Date Thesis Awarded

5-2024

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Classical Studies

Advisor

John Donahue

Committee Members

Catherine Forestell

Jessica Stephens

Abstract

This thesis examines bread production and the daily lives of those who worked in mill-bakeries during the first century CE. Bread was the staple food across the ancient Mediterranean; however, there is little textual evidence about those who produced the bread that fed the Roman Empire. The most significant body of evidence relating to the lives of mill-bakers is the archaeological remains of mill-bakeries from the city of Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. This thesis analyzes the spatial organization of bread production within these mill-bakeries and applies the methodologies of spatial syntax – a theory of spatial relations developed by B. Hillier and J. Hanson – to determine patterns of movements within the mill-bakeries. By combining these methodologies with artistic and literary descriptions of Roman mill-bakeries, this thesis provides insight into the lived experiences of the mill-bakers who fed the Roman Empire.

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