Shopping Malls of Antiquity

In ancient times, business often took place at the market square, forum in Latin, a central place in the city. Important public buildings with a wide variety of functions, such as economic or religious, are located here. Not only these buildings, but also the square itself is therefore often specially designed, for example with paving, which offers visitors more comfort while also visually enhancing the area.

In addition to market stalls, there are also specially built buildings for the sale of fish and meat, for example. Ancient writers report that these markets offer delicious and expensive types of fish and meat.

This market building, Latin macellum, is a large public building that is richly furnished to suit the goods on offer. It consists of a courtyard surrounded by columns, in the middle of which there are often one or sometimes two round buildings. These can serve as fountains in which fish are cleaned, for example.

The traders can either sell their goods in small shops or display them on market tables set up between the columns. These tables are also carefully designed and decorated with sea creatures, among other things, which indicate the goods sold in the Macellum.

Various types of goods are stored in storage rooms around an inner courtyard and sold in shops on the street side. At the same time, the owners can receive customers such as middlemen in the large, multi-storey building. Systems locking the passages with grating to prevent theft indicate the storage of valuable goods, possibly luxury goods.

An inscription on the richly decorated entrance portal with half-columns and a pediment marks the building from the street side and is set apart from the brick facade by the white marble. Anyone who wants to visit the building or simply walks past (and can read) will learn what purpose the building serves and that the merchants Epagathus and Epaphroditus own the warehouse.

From the building entrance, part of the mosaic floor in the central courtyard is immediately visible. The black and white floor mosaic with geometric meanders and exotic animals enhances the building and is reminiscent of exclusive goods from the upper class. This increases the desire for the luxury goods on offer: possibly a clever sales strategy that directly alludes to consumption. The panther depicted lures visitors into the courtyard, where a multifaceted decoration highlights the building’s versatile functions.

Im Hof befindet sich eine große, zentrale Nische, die von zwei kleinen, ornamentierten Nischen gerahmt wird, welche einst Götterfiguren enthielten. Auch in der großen Nische hat möglicherweise eine Statue gestanden, z. B. ein Standbild der Heilgottheiten Asklepios oder Telesphoros. Solche Standbilder wurden im Gebäude gefunden. Als Teil eines religiösen Kultes können jene schützenden Götter die Geschäfte begleitet haben.

The interior features figural capitals that show the winged horse Pegasus at their corners. In the service of statics, the figures support the parts of the architecture above with their manes. Through their figurative elements, such capitals can convey additional meaning: the religiosity of the temple is further enhanced by the mythological figures.

The very long building is divided into three naves by columns. The numerous columns are each topped with a bull’s head capital. This not only serves the statics, as the bull’s heads strengthen the support surface of the ceiling structure, but the figurative solution to the static problem also proves to be a deliberate design: bull’s heads are often used in ancient architecture, mostly on religious buildings, as the bull is a popular sacrificial animal.

The large number of bull’s head capitals marks the interior of the basilica as a religious place, probably for the cultic worship of the Roman emperor. On the other hand, it also enhances other activities that took place in the building.

These examples show that aesthetic design of commercial architecture is not a modern invention but can be traced back to antiquity. This is how ancient shopping malls can be clearly distinguished from other types of buildings – their aesthetics offers both a special atmosphere and social meeting places. They combine various functions into one building and thus make a simple shopping trip an experience that stimulates all the senses.