A horreum (plural: horrea) was a type of public warehouse used during the ancient Roman period. Although the Latin term is often used to refer to granaries. By the end of the imperial period, the city of Rome had nearly 300 horrea to supply its demands.[1] The biggest were enormous, even by modern standards; the Horrea Galbae contained 140 rooms on the ground floor alone, covering an area of some 225,000 square feet (21,000 m²).[2] They provided storage for not only the annona publica (public grain supply) but also a great variety resources like olive oil and footstuffs.[3] The amount of storage space available in the public horrea can be judged by the fact that when the emperor Septimius Severus died in 211 AD, he is said to have left the city's horrea stocked with enough food to supply Rome's million-strong population for seven years.[4] Smaller (though similar) horrea were a standard feature of Roman towns, cities and forts throughout the empire; well-preserved examples of military horrea have been excavated on Hadrian's Wall in England, notably at the forts of Housesteads, Corbridge and South Shields.[5]
Reconstructed horreum at the Saalburg fort in Germany
The first horrea were built in Rome towards the end of the 2nd century BC,[6] with the first known public horreum being constructed by the ill-fated tribuneGaius Gracchus in 123 BC.[4] The word came to be applied any place designated for the preservation of goods; thus it was often used refer to cellars (horrea subterranea), but it could also be applied to a place where artworks were stored,[7] or even to a library.[8] Some public horrea functioned somewhat like banks, where valuables could be stored, but the most important class of horrea were those where foodstuffs such as grain and olive oil were stored and distributed by the state.[9] Rome's insatiable demands for foodstuffs meant that the amount of goods that passed through some of the city's horrea was immense, even by modern standards. The artificial hill of Monte Testaccio in Rome, which stands behind the site of the Horrea Galbae, is estimated to contain the remains of at least 53 million olive oil amphorae in which some 6 billion litres (1.58 billion gallons) of oil were imported.[10]
Design and namingedit
The Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana, a horreum in Ostia built c. 145-150 AD
The horrea of Rome and its port, Ostia, stood two or more stories high. They were built with ramps, rather than staircases, to provide easy access to the upper floors. Grain horrea had their ground floor raised on pillars to reduce the likelihood of damp getting in and spoiling the goods. Many horrea appear to have served as great trading areas with rows of small shops (tabernae) off a central courtyard; some may have been fairly elaborate, perhaps serving as the equivalent of modern shopping arcades. Others, such as those in Ostia, dispensed with the courtyard and instead had rows of tabernae standing back-to-back. In the Middle East, horrea took a very different design with a single row of very deep tabernae, all opening onto the same side; this reflected an architectural style that was widely followed in the region's palaces and temple complexes, well before the arrival of the Romans.[6][11]
Unsurprisingly, security and fire protection were major concerns. Horrea were frequently built with very thick walls (as much as 1 metre (3 ft) thick) to reduce the danger of fire, and the windows were always narrow and placed high up on the wall to deter theft. Doors were protected with elaborate systems of locks and bolts. Even the largest horrea usually only had two or three external doors, which were often quite narrow and would not have permitted the entrance of carts. The arduous task of moving goods into, out of and around horrea was most probably carried out by manual labour alone; the biggest horrea would thus have had an enormous staff of labourers.[2]
Roman horrea were individually named, some having names indicating the commodities they stored (and probably sold), such as wax (candelaria), paper (chartaria) and pepper (piperataria). Others were named after emperors or other individuals connected with the imperial family, such as the aforementioned Horrea Galbae, which were apparently named after the 1st century AD emperor Galba.[11] A particularly well-preserved horreum in Ostia, the Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana, is known from an inscription to have been named after two freedmen (presumably its owners), Epagathus and Epaphroditus.[12]
Referencesedit
^Peter Lampe, Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, p. 61. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN0-8264-8102-7
^ abDavid Stone Potter, D. J. Mattingly, Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire, p. 180. University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN0-472-08568-9
^Richardson (1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 193.
^ abGuy P.R. Métreaux, "Villa rustica alimentaria et annonaria", in The Roman Villa: Villa Urbana, ed. Alfred Frazer, p[. 14-15. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 1998. ISBN0-924171-59-6
^David Soren, A Roman Villa and a Late Roman Infant Cemetery, p. 209. L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1999. ISBN88-7062-989-9
^ abJoseph Patrich, "Warehouses and Granaries in Caesarea Maritima", in Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective After Two Millennia, p. 149. BRILL, 1996. ISBN90-04-10378-3
^William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 618. John Murray, London, 1875.
^Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization, pp. 91-92. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN0-19-280728-5.
^ abClaridge, Amanda (1998). Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, First, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 55. ISBN0-19-288003-9
^Regio I - Insula VIII - Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana
Bibliographyedit
RICKMAN, G., (1971): Roman Granaries and store buildings. Cambridge.
SALIDO DOMINGUEZ, J., (2011): Horrea Militaria. El aprovisionamiento de grano al ejército en el occidente del Imperio romano, Anejos de Gladius 14, Madrid.
SALIDO DOMINGUEZ, J., (2009): “Los graneros militares romanos de Hispania”. En MORILLO, A., HANEL, N. & MARTÍN, E., (eds.): Limes XX. Estudios sobre la Frontera Romana. Anejos de Gladius 13. Volumen 2. Madrid, 679-692. I.S.B.N. 978-84-00-08856-9.
SALIDO DOMINGUEZ, J., (2008): “La investigación sobre los horrea de época romana: balance historiográfico y perspectivas de futuro”. CUPAUAM 34, 105-124. I.S.B.N. 978-84-00-08856-9 http://www.uam.es/otros/cupauam/pdf/Cupauam34/3405.pdf
SALIDO DOMINGUEZ, J., (2008b): “Los sistemas de almacenamiento y conservación de grano en las villae hispanorromanas”. En FERNÁNDEZ OCHOA, C., GARCÍA-ENTERO, V. & GIL SENDINO, F., (eds.): Las villae tardorromanas en el Occidente del Imperio. Arquitectura y función. IV Coloquio Internacional de Arqueología de Gijón. 26, 27 y 28 de Octubre de 2006, Gijón, 693-706. I.S.B.N.: 978-84-9704-363-2.
External linksedit
Regio I - Insula VIII - Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana - plans and images of an excavated horreum at Ostia Antica
Computer reconstruction of the horreum at Longovicium on YouTube
February 16, 2024
horreum, town, ancient, epirus, greece, epirus, horreum, plural, horrea, type, public, warehouse, used, during, ancient, roman, period, although, latin, term, often, used, refer, granaries, imperial, period, city, rome, nearly, horrea, supply, demands, biggest. For the town in ancient Epirus Greece see Horreum Epirus A horreum plural horrea was a type of public warehouse used during the ancient Roman period Although the Latin term is often used to refer to granaries By the end of the imperial period the city of Rome had nearly 300 horrea to supply its demands 1 The biggest were enormous even by modern standards the Horrea Galbae contained 140 rooms on the ground floor alone covering an area of some 225 000 square feet 21 000 m 2 They provided storage for not only the annona publica public grain supply but also a great variety resources like olive oil and footstuffs 3 The amount of storage space available in the public horrea can be judged by the fact that when the emperor Septimius Severus died in 211 AD he is said to have left the city s horrea stocked with enough food to supply Rome s million strong population for seven years 4 Smaller though similar horrea were a standard feature of Roman towns cities and forts throughout the empire well preserved examples of military horrea have been excavated on Hadrian s Wall in England notably at the forts of Housesteads Corbridge and South Shields 5 Reconstructed horreum at the Saalburg fort in Germany Contents 1 History 2 Design and naming 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External linksHistory editThe first horrea were built in Rome towards the end of the 2nd century BC 6 with the first known public horreum being constructed by the ill fated tribune Gaius Gracchus in 123 BC 4 The word came to be applied any place designated for the preservation of goods thus it was often used refer to cellars horrea subterranea but it could also be applied to a place where artworks were stored 7 or even to a library 8 Some public horrea functioned somewhat like banks where valuables could be stored but the most important class of horrea were those where foodstuffs such as grain and olive oil were stored and distributed by the state 9 Rome s insatiable demands for foodstuffs meant that the amount of goods that passed through some of the city s horrea was immense even by modern standards The artificial hill of Monte Testaccio in Rome which stands behind the site of the Horrea Galbae is estimated to contain the remains of at least 53 million olive oil amphorae in which some 6 billion litres 1 58 billion gallons of oil were imported 10 Design and naming edit nbsp The Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana a horreum in Ostia built c 145 150 ADThe horrea of Rome and its port Ostia stood two or more stories high They were built with ramps rather than staircases to provide easy access to the upper floors Grain horrea had their ground floor raised on pillars to reduce the likelihood of damp getting in and spoiling the goods Many horrea appear to have served as great trading areas with rows of small shops tabernae off a central courtyard some may have been fairly elaborate perhaps serving as the equivalent of modern shopping arcades Others such as those in Ostia dispensed with the courtyard and instead had rows of tabernae standing back to back In the Middle East horrea took a very different design with a single row of very deep tabernae all opening onto the same side this reflected an architectural style that was widely followed in the region s palaces and temple complexes well before the arrival of the Romans 6 11 Unsurprisingly security and fire protection were major concerns Horrea were frequently built with very thick walls as much as 1 metre 3 ft thick to reduce the danger of fire and the windows were always narrow and placed high up on the wall to deter theft Doors were protected with elaborate systems of locks and bolts Even the largest horrea usually only had two or three external doors which were often quite narrow and would not have permitted the entrance of carts The arduous task of moving goods into out of and around horrea was most probably carried out by manual labour alone the biggest horrea would thus have had an enormous staff of labourers 2 Roman horrea were individually named some having names indicating the commodities they stored and probably sold such as wax candelaria paper chartaria and pepper piperataria Others were named after emperors or other individuals connected with the imperial family such as the aforementioned Horrea Galbae which were apparently named after the 1st century AD emperor Galba 11 A particularly well preserved horreum in Ostia the Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana is known from an inscription to have been named after two freedmen presumably its owners Epagathus and Epaphroditus 12 References edit Peter Lampe Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries From Paul to Valentinus p 61 Continuum International Publishing Group 2006 ISBN 0 8264 8102 7 a b David Stone Potter D J Mattingly Life Death and Entertainment in the Roman Empire p 180 University of Michigan Press 1999 ISBN 0 472 08568 9 Richardson 1992 A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome Johns Hopkins University Press p 193 a b Guy P R Metreaux Villa rustica alimentaria et annonaria in The Roman Villa Villa Urbana ed Alfred Frazer p 14 15 University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology 1998 ISBN 0 924171 59 6 David Soren A Roman Villa and a Late Roman Infant Cemetery p 209 L Erma di Bretschneider 1999 ISBN 88 7062 989 9 a b Joseph Patrich Warehouses and Granaries in Caesarea Maritima in Caesarea Maritima A Retrospective After Two Millennia p 149 BRILL 1996 ISBN 90 04 10378 3 Pliny Epist VIII 18 Seneca Epist 45 William Smith A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities p 618 John Murray London 1875 Bryan Ward Perkins The Fall of Rome And the End of Civilization pp 91 92 Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 0 19 280728 5 a b Claridge Amanda 1998 Rome An Oxford Archaeological Guide First Oxford UK Oxford University Press 1998 p 55 ISBN 0 19 288003 9 Regio I Insula VIII Horrea Epagathiana et EpaphroditianaBibliography editRICKMAN G 1971 Roman Granaries and store buildings Cambridge SALIDO DOMINGUEZ J 2011 Horrea Militaria El aprovisionamiento de grano al ejercito en el occidente del Imperio romano Anejos de Gladius 14 Madrid SALIDO DOMINGUEZ J 2009 Los graneros militares romanos de Hispania En MORILLO A HANEL N amp MARTIN E eds Limes XX Estudios sobre la Frontera Romana Anejos de Gladius 13 Volumen 2 Madrid 679 692 I S B N 978 84 00 08856 9 SALIDO DOMINGUEZ J 2008 La investigacion sobre los horrea de epoca romana balance historiografico y perspectivas de futuro CUPAUAM 34 105 124 I S B N 978 84 00 08856 9 http www uam es otros cupauam pdf Cupauam34 3405 pdf SALIDO DOMINGUEZ J 2008b Los sistemas de almacenamiento y conservacion de grano en las villae hispanorromanas En FERNANDEZ OCHOA C GARCIA ENTERO V amp GIL SENDINO F eds Las villae tardorromanas en el Occidente del Imperio Arquitectura y funcion IV Coloquio Internacional de Arqueologia de Gijon 26 27 y 28 de Octubre de 2006 Gijon 693 706 I S B N 978 84 9704 363 2 External links editRegio I Insula VIII Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana plans and images of an excavated horreum at Ostia Antica Computer reconstruction of the horreum at Longovicium on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Horreum amp oldid 1181037339, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
