Macellum

Macellum (Latin ) was in Roman times the name for a market hall. Macellum is probably the Latinized form of the Greek word for market (spotless ).

Meaning and History

In addition to the forums macellum served as a grocery store, especially for meat, fish and delicatessen. Plautus mentioned in the 2nd half of the 3rd century BC for the first time such a market and also calls him already macellum. Model was the agora of the Greek Hellenistic cities. However, here no wholesale operated. On the territory of the Roman Empire around 80 Macella were localized to the present, especially 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 still up in late antiquity, in Constantinople Opel even to the 6th century in operation.

The word is macellum by Marcus Terentius Varro Doric - ionic origin and means " garden ". In its strictest sense the terrain is denoted by macellum, is slaughtered on the. Later designated as the entire system.

Architecture

A macellum was a public building, on the outer walls of which were stores, dealers were able to rent. In the middle of the usually square construction was often a smaller, central building, such as a tholos ( circular temple ), a fountain or a pool of water. A macellum was often surrounded by Porticen.

There are two different types of buildings in general:

• Building with centrally oriented floor plan, grouped uniformly around the yard at the Porticen and shops (example: macellum of Corinth ).
• Buildings that are axially oriented: the entrance opposite side is emphasized, often by a Exedra, which was flanked by large columns (example: Macella of Pompeii and Puteoli ).

Both architectural styles are already attested in the time of the Roman Republic.

Macella in the city of Rome

In Rome there were up to the 2nd century BC, many individual food markets such as the Forum Boarium ( cattle market ) and the Forum Piscarium (the fish market). This burned, as Livy and Varro reported in 210 BC from. It was not until 21 years later, in 179 BC, the restoration work was completed. In the course of this work, the many individual markets were merged at the site of the old forum Piscarium into a single market. This new market was called macellum and mentioned in Plautus. Reason for this was the desire to move the trade from the political center.

The macellum was surrounded by shops and had at its center a typical Macella rotunda. The traders sold their goods in so-called tabernae (shops or taverns ). You could here cooks for local festivities rent, but also a space in a building and there to host a party or to have to align. Under Augustus then replaced the old macellum the new macellum liwa ' ( named after his wife Livia Drusilla ) on the Esquiline. Under Nero still came the macellum Magnum on the Caelian to do so. On this occasion, Nero gave out one of his most famous coins that showed the macellum Magnum on the lapel. The site of the "original " macellum was overbuilt under Vespasian with the Forum Pacis.

Other 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.