Macellum
POMPEII’S PUBLIC MARKETPLACE
Located at the northeast corner of the Forum, was the Macellum. The Macellum was a vast, spacious, commercial area wherein the townspeople shopped for food and other necessities, built to relieve pressure on the Forum as the city continued to grow more and more. People would visit the Macellum on a daily basis; it would have been filled with persistent shopkeepers as well as customers arguing about prices and merchandise. Archaeologists had first realized this area was used as a marketplace once excavations revealed food remains such as cereals, fruits in the north side of the building as well as fish scales and bones in the middle of its courtyard- and so, gives us an idea of what the townspeople sold here. The remains of several sheep were also found here suggesting animals would likely be sold alive perhaps to use as sacrifice to household gods being used as food.
(Right) A large market room that would have contained a counter on the left hand side. This counter would have been used for the sale of fish. This is made evident through the evidence found by archaeologists showing arrangements for carrying off water. They also discovered that the floor behind the counter was higher and slopes to the rear to connect to a gutter leading out into the streets, which also reinforces this area was used to sell fish and other foods requiring extra plumbing.
(Right) A large market room that would have contained a counter on the left hand side. This counter would have been used for the sale of fish. This is made evident through the evidence found by archaeologists showing arrangements for carrying off water. They also discovered that the floor behind the counter was higher and slopes to the rear to connect to a gutter leading out into the streets, which also reinforces this area was used to sell fish and other foods requiring extra plumbing.
When the Macellum was built, the layout depended on which parts would be most affected by heat as high temperatures during midday and the afternoon would have posed as a threat to perishable food. The shops, therefore, whenever possible face north and are located on the north side of the building, where they open out onto the street instead of the building’s courtyard. At the center of this compound is the tholos, a large circular structure with fountains wherein large amounts of archaeological evidence in the form of fish scales and bones have been discovered in the drainage system of this structure, suggesting this area would have been where fish was cleaned and prepared, ready to be sold. Probably in the southeast corner of the Macellum, in a large room with a horseshoe-shaped counter where the food could be divided depending on if it needed extra plumbing such as fish and meat.
(Right) The central tholos in the Macellum. It would have had a round structure with a ring of columns supporting a domed roof and would usually be built upon a podium.
(Right) The central tholos in the Macellum. It would have had a round structure with a ring of columns supporting a domed roof and would usually be built upon a podium.
Wall paintings, predominantly still lifes decorating the walls of this building illustrate scenes such as bustling market-stalls with its merchandise set out for sale such as chicken, fish, chestnuts, grain, lentils, grapes, bread, as well as animal bones. This is supported by the fact that archaeologists had found remains of these foods in their excavations. Such evidence helps to reveal the different produce sold at the Macellum, perhaps even to subtly persuade people to shop but also highlights the importance of this area in the everyday lives of the town's inhabitants as this building as well as the Forum would have probably been the heart of the city in terms of needs such as food. From these pieces of archaeological evidence, we can also understand the different foods consumed by the people of Pompeii as well as from fresco still lifes found in the homes excavated that often show the same food believed to have been sold at the Macellum.
(Left) Imperial Roman Fourth Style fresco discovered in Pompeii. Still life portraying fish, squid, and mussel. Seafoods would have been widely available in Pompeii according to remains found by archaeologists. |