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This nail was forged at the end of the 1st century at the Roman legionary fort of Inchtutil, south of the Scottish Highlands. Buried in a pit when the fort was abandoned, it was found in 1960 along with nearly a million other nails-a testament to the scale of Roman mass production. Although most Roman craftsmen worked in small shops, the size of the empire facilitated the large-scale production and sale of certain goods. The technologies used remained pre-industrial, and few businesses of the time reached the scale of modern corporations, but factories, trademarks, and brand competition were part of the Roman economy. The largest commercial enterprises in the Roman world were
associated with the imperial government. In late antiquity, weapons and armor for the legions were manufactured in 35 state factories. Some of these enterprises produced both shields and other weapons. Others specialized in breastplates, arrows, horse armor, or ballistae. Although they were staffed by civilian craftsmen, supervision was provided by petty officials. The emperors also owned a vast network of quarries, some of which were worked by convicted prisoners under military supervision. Marble and granite columns, cut to standard sizes, were shipped by the hundreds to Rome and other major cities.
Sarcophagi and copies of famous statues were also transported. To avoid damage during transportation, sculptures were usually shipped with only roughly finished parts. Some sarcophagi were found with the faces of the deceased, which remained unfinished. Many other imperial enterprises achieved impressive economies of scale. Beginning with the reign of Septimius Severus, the famous Roman grain ration, which fed 200,000 people, was distributed in the form of bread from state bakeries. To process grain, the emperors built a network of mills powered by aqueducts and wastewater from the baths. The wealthiest Roman aristocrats had their own economic empires, staffed by skilled slaves and freedmen. Crassus, a magnate of the late Republic, became famous for
organizing brigades of slave firefighters, builders, and artisans. To meet Rome's boundless demand for building materials, families with estates near the capital produced bricks and tiles in standard sizes, stamped with the date and place of manufacture. Some clay quarries employed hundreds of workers and produced tens of thousands of bricks. Their products were shipped as far as North Africa. In the western provinces, wealthy landowners with estates on the Mediterranean coast established salting plants to take advantage of the seasonal migration of fish. In addition to salted fish, they produced garum-a famous fermented fish sauce. The factory in Troy, in what is now Portugal, had no fewer than 19 huge processing tanks with a total capacity of over 600 cubic
meters, enough to salt tens of thousands of fish at a time. In North Africa and southern Spain, aristocrats developed olive plantations to produce oil for export. These estates, where both slaves and free people worked, sometimes housed factory buildings with entire rows of presses and huge granaries. The Roman Monte Testaccio, which I mentioned in my old videos, consists of over 50 million oil amphorae from Spain. Although elite families dominated the production of raw materials, some of the most famous brands of the Roman Empire were created by artisans of humble origins. During the reign of Augustus, Italian terra sigillata-a red, glazed, molded pottery that was traded from Britain to India- was produced on an industrial scale in
and around the Tuscan city of Arezzo. Impressions made on the clay before firing allow us to identify several dozen workshops. The largest of these employed at least 60 artisans, who were probably highly skilled slaves. Some owners opened branches of their workshops in Gaul. During the 1st century, Gaul became the main center of terra sigillata production. Excavations at La Graufesenque, in what is now southern France, revealed kilns capable of firing up to 35,000 vessels at a time-a level of production that was not surpassed until the 19th century. Glassblowing, invented somewhere in the eastern Roman provinces in the 1st century BC. e., quickly spread throughout the empire. Although it never reached the scale of ceramic
production, more glass was produced in the early imperial era than at any other time before the 15th century. An artisan named Ennion, who probably worked in the city of Sidon, produced signed pieces of decorated blown glass that were distributed throughout the provinces as luxury items. About 50 of his vessels have survived to this day, found in places from Spain to Israel. Ennion's success inspired a number of imitators who attempted to copy the shapes of his glassware. There were many other examples of fierce competition in the Roman economy, which we will discuss after a brief word about the sponsor of this video. History is made up of stories, of lives lived in a world that is at once familiar and incredibly foreign.
Even the most famous of these stories retain the ability to surprise us. Take, for example, "The Odyssey." The poem alludes to the real history of both its Bronze Age setting and the archaic Greek environment that gave rise to it. But at the same time, it presents a whole kaleidoscope of wonders and horrors, magic, monsters, and transformations. History Adventures captures the stories that underlie our fascination with the past. Without losing sight of the facts, they create captivating narratives about a wide range of historical topics, including The Odyssey. So, to enjoy some of the best stories in history, check out the History Adventures channel, linked in the
description. Returning to our topic, Roman artisans well understood the importance of trademarks. Glassmakers in Cologne, for example, marked their products with a decorative line of colored glass, the so-called " Cologne squiggle." Other Roman brands also appear in archaeological finds. Fibulae made by the Aucissa company were found in the territory from Gaul to the Black Sea. In Vindoland, in the ruins of the headquarters complex, a luxurious shoe made in Gaul by Lucius Ebutius Thales was discovered. Most likely, it was worn by the commander's wife. Roman entrepreneurs advertised their goods just as aggressively as their modern counterparts. Aulus Umbritius Scaurus, the " garum king" of Pompeii, controlled at least half a dozen shops in the
city and lived in a mansion decorated with images of his high-quality macro- garum. Several amphorae found in Pompeii were marked "Vesuvinum"-a combination of words meaning Vesuvius and wine. Archaeologically, competition between firms can be traced to the increase or decrease in the presence of a particular manufacturer's products. For example, Fortis lamps, made near Mutina in Northern Italy, were sold throughout the western provinces in the 1st century. However, their market share gradually decreased due to local counterfeits, which sometimes even copied the Fortis brand. Similarly, in late antiquity, fashionable vases from the Navigium workshop gradually supplanted the products of a number of
competing pottery workshops in North Africa. The last pots fired in the La Grofésenque kilns were of poor quality and crudely decorated, perhaps because falling prices due to an oversaturated market forced producers to speed up their work. The Romans were never close to the Industrial Revolution. Unlike 18th- century Britain, the Roman Empire had neither an entrepreneurial class willing to invest in innovative technologies nor industries that encouraged such investment. Yet, more than any other pre-industrial society, the Romans mass-produced inexpensive goods, created luxury brands known across three continents, and foreshadowed the trade wars of modern capitalism.
Speaking of modern capitalism, next April you can join me in Tunis, where we will explore Carthage, Dougga, and a host of other sights. In June I'm heading to Romania to see some of the most impressive and rarely visited ruins of the Roman world. Find out more about these and my other upcoming trips by following the links in the description. Aqueducts, Fighting Pigeons, and Mystery Cults, is now available in both print and audio formats. For more content, including the next episode of my epic review of HBO's Rome, visit Tollman Stone's Patreon. And finally, don't forget about my other channels: Tollman Stone Footnotes and Scenic Routes to the Past. Thank you for watching.
