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.
Recommended Citation
Rubin, Madeleine, "Pompeiian Mill-Bakeries: Spatial Organization and Social Interaction" (2024). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 2159.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/2159
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, European History Commons, Social History Commons
