Taberna
Encyclopedia
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.
A famous example is the Markets of Trajan in Rome
, built in the early 1st century by Apollodorus of Damascus
According to the Cambridge Ancient History, a taberna was a “retail unit" within the Roman empire
and furthermore was where many economic activities and many service industries were provided, including the sale of cooked food, wine and bread.
in locations that were important for economic activities around the end of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.. Upon the Roman Empire’s expansion into the Mediterranean, the numbers of tabernae greatly increased, in addition to the centrality of the taberna to the urban economy of Roman cities like Pompeii
, Ostia
, Corinth
, Delos
, New Carthage, and Narbo. Many of these cities were major port areas where imported luxury and exotic goods were sold to the public. Tabernae functioned as the structural buildings that facilitated the sale of goods.
Livy
writes about an encounter that Marcus Furius Camillus
, a Roman general present during the expansion of the Roman empire in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., had with tabernae of Tusculum
, a city in the Latium
region of Italy
An interesting thing to note about tabernae is that their spread across the empire, in terms of format, were fairly marked by uniformity. As urbanization continued to increase rapidly, the need for tabernae did as well. Tabernae were testaments to the economic success, growth, and expansion of the empire.
As the development of urban centers in Roman cities increased, the Roman elite continued to develop residential and commercial buildings to accommodate the large masses of people coming in and out of these market centers. Insulae were constructed, with tabernae located on the lower levels of them. The class of people who ran the tabernae are called tabernarri, who were mainly urban freedman who worked under a patron who owned the actual property.
The second form of tabernae were similar to domestic tabernae found in insulae because they were in a fixed location within a complex of buildings, however they were instead located within public markets and forums, areas that received high amounts of traffic.
Ardyle Mac Mahon writes about tabernae in the Roman empire in Britain:
In Italy, they still survive in a number of place names.
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
within great indoor markets of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Each taberna had a window above it to let light into a wooden attic for storage and had a wide doorway.
A famous example is the Markets of Trajan in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, built in the early 1st century by Apollodorus of Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus was a Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD, from Damascus, Roman Syria. He was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia. He also designed the Forum...
According to the Cambridge Ancient History, a taberna was a “retail unit" within the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and furthermore was where many economic activities and many service industries were provided, including the sale of cooked food, wine and bread.
Origins and Proliferation
Tabernae probably first appeared in GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in locations that were important for economic activities around the end of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.. Upon the Roman Empire’s expansion into the Mediterranean, the numbers of tabernae greatly increased, in addition to the centrality of the taberna to the urban economy of Roman cities like 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...
, Ostia
Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica is a large archeological site, close to the modern suburb of Ostia , that was the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 km to the northeast. "Ostia" in Latin means "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but, due to...
, Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
, New Carthage, and Narbo. Many of these cities were major port areas where imported luxury and exotic goods were sold to the public. Tabernae functioned as the structural buildings that facilitated the sale of goods.
Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
writes about an encounter that Marcus Furius Camillus
Marcus Furius Camillus
Marcus Furius Camillus was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome....
, a Roman general present during the expansion of the Roman empire in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., had with tabernae of Tusculum
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.-Location:Tusculum is one of the largest Roman cities in Alban Hills. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill—more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano...
, a city in the Latium
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
"Camillus having pitched his camp before the gates, wishing to know whether the same appearance of peace, which was displayed in the country, prevailed also within the walls, entered the city, where he beheld the gates lying open, and everything exposed to sale in the open shops, and the workmen engaged each on their respective employments…
The streets filled amid the different kinds of people”.
An interesting thing to note about tabernae is that their spread across the empire, in terms of format, were fairly marked by uniformity. As urbanization continued to increase rapidly, the need for tabernae did as well. Tabernae were testaments to the economic success, growth, and expansion of the empire.
Formats
There were mainly two forms of tabernae within the Roman empire, those found in domestic and public settings. Domestic houses had shops fronting their premises. Tabernae were also established in residential multi-storey apartment blocks called insulae, which were heavily occupied by freedmen.As the development of urban centers in Roman cities increased, the Roman elite continued to develop residential and commercial buildings to accommodate the large masses of people coming in and out of these market centers. Insulae were constructed, with tabernae located on the lower levels of them. The class of people who ran the tabernae are called tabernarri, who were mainly urban freedman who worked under a patron who owned the actual property.
The second form of tabernae were similar to domestic tabernae found in insulae because they were in a fixed location within a complex of buildings, however they were instead located within public markets and forums, areas that received high amounts of traffic.
Ardyle Mac Mahon writes about tabernae in the Roman empire in Britain:
“Tabernae were located so that they fulfilled the purpose of providing goods and services to customers. Many social, economic and other factors may have had an influence on this, but, in general, it must be assumed that retailers in Roman Britain wished to sell their products. A good site will have helped to maximize a retailer’s net selling potential and for this reason, tabernae will normally be located within reach of their markets.”
Importance
Tabernae revolutionized the Roman economy because they were the first permanent retail structures within cities, which signified persistent growth and expansion within the economy. Tabernae provided places for a variety of agricultural and industrial products to be sold, like wheat, bread, wine, jewelry, and other items. It is likely that taberna were also the structures where free grain would be distributed to the public. Moreover, tabernae were utilized as lucrative measures to gain upward social mobility for the freedmen class. Although the occupation of a merchant was not highly regarded in Roman culture, it still pervaded the freedman class as means to establish financial stability and eventually some influence within local governments.In Italy, they still survive in a number of place names.
Links
- Mahon article http://www.blackwell-synergy.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2006.00262.x?cookieSet=1
- Tabernae on Penelope http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Taberna.html
- Image from Perseus Projecthttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1998.09.0039
- Image of actual Roman shops http://www.markbernstein.org/elements/ViaBib.jpg
- Image of Reconstructive model of a tabernahttp://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/domustaberna_upenn.jpg
