DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0045
BEFORE 79
same villa in which the wine press was discovered. At the
present time the making of oil is not carried on about Pompeii.
In the plain below the city vegetables were raised ; the cabbage
of Pompeii, frequently mentioned by ancient writers, was highly
prized.
The working up of the products of
the fisheries formed
an important industry. The fish sauces which so tickled the
palate of ancient epicures, gantm,
liquamen, and muria, were produced
here of the finest quality. The mak-
ing of them seems to have been prac-
tically a monopoly in the hands of a
certain Umbricius Scaurus; a great
number of earthen jars have been
found with the mark of his owner-
ship.
The Pompeians turned to account,
also, the volcanic products of Vesu-
vius. Pumice stone was an article
of export. From the lava millstones
were made for both grain mills and
oil mills, which were apparently al-
ready in extensive use in the time of"
Cato the Elder; he mentions them
Fig. 5. —An amphora from
Boscoreale.
in his treatise on farming. In Pompeii itself the millstones of
the oldest period are of lava from Vesuvius; later it was found
that the lava of Rocca Monfina was better adapted for the pur-
pose, and millstones of that material were preferred. Small
hand-mills of the lava from Vesuvius were in use at Pompeii down
to 79; but the larger millstones of this material found in the
bakeries had been put one side. In shape and finish the mills
of local make were superior to the more carelessly worked stones
from Rocca Monfina; the preference for the latter was due to
the fact that they contained numerous crystals of leucite, which
broke off as the mill wore away, and so kept the grinding surfaces
always rough. Millstones from Rocca Monfina may be seen at
different places in Rome, as in the Museum of the Baths of
Diocletian.
same villa in which the wine press was discovered. At the
present time the making of oil is not carried on about Pompeii.
In the plain below the city vegetables were raised ; the cabbage
of Pompeii, frequently mentioned by ancient writers, was highly
prized.
The working up of the products of
the fisheries formed
an important industry. The fish sauces which so tickled the
palate of ancient epicures, gantm,
liquamen, and muria, were produced
here of the finest quality. The mak-
ing of them seems to have been prac-
tically a monopoly in the hands of a
certain Umbricius Scaurus; a great
number of earthen jars have been
found with the mark of his owner-
ship.
The Pompeians turned to account,
also, the volcanic products of Vesu-
vius. Pumice stone was an article
of export. From the lava millstones
were made for both grain mills and
oil mills, which were apparently al-
ready in extensive use in the time of"
Cato the Elder; he mentions them
Fig. 5. —An amphora from
Boscoreale.
in his treatise on farming. In Pompeii itself the millstones of
the oldest period are of lava from Vesuvius; later it was found
that the lava of Rocca Monfina was better adapted for the pur-
pose, and millstones of that material were preferred. Small
hand-mills of the lava from Vesuvius were in use at Pompeii down
to 79; but the larger millstones of this material found in the
bakeries had been put one side. In shape and finish the mills
of local make were superior to the more carelessly worked stones
from Rocca Monfina; the preference for the latter was due to
the fact that they contained numerous crystals of leucite, which
broke off as the mill wore away, and so kept the grinding surfaces
always rough. Millstones from Rocca Monfina may be seen at
different places in Rome, as in the Museum of the Baths of
Diocletian.