Taberna

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Taberna ( Latin , plural tabernae , derived from German tavern ) originally referred to a shed, a barn or a building made of boards in ancient Rome, but also transferred a poor apartment, but mainly shops and workshops, as well as taprooms and inns.

Stores

The shops were on the ground floor of multi-story apartment buildings and consisted of one room with a counter facing the street. In it, the Romans presented their full range of goods. Often these tabernae were run as a family business. Shops with a larger sales area were only available for “high-end” products such as textiles. The opening times, apart from an hour's lunch break, were all day on weekdays and on public holidays. The operators used wooden shutters and, if necessary, additional chains to protect against burglary. The so-called lintea (canvas curtains ) and door posts were used to attach advertisements. In addition to the central shopping streets and especially the colonnades at the forum, the shops were also distributed throughout the residential areas, which also kept the shopping paths very short for the residents.

The tabernae veteres , tabernae novae and tabernae septem on the Roman forum , as well as the tabernae argentariae ("shops for money changers") on the back of the Basilica Aemilia and Iulia are particularly well known .

The different species of tabernae included:

  • taberna casearia (cheese factory)
  • taberna libraria (bookstore)
  • taberna coactiliaria (felt manufacture and sale)
  • taberna carbonaria (charcoal shop)
  • taberna vinaria (wine shop)
  • taberna coriaria (leather shop)

Restaurants

In addition to the name taberna (specifically: taberna vinaria wine bar ) there were also other names for pubs in ancient Rome: Taberna, Caupona , Popina and Thermopolium were probably used synonymously, the transitions were in any case fluid and a demarcation based on the structural findings alone is not possible .

The offer of the tabernae consisted of wine and little things like olives, like the Spanish tapas . Popinae were more like eateries with vegetarian dishes, seasonal fruits, some meat dishes and sweets like cakes. The size of the premises usually comprised two rooms, a so-called taproom , in which food and drinks were sold to walk- in customers , among other things , and a back room with dining sofas. The audience was advertised with eye-catching pub signs or, less often, with a dancer next to the entrance. Many restaurants were also understood as camouflaged brothels . The main operating hours started in the evening and lasted until late at night. The majority of the visitors were men from the common strata of the population who looked for conviviality and entertainment there. Members of the upper class avoided the gastronomy, because on the one hand they were concerned about their personal reputation and on the other hand they preferred celebrations and "dinners" for their own kind in their own houses.

The rest houses and hostels on the Roman imperial roads were also called tabernae , which in some cases became the origin of today's place names, e.g. B. Tafers and Tawern or Saverne (Zabern).

See also

literature

  • Walter Hatto Groß : Taberna. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 5, Stuttgart 1975, Col. 478 f.
  • Karl-Wilhelm Weeber: Everyday Life in Ancient Rome , 3rd edition, Düsseldorf 1997.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher Francese: Ancient Rome in So Many Words. Hippocrene Books, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-7818-1153-8 , p. 155.