The Mills-Bakeries of Ostia: Description and Interpretation

Description

The ruins of Ostia, main harbour of Imperial Rome, were uncovered in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. In the present volume the remains of three buildings used for the milling of grain and baking of bread (pistrina) are studied according to modern archaeological standards. A detailed analysis of the architecture and masonry allows a description of the installation and vicissitudes of the pistrina. Subsequently the distribution of these buildings in the city and their place in the neighbourhood is studied. The technical achievement of the Ostian bakers is assessed. Although water-power was sometimes used in Roman grain-mills, this was not the case in Ostia. This in turn affects estimates of the output of the pistrina. Nevertheless the amount of bread that was produced must have been considerably higher than that in Pompeii, where many small bakeries have been preserved. No remains of bakeries have ever been found in Rome or Constantinople, but it may be assumed that the average bakery in these cities did not differ much from the Ostian workshops. Involvement of the fisc with the Ostian bakers has already been suggested by Bakker in Living and Working with the Gods. The role of the Emperor is dealt with in this volume once more. The Ostian corpus pistorum presumably fed Imperial slaves and the local fire-brigade. There are good reasons to assume that Ostia, like Rome, knew distributions of free grain. THE MILLS-BAKERIES OF OSTIA Copyright Acknowledgements Contents Chapter 1: lntroduction § 1 Subject-matter and aims of the study - Jan Theo Bakker § 2 The functioning of Roman bakeries - Jan Theo Bakker, Bemard Meijlink 2A Mills-bakeries using animal power 2B Watermills 2C The mills-bakeries in Pompeii 2D The mills-bakeries in Rome and Constantinople 2E The output of the mills-bakeries Chapter 2: The Caseggiato dei Molini Part I: The building history § 1 lntroduction § 2 The Hadrianic period 2A General 2B Outer walls 2C Inner walls 2D Staircases 2E Beamholes 2F Doorways 2G Windows 2H Summary § 3 The Antonine period 3A General 3B lnner walls South-east comer of the building Room 3, north-east pier and west wall Room 6, west Room 8, east and north-east Room 12, south-east and north-west Rooms 15 and 16 Rooms 17-21 Rooms 19-21 Room 21, north Rooms 21 and 22, east Room 22, north and 23, south Room 23, north Room 24 Room 25 Room 26, west Room 27, north-east 3C Staircases Room 4 Room 9 3D Doorways Room 3, west 3E Windows Room 8 Room 26, west 3F Summary 4 The Severan period: 193-211 AD 4A General 4B Staircase and inner walls 1 Staircase 9-10, north and west 2 Room 11, north-west 3 Rooms 19-21, arches 4 Room 21, north 4C Doorways and windows 5 Rooms 8 and 11 6 Rooms 9 and 10 4D Summary § 5 The late-Severan period: 210-235 AD 5A General 5B Inner walls and piers on Via dei Molini a Rooms 6, 7 and 13 b Room 17, north and south c Rooms 25 and 29 d Room 17, west e Brick piers along Via dei Molini 5C Summary § 6 The second half of the third century 6A General 6B lnner walls Room 6, east and south Room 7 Room 13, east and west Room 15 Rooms 18-20, west Room 23 §7 The destruction of the Caseggiato dei Molini Part II: The history of the excavations Part III: lnterpretation § 1 The early building periods IA The Hadrianic building period: ground floor IB The Antonine building period: Fround floor IC Staircases, ceilings, upper floors and roof § 2 The Severan alterations 2A Septimius Severus 2B Caracalla to Alexander Severus (late-Severan) § 3 The later third century alterations § 4 Further alterations § 5 The fire and the finds § 6 The fumishing and functions of the building 6A The masonry The Hadrianic and Antonine building periods The Severan alterations The later third century alterations 6B The finds 6C The dates of the installation and abandoning of the millbakery and carpenters' workshop 6D The functioning of the mill-bakery Chapter 3: Molino l,Xlll,4 § 1 lntroduction § 2 General description of the building § 3 The building periods 3A Period 1: 80-100 AD 3B Period 2: 100-125 AD The west rooms The central rooms The east rooms Date 3C Period 3: 175-200 AD 3D Period 4: 210-235 AD 3E Period 5: c. 250 AD 3F Period 6: 250-300 AD 3G Period 7: 370-440 AD 3H The co חidor north of the Molino § 4 Reconstruction 4A Period 1: 80-100 AD 4B Period 2: 100-125 AD 4C Period 3: 175-200 AD 4D Period 4: 210-235 AD 4E Period 5: c. 250 AD 4F Period 6: 250-300 AD 4G Period 7: 370-440 AD 4H Reconstruction of the upper floors and roof The west rooms The central part The east rooms § 5 Objects in the Molino 5A Yarious objects 5B The mills and kneading-machines § 6 The bakery 6A The installation of the bakery and the alterations 6B The functioning of the bakery Chapter 4: The Caseggiato delle Fornaci § 1 Introduction § 2 The Hadrianic period 2A General 2B Outer walls 2C lnner walls 2D Ceilings, staircases and upper floors § 3 Antoninus Pius to Marcus Aurelius § 4 Commodus to Septimius Severus § 5 The Severan Emperors § 6 The later third and fourth century 6A The middle of the third century 6B The second half of the third century 6C The later third and early fourth century § 7 lnterpretation 7 A The Hadrianic building 7B The installation of the bakery 7C Later repairs and modifications 7D The functioning of the bakery Chapter 5: Further evidence § 1 Further bakeries IA Caseggiato del Balcone Ligneo and Caseggiato del Pantomimo Apolausto (l,ll,2.6) Description Interpretation 1B A bakery near the Caseggiato dei Dolii (I,IV,5) IC Caseggiato I,IX,2 Description lnterpretation ID Caseggiato della Cistema (I,XII,4) Description Interpretation IE Building II,VIIl,9 § 2 Millstones and kneading-machines § 3 Reliefs § 4 Inscriptions and graffiti Inscriptions Graffiti Chapter 6: On the Emperor's service. The corpus pistorum of Ostia and Portus Uterque from the juridical perspective § 1 lntroduction § 2 The free distributions of grain and bread 2A The administration of the Annona 2B The corpus pistorum in Rome 2C The collegia artificum 2D Corpora pistorum outside Rome § 3 The corpus pistorum in Ostia § 4 The privilege of the corpus § 5 The functions of the corpus § 6 Conclusions Chapter 7: Conclusions § 1 The functioning of the mills-bakeries § 2 The dates and distribution of the mills-bakeries 2A Dates 2B Distribution § 3 The fisc and the millers-bakers in Ostia, Rome and Constantinople 3A Bread for the vigiles 3B The Grandi Horrea 3C The millers-bakers in Rome and the frumentationes 3D Frumentationes in Ostia? Appendix: The octagonal room in the Caseggiato della Cisterna Catalogues The Caseggiato dei Molini. Catalogue of the building material - Thea Heres The Caseggiato dei Molini. General catalogue - Jan Theo Bakker Molino I,XIII,4. Catalogue - Bemard Meijlink Caseggiato delle Fomaci. Catalogue - Jan van Dalen List of figures Bibliography lndex List of plates