Macellum
Macellum ( Latin ) was the name for a market hall in Roman antiquity . Macellum is probably the Latinized form of the Greek word for market (mákellos).
Meaning and history
In addition to the forums , a macellum served as a food market, mostly for meat, fish, and delicacies. Plautus mentions as early as the 2nd half of the 3rd century BC BC for the first time such a market and already calls it Macellum. The model was the agora of the Greek- Hellenistic cities. However, there was no wholesale business here. In the area of the Roman Empire around 80 Macella have been localized to date, mainly in Italy ( Rome , Puteoli , Pompeii ), North Africa ( Leptis Magna , Hippo Regius ) and Anatolia. They are a clear sign of the Romanization within the empire. The last macella were in use until late antiquity , and in Constantinople even into the 6th century.
According to Marcus Terentius Varro, the word Macellum is Doric - Ionic origin and means "garden". In the strict sense of the word, Macellum is the name given to the area where slaughter takes place. The whole complex was later called that.
Architectural style
A macellum was a public building with shops on the outer walls that traders could rent. In the middle of the mostly square structure there was often a smaller, central structure, such as a tholos (round temple), a fountain or a water basin. A macellum was often surrounded by porticoes .
There are generally two different types of construction:
- Building with a centrally oriented floor plan in which porticos and shops are grouped uniformly around the courtyard (example: Macellum of Corinth ).
- Buildings oriented axially: the side opposite the entrance is emphasized, often by an exedra flanked by large columns (example: Macella of Pompeii and Puteoli).
Both architectural styles are attested as early as the time of the Roman Republic .
Macella in the city of Rome
In Rome until the 2nd century BC there were Many different individual food markets like the Forum Boarium (the cattle market) and the Forum Piscarium (the fish market). As Livius and Varro reported, it burned in 210 BC. From. Only 31 years later, in 179 BC. BC, the restoration work was completed. In the course of this work, the many different individual markets on the site of the old Forum Piscarium were merged into a single market. This new market was called Macellum and was already mentioned in Plautus. The reason for this was the desire to move trade out of the political center.
The Macellum was surrounded by shops and had a circular building typical of Macella in the middle. The traders sold their goods in so-called tabernae (shops or inns). You could hire cooks here for domestic festivities, but also a room in the building to hold or have a party held there. Under Augustus the new Macellum Livae (named after his wife Livia Drusilla ) replaced the old Macellum on the Esquiline . Under Nero, the Macellum Magnum was added to the Caelius . On this occasion, Nero issued one of his most famous coins, which featured the Macellum Magnum on the lapel . The area of the “Ur” Macellum was built over with the Forum Pacis under Vespasian .
More well-known Macella
- The macellum of Puteoli .
- The Macellum of Pompeii .
- The North African city of Leptis Magna had a macellum with two tholoi.
- The Macellum of Ephesus.
literature
- Ned Parker Nabers: Macella. A study in Roman archeology. Princeton 1967
- Claire de Ruyt: Macellum. Marché alimentaire des Romains . Louvain-La-Neuve 1983.