The Mills-Bakeries of Ostia: Description and Interpretation

✍ Scribed by Jan Theo Bakker (editor)

• Publisher: Brill
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 270
• Series: Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology; 21
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

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.

✦ Table of Contents

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