What is a Roman horrea?
A horreum (plural: horrea) was a type of public warehouse used during the ancient Roman period. By the end of the imperial period, the city of Rome had nearly 300 horrea to supply its demands.
What is Ostia in ancient Rome?
Ostia was a port of republican Rome and a commercial centre under the empire (after 27 bce). During the empire Ostia was a commercial and storage centre for Rome’s grain supplies and a service station for vessels going to Portus, the large artificial harbour built by Claudius.
What is Ostia famous for?
At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome’s seaport, but due to silting the site now lies 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the sea. The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics.
How did Romans store grain?
The last leg. On arrival in Rome, the grain was stored in large warehouses, called horrea, until needed. Most of the horrea from the 1st century CE onwards were state-owned.
How much grain could granaries in a fortress store?
Their size and capacity were calculated for adequate provisioning of the soldiers housed in the fort. Granaries generally could store two years’ supply of grain.
When did Rome conquer Ostia?
400 B.C.
Ostia, at the mouth (ostium) of the Tiber River, was founded around 620 B.C.; its central attraction was the salt gleaned from nearby salt flats, which served as a precious meat preserver. Later, around 400 B.C., Rome conquered Ostia and made it a naval base, complete with a fort.
What is Ostia and osculum?
Ostia are the tiny pores present on the surface of sponges, from where water enters and goes to the spongocoel. The osculum is the opening from where the water goes out after passing through the spongocoel.
What did Romans use grain for?
Rome’s basic calorific staple was grain, to be made into bread, though olive oil and wine were also important bulk imports; some estimates suggest Rome could have consumed around 400,000 tons of grain annually.
How were the majority of goods moved from Ostia to Rome?
Trade and commerce. Ostia and Portus were more than safe harbours and quays, they were also complete cities. Many goods for Rome were stored in horrea (warehouses) and transported to Rome along the Tiber in tow-boats, pulled by men, in late antiquity by oxen.
What is the horrea of Ostia?
This is the only storage building in Ostia of which the ancient name is known. Above the entrance is an inscription on a marble slab with the words: This storage building ( horrea) was owned by two freedmen, Epagathus and Epaphroditus. It can be dated to c. 145-150 AD (opus latericium). In the south wall part of the Castrum-wall was reused.
What is the horrea of Rome?
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.
What is a Horrea Galbae?
Although the Latin term is often used to refer to granaries, Roman horrea were used to store many other types of consumables; the giant Horrea Galbae in Rome were used not only to store grain but also olive oil, wine, foodstuffs, clothing and even marble.
What is an example of Horrea?
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.