Market+Place

Marketplaces and Shops   By Maura F.  Shops and markets played a very important role in the economy of ancient Rome. To have an economy there needed to be shopping. To have shopping, there needed to be shops, markets, and money.  The first Roman shops developed in the seventh century B.C. They sold salt to give food flavor and to preserve meat. By the second century B.C., the population had gotten larger, causing bigger markets to open.  In early times, many of the shops were in the Forum, which was a public square in Rome. The Forum was close to the Tiber River. The river gave access to barges that brought merchandise into the city. The Forum had markets, government buildings, and temples on all four sides. Farmers and traders sold goods at the Forum. The Forum, along with other squares, sold luxuries like gold and silver jewelry, carved ivory goods, perfume, and books (books were handwritten on a scroll of paper). Most shops were on main streets. Leather shops, barber shops, and shoemakers were typically in poorer neighborhoods because they were dirty and noisy. The best shops were near the Forum and on streets where successful merchants lived. Most shops that were close to successful merchants sold expensive goods. Upper class craftsmen and goldsmiths were generally in the Forum. Shops’ counters faced the street. The rooms that owners rented for their shops were usually the self- contained room of a house. Most owners slept in a small room above the shop, and had workspaces in the back. The workspaces were good places to buy bread, wine, olive oil, lamps, meat, fish, pots, pans, fabric for clothes, and inexpensive jewelry. Leather belts, purses, mirrors, knives, bone hairpins, cups, razors, spoons and kitchenware were also made there.  Shops sold many things. Potters made bowls, dishes, jugs, cooking pots, cups, and storage jars. Good shops sold good quality jewelry, pottery, silverware, glassware, make-up, wigs, and hairpieces. Olive oil and wine were sold in either a jug or an amphora. Most people bought jugs because an amphora was too big for them to store.   Open- fronted shops on bottom floors of apartment blocks sold goods for everyday needs. Cloth was linen and wool from different parts of the empire. Sometimes there was even silk from China. Fruits and vegetables were sold in market stalls, rather than in shops. Some meats like pork, mutton, goat, beef, wild boar, birds, and dormice were also sold.   The biggest shopping area was the market of Trojan, which was created in A.D. 110. The large market had five levels, and more than 150 shops! The bottom level was for fruit and flower sellers. The second level was where oil and wine were kept in large amounts. The next two levels were for food. The fifth level held fish tanks. Patricians <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">did not like to go to poorer markets, so they sent their slaves to shop for them. Poor people shopped for themselves, because they did not have slaves to do their shopping for them. Poor people bought mostly bread, porridge, beans and lentils. Many bought ready-cooked food, because they did not have kitchens. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> Shoppers had to wake up early because different merchandise was sold in different areas of the city, which required them to walk a long way. Often shoppers took baskets to hold their merchandise. If buying wine or oil, some people took empty jars to get filled. Shops usually closed in the hottest part of the day, so a lot of market stalls and shops closed at noon. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">To have shopping, there had to be money. Shoppers used gold or bronze coins to pay for goods. Where there was money, there were people who wanted to borrow money, and people who wanted to loan it. The Romans had to watch out for money lenders. Money lenders gave people the money they needed, but asked them to pay back with interest, an additional cost added to the original amount. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> Shops, markets, and money were a very important part of the lives of the citizens in ancient Rome. All of these things contributed to the economy of Rome. The economy was one of the many things that helped Rome grow into a great empire. __ Works Cited __ Biesty, Stephen. //Rome////.// Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Grant, Neil. //Everyday Life in Ancient Rome.// North Mankato: Smart Apple Media, 2004. Gedacht, Daniel. //Economy and Industry in Ancient Rome//. New York: The Rosen Publishing, Inc., 2004. Macdonald, Fiona. //100 Things you should know about Ancient Rome.// New York: Barnes& Noble, Inc., 2004. Malam, John. //Ancient Rome.// Chicago: Reed Elsevier, Inc., 2007. Martell, Hazel Mary. //Roman Town.// London: Franklin Watts, 1997. Nice, Alex T. “Rome, Ancient” //World Book Student// 2008