The Economy
The Nature of Sources and Evidence
Industries
The main industries of the Vesuvian towns were based on agricultural production and
fishing
Villa Rusticae (farmsteads) and horti (market gardens) were numerous throughout the
region and provided raw materials including:
• Wine
• Olive Oil
• Cereals
• Fruit
• vegetables
• Meat
• Wool
Wine and Oil Industry
Industries
Grapes and Olives were cultivated for wine and oil, the principal sources of income in
the Vesuvian area
Wine
Rooms in villas were specialised for:
 pressing grapes called torcularia
 fermenting cellae vinariae
 storing
Olive Oil
Used for:
Manufacturing perfume
Lighting
Cooking in thermopolia
Massaging bodies in the thermae and palaestra
 As a soap
Wine Press - Torcular
Olive oil produced in heated pressing and storage rooms of villas (These rooms had to be
warmed by fire to be able to produce the oil and were often made of lave stone – trapeta)
Evidence of Wine
• Wilhelmenia Jashemski – Revealing 2014 vine
root cavities from a large commercial vineyard
near the Pompeian Amphitheatre with a room
functioning for wine pressing and a shed for
storage
• Discovery of wine presses torcular which
worked by pressing down on an arm lever to
press the grapes (Such as that found in the Villa
of the Mysteries)
• Pliny the Elder Natural History 3.40-3.60 –
“From this bay onwards you find vine-growing
hills and a noble tipple of wine famed
throughout the world.”
• Storage Jars (Dolia) as well as fermentation
rooms have also been found in the Villa of the
Mysteries
Bacchus and Mount Vesuvius from the Lararium
of ‘The House of the Centenary’ Pompeii
Evidence of Olive Oil
• Pliny the Elder Natural History 3.40-3.60 –
“Nowhere do olives produce more olive oil”
• Findings of a trapetum (rooms where olive oil
was produced) which consisted of a circular
basin with two mill wheels and a torcular (wine
press also used to press olives)
• Stone presses used for oil production have
been found in farmhouses and houses such as
The House of the Painted Capitals
• Cato (Roman Politician) recommends Pompeian
oil presses as the best
• Timber wedge presses used for extracting oil
for perfume shown in a wall painting from the
House of the Vettii
Olive Press
Fishing Industry
Industries
 An important industry in the Campanian region
 In particularly utilised for Garum (Fish Sauce) Production
Evidence of the Fishing Industry
• Findings in Herculaneum - Fishing nets, hooks, fishing gear and an overturned boat
• Bronze tools for mending nets were also found
• Structures – Boat houses
• Port of Pompeii being under a kilometre from the town centre
• 20 warehouses on a narrow strip of land contains weights for anchoring boats and
fishing gear
Industries
Garum Industry
 Main condiments used for flavouring Roman cuisine
 Various flavours depending on the type and quality of the
fish used along with the method of preparation
 Made from the guts of fish and other parts including gills,
intestines and blood
Evidence of Garum
• Pliny the Elder Natural History – “No other liquid except
unguents has come to be so highly valued”
• Archaeologists’ Anglo American Project – discovery of a
house containing several fish tanks with an intact fish
skeleton
• Geoponica XX describes how Garum was made
Garum Sauce Container from the
House of Scaurus, Pompeii
Industries
Wool and Textiles (Cloth manufacturing and treatment)
 An important industry in the Campanian region
 Associated with laundering, bleaching and re-colouring of clothes carried out in workshops
known as fullonicae (laundries) which contained a number of interconnecting basins and tanks for
washing and rinsing
 Wool was used to make slippers, hats, blankets and cloaks and was processed by using heated
vinegar and then pushed and pressed
Evidence of Wool and Textiles in the Region
• Many Fullonicae found scattered around the town including The Fullery of Stephanus
• Breeding of sheep
• Seneca Natural Questions VI 3 – Mentions that a flock of sheep was killed by the earthquake
• A carbonised wooden clothes press discovered in a shop attached to the House of the Wooden
Partition in Herculaneum which was 2 metres high and half a metre wide
• A piece of ancient cloth found in a cloth merchant’s shop in Herculaneum
Fulling Process in wall painting from the ‘Fullery of L. Veranius Hypsaeus’
Bakeries (Pistrina)
Industries
 Bakeries milled the grain into flour and baked to create bread
 Mills were composed of three parts and turned by donkeys or mules
 Once bread was baked they were dispatched to shops for selling as only a few bakeries sold
their own bread
Evidence of Bakeries
• Discoveries of over 30 bakeries
• In the Bakery of Modestus , 81 loaves of
bread were found still on the oven
• Mills found throughout the cities
• Bakery of N. Popidius Priscus was found to
have four mills, an oven and kneading troughs
• Skeletons of donkeys have been found
nearby the mills in the Bakery of Sectus
Patulcus Felix
Baker’s Oven
Mill in a Pompeii Bakery
Carbonised Loaf of Bread
Industries
Other Industries
Evidence
 Carpenters
 Plumbers
 Wheelwrights
 Tanners
 Tinkers
 Ironmongers
 Goldsmiths and silversmiths
 Marble workers
 Stonemasons
 Gem-cutters
 Glass making
 Perfume
• Perfume manufacturing was believed to take place in Garden of the
Fugitives and Garden of Hercules due to W. Jashemski’s discovery of flowers
such as roses would have been grown for the perfume industry; Including
fragments terracotta perfume containers and glass perfume bottles
• Relief from coppersmith’s workshop showing the work of a coppersmith
including pastry moulds, dishes and bunkets which are made
Commerce
Food and Drink Outlets/Bars/Taverns (Dining)
 Taverns provided customers tables and chairs along with a form of accommodation
 Bars (Outlets) were small and provided food and drink but usually no seating or
accommodation as food was usually taken away or eaten while standing up
 Both taverns and bars often involved gambling, drunkenness and prostitution
Evidence
• A large Snack bar (thermopolia) found in
Herculaneum opposite the Palaestra had two
entrances, 8 jugs inserted into its counter, a
stove behind the counter with dishes in
terracotta casseroles over a charcoal fire and
other objects including jugs and amphorae
used for oil or sauce
• Wine bars and taverns in Pompeii
(cauponae) found clustered near the
amphitheatre found to have benches in back
rooms for clients
• The Tavern of Asellina found to have rooms
upstairs functioning as accommodation
A Food Bar at Herculaneum
Commerce
Markets
 Administered by Aediles
 Markets located on both sides of the Forum in Pompeii
 Temporary markets occurred once a week in the Forum and fresh fruit and vegetables,
spices, perfume, shoes, flowers and food were sold
 The Marcellum
• Market on the north-east side of the Forum
• Specialised in selling fish and meat along with fruit and vegetables
• A pool believed to carry live fish was in the centre – suggesting that at the market fish
mongers cleaned, filtered and sold their catch
 On the other side of the Forum, a market sold dried cereals to both individuals and bakeries
and was found with a weighing table
Evidence of Markets/Features of Markets
• Numerous Fish scales and bones have been found in the underground channel
connecting the Marcellum pool to the sewers
Commerce
Hotels
 Many hotels have been found close to the port or within the city
Evidence of Hotels
• Hostel of the Muses:
- Discovered on the bank of the Sarno
- A view over the sea
- Consisted of a small jetty, banqueting areas
- A large kitchen
• Hotels inside the Herculaneum and Stabian Gates
- Dining rooms
- Bedrooms
- Stables
- A water trough
- Shed for wagons
• Inscription: “Inn to let. Triclinium with three couches.”
Occupations
Inscriptions and electoral graffiti
identify occupations including:
 Architects
 Harvesters
 Onion Growers
 Fruiterers
 Restaurateurs
 Gold workers
 Salt workers
 Well-diggers
 Wheelwrights
 Woodmen
 Porters
 Scent makers
 Carpenters
 Soldiers
 Gladiators
 Judges
 Musicians and Actors
 Plumbers
Stonemasons
 Bricklayers
 Tilers and Mosaic layers
Trades
Exports
 Wine was exported from Pompeii
 Small numbers of Amphorae, tiles and fish containers have been found beyond Italy
(but trade was believed to be minimal)
Imports
 Garum – from Spain (Only 70% was produced in the region)
 Varieties of wine and oil – from Spain, Sicily and Crete
 Pottery – from Spain and Gaul
 Furniture – from Naples
 Lamps – from Alexandria
The Port
 Most of the trading would have been done by sea
 In the found 20 warehouses were amphorae and a statue of Neptune, god of the sea
where departing sailors made sacrifices
General Evidence
 Paintings of Cargo boats with porters carrying products loaded onto vessels