey being crowned with garlands by Cupid
s. Millstones can be seen beside it. This painting probably symbolizes the festival of Vesta
, on which the donkeys were relieved of work.
that should be here; it is very likely that it was destroyed in the earthquake of 62 CE and not yet rebuilt by the time of the eruption. In fact excavation revealed the travertine
base (stylobate
) for the colonnade on the north side and for a small one on the west side. Presumably the portico columns had not yet been erected at all. This was not the only evidence of reconstruction: The walls of the inner enclosure and the spaces to the south and east also date to the post-62 restoration. They consist of opus incertum
. Only the corner columns are constructed of brick and small tuff
cubes in opus listatum (masonry in which bricks alternate with small stones).
Twelve food stores were located on both sides of the side entrance. They were located on the north side so that their wares would be protected from strong sunlight and kept fresh. Figs, grapes, chestnuts, pulses, bread, cakes, amphorae, and fruits in jars (now in the Naples Museum) were found here. The Taberna
e opened onto the Via delli Augustali and were not connected to the interior of the Macellum. The east wall and western portions of the north wall are of opus incertum to a height of 1.35 m, above which they consist of limestone
and tuff. Above the stores there would have been attic
s in which butcher's assistants and other staff lived. A wooden gallery ran in front of the attics. Since no interior stairs were found, access must have been from outside the Macellum.
On the south side, directly adjacent to the meat and fish hall on the Via del Balcone Pensile, is the third entrance. After the lararium was erected, the Via del Balcone Pensile became a cul-de-sac
. To the height of the shrine (approximately 13 m), the external wall was constructed of opus reticulatum
(masonry of rectangular stones arranged like a checkerboard or net). This masonry consists of multicolored tuff stones arranged in rows and enclosed by brick pilaster
s. This colorful display made a stucco coating unnecessary. In the opinion of some archeologists, this may be the finest example of a wall from the last phase of building at Pompeii. It abuts a wall of opus incertum (clearly older masonry, presumably from an earlier stage of construction). Within the Macellum on the south side are twelve stores. They are altogether roughly the same in size and construction. They were intended for the sale of foodstuffs, probably meat and fish.
al space. They were initially thought to be remnants of a round shrine or tholos
. A well and pool would have been located within it. The rotunda was thought to have resembled other macella, perhaps the elaborate Eastern Greek and African models, or Roman examples such as that in Puteoli
. However, Amedeo Maiuri
's excavations clarified that the column bases and the space within them had a different function. As proven by the many fish bones and scales discovered in the drainage trough that flowed into the middle, the space was intended for selling fish. They were gutted and cleaned here.
The twelve column bases held wooden poles, which were embedded in the earth and anchored by the bases. The poles supported a wooden roof. There was presumably a well in the middle of the space, but there was no pool. The bases were restored in the 19th century, after having been discovered in very poor condition. The inner area is edged with a low marble lip, intended to prevent water from the middle flooding outward. The flooring consists of a mixture of crushed stone tiles, made of travertine, marble, and mortar
. When this area was excavated by a group led by Giuseppe Fiorelli
, it was still considered to be a kind of pantheon and thus initially given that name.
room. Some books designate this space the sacellum
, or chapel. It is accessed via a five-step stairway. In comparison to the rest, this room is very simple in its decor. The entrance was decorated with a bar pattern. There is a pedestal on the back wall, and two niches are recessed into the side walls on each side.
In the niches on the right are plaster casts (poor copies in the opinion of some archeologists) of the two statues which were found here. The originals are now in the National Museum of Naples. They were erroneously believed to be likenesses of Marcellus
and Octavia. Marcellus was the patron of Pompeii, so the supposition was valid. The figures in the other niches were presumed to be Agrippina
and Nero
. Today they are believed to be two other as yet unidentifed members of the imperial family. Additionally, an arm with a globe in its hands was found here. It perhaps belonged to the statue of the Emperor.
In the view of Heinrich Nissen
, the rear wall of the room had already been broken through in antiquity and three of the five statues removed. Further, he saw only two possible combinations of statues:
Nissen regarded the two extant statues as Livia and Drusus. He cited in support of this identification that the following inscription may have been located under the statue he identified as Livia:
Over a hundred years later, Paul Zanker put forward the view that Augustus did have himself depicted as Jupiter and that in the niches on the right were people honored by the city who had earned recognition around the market. The man, who had probably already died at the time the statue was erected, was depicted in a heroically exaggerated manner on the model of the Emperor, with draped hips and bare upper torso. The woman is depicted as a priestess, with a wreath and a container of incense. She was perhaps the sacerdos publica, who played an important role as patroness.
The walls here are opus listatum and opus incertum. The side walls of the staircase are constructed in opus latericum (brickwork). Unfortunately only a few traces of the original stucco overlay have been preserved.
In the interior, an altar is visible placed to the right. It consists of two layers of marble with a basalt
plate lying on top. The plate has a raised edge and a hole in one corner, which suggests that the altar was used for libation
s. The significance of the marble-clad podium
beside the south wall remains unclear. It has been suggested that like the large side niches in the Building of Eumachia, it served as a place for the praecones (announcers or heralds) and the argentarii (money-changers) to stand. But the presumed religious significance of the room argues against this hypothesis. Two small murals of Cupids were also found here. In one painting they are seen drinking wine and playing a lyre
; in the other they are depicted performing sacrifices. Nissen proposed that the podium served as the location of the images of the lares
.
In the room to the right of the imperial cult room, fish and meat were sold. A shop counter runs around three sides (north, east and south) of this room. There is a single break in this counter in the middle of the east wall, and on the south wall the counter ends after roughly a quarter of the length of the wall. The left half of the counter surface is equipped with a special device that served to collect the runoff water and direct it into a small drainage groove on the south side. This half was probably intended for the sale of fish. The entire counter inclines slightly, so that liquids could drain away.
The facade differed from that of the later building: it stood further forward, closer to the forum. The open marketplace was covered with a carefully polished and neatly compacted stone pavement. The tabernae had a floor made of stone chips and a mortar layer. In the rooms on the east side, the mortar was mixed with crushed bricks (called opus signinum
). In the uncovered marketplace, the paving was in use until 62 CE; in the indoor spaces it was gradually replaced by opus signinum.
In the Julio-Claudian
period, the complex was reorganized and took on its final form. The original tuff colonnades were initially retained, but on the west side were cut through to erect a sacred aedicula
of opus incertum, which was rapidly again forgotten. The tabernae on the west and north sides also belong to this phase of construction. However, the majority of the building dates from the period after the earthquake of 62 CE, which then led to the complete abandonment of the tuff colonnades.
Only the lower story is preserved, but there was also an upper floor, in which there are presumed to have been attic quarters for Macellum workers. Access to the upper story was by means of a wooden stairway leading to a wooden gallery from which it was possible to reach the rooms.
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
and as the provision market (or macellum
Macellum
A macellum is an ancient Roman indoor market building that sold mostly provisions . The building normally sat alongside the forum and basilica, providing a place in which a market could be held...
) of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
was one of the focal points of the ancient city. The building was constructed in several phases. When the earthquake of 62 CE
62 Pompeii earthquake
The 62 Pompeii earthquake occurred on 5 February. It had an estimated magnitude of between 5 and 6 and a maximum intensity of XI or X on the Mercalli intensity scale. The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were severely damaged. The earthquake may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount...
destroyed large parts of Pompeii, the Macellum was also damaged. Archeological excavations in the modern era have revealed a building that had still not been fully repaired by the time of the eruption of 79 CE.
Of particular interest to researchers is the section of the Macellum located on the west side that is thought to have been dedicated to the imperial cult
Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State...
. It makes manifest how central a role the Emperors played in the lives of Romans as early as the 1st century. The other rooms on the west side are also interesting as examples of the link between economic and public life. Additionally, the market is an eloquent testimony to the everyday culture of the Romans, which is illustrated by archeological finds such as food remains, items of daily use and necessity, up to examples of Roman wall paintings.
Location
The Macellum had three entrances: two main entrances, one in the middle of the west side to the forum and one in the middle of the north side to Via degli Agustali (a local road), plus a side entrance on the southeast that could only be reached using a small stairway.
The shape of the Macellum is slightly misaligned with the forum because it had to fit between the two roads that flanked it to the north and south, the Via degli Augustali and the Vico del Balcone Pensile. To compensate, the shops that abut the forum on the west side increase in size from north to south.
Entrance and the West Side
Three much restored marble columns from the porticoPortico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
of the forum, with Corinthian capitals
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
, remain standing in front of the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. The lower third of two of the columns is decorated with piped fluting, while the upper portion lacks fluting. Part of the entablature remains on top of the capitals. The lobby of the Macellum was particularly closely connected to the portico of the forum. Two rows of columns rose one above the other with no intermediary level. Hence, the portico appeared more like a facade.
The bases for honorific statues, which stood behind each column, are also still in place, but they lack their original marble cladding. Further bases for honorific statues were located in front of the corner columns of the taberna
Taberna
A taberna was a single room shop covered by a barrel vault within great indoor markets of ancient Rome. Each taberna had a window above it to let light into a wooden attic for storage and had a wide doorway....
e (shops) at the front of the building. These spaces constructed in opus incertum
Opus incertum
thumb|280px|Layers of opus incertum on the left side of the Temple of Iovis Anxur in [[Terracina]], [[Italy]].Opus incertum was an ancient Roman construction technique, using irregular shaped and random placed uncut stones or fist-sized tuff blocks inserted in a core of Opus caementicium.Initially...
(rubble stonework) were probably currency exchanges. A further portico must have been located inside the Macellum itself, but none of its columns remain. The only recognizable traces are a water gully and signs of where columns stood in it.
The main entrance was divided into two by an aedicula
Aedicula
In religion in ancient Rome, an aedicula is a small shrine. The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building or house....
for a statue with two elegant Corinthian columns. The statue was probably that of an emperor, in which case, the imperial cult is to be presumed to have begun at the entrance to the Macellum. Both columns are decorated with chimera
Chimera (mythology)
The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
e, which were not originally part of the Macellum, but belonged to one of the major tombs: the Tomba delle Ghirlande(Garland grave) on Via del Sepolchri (Street of Sepulchres) before the Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
gate. The chimerae were presumably not produced in Pompeii, but probably originate from a workshop in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. However, it is also possible that they were manufactured in a neo-Attic
Neo-Attic
Neo-Attic or Atticizing is a sculptural style, beginning in Hellenistic sculpture and vase-painting of the 2nd century BCE and climaxing in Roman art of the 2nd century CE, copying, adapting or closely following the style shown in reliefs and statues of the Classical and Archaic periods...
workshop in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
or Puteoli.
In addition, on the west side an example of the fourth style of Roman (so-called Pompeiian) decorative mural painting has been preserved. It apparently dates to the period after the great earthquake of 62 CE. Above the plinth are painted fields of black bordered in red. In the center of each, a mythological scene is depicted. In these Penelope
Penelope
In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually reunited with him....
recognizing the returned Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
, Io
Io (mythology)
Io was, in Greek mythology, a priestess of Hera in Argos, a nymph who was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. His wife Hera set ever-watchful Argus Panoptes to guard her, but Hermes was sent to distract the guardian and slay him...
watched over by Argus
Argus Panoptes
In Greek mythology, Argus Panoptes or Argos, guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and son of Arestor, was a primordial giant whose epithet "Panoptes", "all-seeing", led to his being described with multiple, often one hundred, eyes. The epithet Panoptes was applied to the Titan of the Sun, Helios, and...
, and Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
ruminating on the deaths of her children are recognizable. Between the individual panels are architectural vistas on a white background, with green and pale red buildings depicted in perspective.
The delicate architectonic elements dominate the black panels and divide the upper area into fields in which single figures are depicted on a blue background. A girl with sacrificial equipment and a satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
playing an aulos
Aulos
An aulos or tibia was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.An aulete was the musician who performed on an aulos...
can be seen. Above these, on large wall panels are painted still lifes with birds, poultry, wine-jars, fruit, flowers, baskets, and fish in a style similar to folk art. These depictions facilitate the identification of the building as a macellum. Another picture shows a donkey being crowned with garlands by Cupid
Cupid
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
s. Millstones can be seen beside it. This painting probably symbolizes the festival of Vesta
Vesta
-Astronomy:* 4 Vesta, second largest asteroid in the solar system, also a proto-planet, named after the Roman deity* Vesta family, group of asteroids that includes 4 Vesta- Places :* Monte Vesta, Lombardy, Italy* Temple of Vesta, Rome, Italy...
, on which the donkeys were relieved of work.
Courtyard, North and South
From the entrance, one enters a large courtyard. No traces were found of the porticoPortico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
that should be here; it is very likely that it was destroyed in the earthquake of 62 CE and not yet rebuilt by the time of the eruption. In fact excavation revealed the travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
base (stylobate
Stylobate
In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform on which colonnades of temple columns are placed...
) for the colonnade on the north side and for a small one on the west side. Presumably the portico columns had not yet been erected at all. This was not the only evidence of reconstruction: The walls of the inner enclosure and the spaces to the south and east also date to the post-62 restoration. They consist of opus incertum
Opus incertum
thumb|280px|Layers of opus incertum on the left side of the Temple of Iovis Anxur in [[Terracina]], [[Italy]].Opus incertum was an ancient Roman construction technique, using irregular shaped and random placed uncut stones or fist-sized tuff blocks inserted in a core of Opus caementicium.Initially...
. Only the corner columns are constructed of brick and small tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
cubes in opus listatum (masonry in which bricks alternate with small stones).
Twelve food stores were located on both sides of the side entrance. They were located on the north side so that their wares would be protected from strong sunlight and kept fresh. Figs, grapes, chestnuts, pulses, bread, cakes, amphorae, and fruits in jars (now in the Naples Museum) were found here. The Taberna
Taberna
A taberna was a single room shop covered by a barrel vault within great indoor markets of ancient Rome. Each taberna had a window above it to let light into a wooden attic for storage and had a wide doorway....
e opened onto the Via delli Augustali and were not connected to the interior of the Macellum. The east wall and western portions of the north wall are of opus incertum to a height of 1.35 m, above which they consist of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and tuff. Above the stores there would have been attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
s in which butcher's assistants and other staff lived. A wooden gallery ran in front of the attics. Since no interior stairs were found, access must have been from outside the Macellum.
On the south side, directly adjacent to the meat and fish hall on the Via del Balcone Pensile, is the third entrance. After the lararium was erected, the Via del Balcone Pensile became a cul-de-sac
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
. To the height of the shrine (approximately 13 m), the external wall was constructed of opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum is a form of brickwork used in ancient Roman architecture. It consists of diamond-shaped bricks of tuff placed around a core of opus caementicium...
(masonry of rectangular stones arranged like a checkerboard or net). This masonry consists of multicolored tuff stones arranged in rows and enclosed by brick pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s. This colorful display made a stucco coating unnecessary. In the opinion of some archeologists, this may be the finest example of a wall from the last phase of building at Pompeii. It abuts a wall of opus incertum (clearly older masonry, presumably from an earlier stage of construction). Within the Macellum on the south side are twelve stores. They are altogether roughly the same in size and construction. They were intended for the sale of foodstuffs, probably meat and fish.
Central structure
In the middle of the Macellum are the previously mentioned twelve column bases, which are made of tuff and arranged to define a dodecagonDodecagon
In geometry, a dodecagon is any polygon with twelve sides and twelve angles.- Regular dodecagon :It usually refers to a regular dodecagon, having all sides of equal length and all angles equal to 150°...
al space. They were initially thought to be remnants of a round shrine or tholos
Tholos (Ancient Rome)
A tholos is an ancient Roman feature found in the macellum. It has been suggested that the tholos, well provided with water and drains, was where fish were sold, although other uses for the central tholos have been suggested, such as the place where official weights and measures were held for...
. A well and pool would have been located within it. The rotunda was thought to have resembled other macella, perhaps the elaborate Eastern Greek and African models, or Roman examples such as that in Puteoli
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
. However, Amedeo Maiuri
Amedeo Maiuri
Amedeo Maiuri was a renowned Neapolitan archaeologist, famous for his archaeological investigations of the Roman city of Pompeii which was destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August of AD 79....
's excavations clarified that the column bases and the space within them had a different function. As proven by the many fish bones and scales discovered in the drainage trough that flowed into the middle, the space was intended for selling fish. They were gutted and cleaned here.
The twelve column bases held wooden poles, which were embedded in the earth and anchored by the bases. The poles supported a wooden roof. There was presumably a well in the middle of the space, but there was no pool. The bases were restored in the 19th century, after having been discovered in very poor condition. The inner area is edged with a low marble lip, intended to prevent water from the middle flooding outward. The flooring consists of a mixture of crushed stone tiles, made of travertine, marble, and mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
. When this area was excavated by a group led by Giuseppe Fiorelli
Giuseppe Fiorelli
Giuseppe Fiorelli was an Italian archaeologist born in Naples, Italy. His excavations at Pompeii helped preserve the city.Fiorelli's initial work at Pompeii was completed in 1848. He was then imprisoned for some time because his radical approach to archaeology and strong nationalist feelings...
, it was still considered to be a kind of pantheon and thus initially given that name.
Imperial cult room
Three other rooms were located on the east side. They are on a higher level than the rest of the Macellum. The space in the middle was dedicated to the imperial family, the imperial cultImperial cult
An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor, or a dynasty of emperors , are worshipped as messiahs, demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense...
room. Some books designate this space the sacellum
Sacellum
In ancient Roman religion, a sacellum is a small shrine. The word is a diminutive from sacer . The numerous sacella of ancient Rome included both shrines maintained on private properties by families, and public shrines...
, or chapel. It is accessed via a five-step stairway. In comparison to the rest, this room is very simple in its decor. The entrance was decorated with a bar pattern. There is a pedestal on the back wall, and two niches are recessed into the side walls on each side.
In the niches on the right are plaster casts (poor copies in the opinion of some archeologists) of the two statues which were found here. The originals are now in the National Museum of Naples. They were erroneously believed to be likenesses of Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)
Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul...
and Octavia. Marcellus was the patron of Pompeii, so the supposition was valid. The figures in the other niches were presumed to be Agrippina
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
and Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
. Today they are believed to be two other as yet unidentifed members of the imperial family. Additionally, an arm with a globe in its hands was found here. It perhaps belonged to the statue of the Emperor.
In the view of Heinrich Nissen
Heinrich Nissen
Heinrich Nissen was a German Ancient historian.-Life:Heinrich Nissen studied in Kiel and Berlin under August Boeckh and Theodor Mommsen. After graduating, he travelled in Italy between 1863 and 1867. This research was later published as the major work Italischen Landeskunde...
, the rear wall of the room had already been broken through in antiquity and three of the five statues removed. Further, he saw only two possible combinations of statues:
- In the central position a statue of AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
as JupiterJupiter (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
with a globe in his hand, in the niches to the right LiviaLiviaLivia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
and DrususNero Claudius DrususNero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family...
, and in the niches to the left TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
and GermanicusGermanicusGermanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
. - More likely, however, a statue of Jupiter stood on the pedestal in the center of the rear wall and Livia and Augustus stood in the niches on the left and Drusus and Tiberius in those on the right. During his lifetime, Augustus never had himself portrayed as Jupiter with the globe.
Nissen regarded the two extant statues as Livia and Drusus. He cited in support of this identification that the following inscription may have been located under the statue he identified as Livia:
AVGVSTAE.IVLIAe DRVSI.F DIVI.AVGVSTI D.D. |
Over a hundred years later, Paul Zanker put forward the view that Augustus did have himself depicted as Jupiter and that in the niches on the right were people honored by the city who had earned recognition around the market. The man, who had probably already died at the time the statue was erected, was depicted in a heroically exaggerated manner on the model of the Emperor, with draped hips and bare upper torso. The woman is depicted as a priestess, with a wreath and a container of incense. She was perhaps the sacerdos publica, who played an important role as patroness.
The walls here are opus listatum and opus incertum. The side walls of the staircase are constructed in opus latericum (brickwork). Unfortunately only a few traces of the original stucco overlay have been preserved.
Association and meat sales rooms
The room adjoining the imperial cult room on the left was probably used for sacrificial feasts and religious ceremonies by the collegium or association responsible for conducting the imperial cult. Considering the surroundings, it is not likely that gods other than the genius of the Emperor were honored here. According to other, older theories, it was the banqueting room of a merchant cooperative, or the seat of the market court. Immediately to the left of the entrance to this room, over a thousand coins were found. This could represent the treasury of a collegium or a merchant's daily take.. Other sources report that the treasure was found immediately at the northern entrance or in the meat sales room. Sheep skeletons, ox skulls, and bones were found in front of the association room; presumably there was at this point an area set apart for sacrificial animals or an enclosure for animals that were for sale.In the interior, an altar is visible placed to the right. It consists of two layers of marble with a basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
plate lying on top. The plate has a raised edge and a hole in one corner, which suggests that the altar was used for libation
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....
s. The significance of the marble-clad podium
Podium
A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...
beside the south wall remains unclear. It has been suggested that like the large side niches in the Building of Eumachia, it served as a place for the praecones (announcers or heralds) and the argentarii (money-changers) to stand. But the presumed religious significance of the room argues against this hypothesis. Two small murals of Cupids were also found here. In one painting they are seen drinking wine and playing a lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
; in the other they are depicted performing sacrifices. Nissen proposed that the podium served as the location of the images of the lares
Lares
Lares , archaically Lases, were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries or fruitfulness, hero-ancestors, or an amalgam of these....
.
In the room to the right of the imperial cult room, fish and meat were sold. A shop counter runs around three sides (north, east and south) of this room. There is a single break in this counter in the middle of the east wall, and on the south wall the counter ends after roughly a quarter of the length of the wall. The left half of the counter surface is equipped with a special device that served to collect the runoff water and direct it into a small drainage groove on the south side. This half was probably intended for the sale of fish. The entire counter inclines slightly, so that liquids could drain away.
Construction history
Investigation of the construction history of the Macellum dates to Amedeo Maiuri. The building seen today has been dated to 130-120 BCE, but was preceded by an earlier building of similar dimensions on the same site. That building, however, had no central rotunda. On the north and south sides, the layout of the original portico corresponded to that in the later building; on both the east and west sides, in contrast, it was more spacious. On the south side there was a row of tabernae that were not as deep and differently partitioned. On the east side there were some rooms with attractive wall decorations in the first style and a second colonnade at the front.The facade differed from that of the later building: it stood further forward, closer to the forum. The open marketplace was covered with a carefully polished and neatly compacted stone pavement. The tabernae had a floor made of stone chips and a mortar layer. In the rooms on the east side, the mortar was mixed with crushed bricks (called opus signinum
Opus signinum
Opus signinum is a building material occasionally used in ancient Rome. It is made of tiles broken up into very small pieces, mixed with mortar, and then beaten down with a rammer...
). In the uncovered marketplace, the paving was in use until 62 CE; in the indoor spaces it was gradually replaced by opus signinum.
In the Julio-Claudian
Julio-Claudian Dynasty
The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...
period, the complex was reorganized and took on its final form. The original tuff colonnades were initially retained, but on the west side were cut through to erect a sacred aedicula
Aedicula
In religion in ancient Rome, an aedicula is a small shrine. The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building or house....
of opus incertum, which was rapidly again forgotten. The tabernae on the west and north sides also belong to this phase of construction. However, the majority of the building dates from the period after the earthquake of 62 CE, which then led to the complete abandonment of the tuff colonnades.
Only the lower story is preserved, but there was also an upper floor, in which there are presumed to have been attic quarters for Macellum workers. Access to the upper story was by means of a wooden stairway leading to a wooden gallery from which it was possible to reach the rooms.
Sources
- Filippo CoarelliFilippo CoarelliFilippo Coarelli is an Italian archaeologist, Professor of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Perugia.Born in Rome, he is one of the foremost experts on Roman antiquities, a connoisseur of the history of early Rome, and a leading expert on the topography of ancient Rome...
(ed.), Eugenio La Rocca, Mariette de Vos Raajimakers, Arnold de Vos. Pompeji: Archäologischer Führer. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1993, 1999, ISBN 3-404-64121-3 - Liselotte Eschebach (ed.). Gebäudeverzeichnis und Stadtplan der antiken Stadt Pompeji. Böhlau, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1993 ISBN 3-412-03791-5
- Robert Étienne. Pompeji. Das Leben in einer antiken Stadt. Reclam, Stuttgart 1974, 1998 (5th ed.), ISBN 3-15-010370-3
- Heinrich NissenHeinrich NissenHeinrich Nissen was a German Ancient historian.-Life:Heinrich Nissen studied in Kiel and Berlin under August Boeckh and Theodor Mommsen. After graduating, he travelled in Italy between 1863 and 1867. This research was later published as the major work Italischen Landeskunde...
. Pompeianische Studien. Leipzig 1877. - Claire de Ruyt. Macellum. Marché alimentaire des Romains. Louvain-La-Neuve 1983.
- Kurt Wallat. Die Ostseite des Forums von Pompeji. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1997 ISBN 3-631-31190-7
- Paul Zanker. Pompeji. von Zabern, Mainz 1988 ISBN 3-8053-1685-2