A handbook to shopping in ancient Rome

Retailers were found in the busiest areas of the city. Small shops and workshops lined the main thoroughfares, spilling out over their thresholds into the streets and colonnades. The poet Martial remarked that until the emperor Domitian issued an edict banning this practice, Rome looked like one big shop.

Market traders, street sellers and ambulant hawkers also tended to be found in central areas. They clustered around temples, bathhouses, forums, circuses, amphitheatres and theatres, attracted by the commercial opportunities offered by large gatherings of people. Sellers at temples offered votive offerings such as flower garlands, while those at the amphitheatre may have sold gladiatorial programmes of the type mentioned by Cicero in the mid-first century BC. Perishable items that could be eaten straight away were also a common sight on Rome’s streets. Prepared foods such as bread, hot sausages, pastries, and chickpeas were perfect for a busy Roman on the run.

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Musée du Louvre ‏ [Artwork of the day] Ostrakon with a royal profile

This piece of limestone, which is decorated on both sides, is called an ostakon (plural: ostraka), from the Greek word for "shell." Modern archeologists use this word to designate pottery shards or flakes of limestone inscribed with texts or images. Egyptian artists used ostraka for sketches or preliminary drawings.