Baked bread to the people”

Bread distribution and social and political networks at Pompeii

Bibliographic Data

ID12372484
AuthorsSteven L Tuck (0009-0004-4188-5084, Miami University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume36
Issue2
Pages519-531
Publication date2023-11-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Roman Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1047-7594 • E-ISSN: 2331-5709
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1047759423000429
OpenAlexW4388910515
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

In 2017, archaeologists at Pompeii discovered by far the longest tomb inscription ever found at the city on a monumental tomb. This elogium provided insight into many aspects of the city's social, economic, and political world. One clause attests to the distribution of baked bread in the city. This note argues that the passage provides new evidence from Pompeii that answers two longstanding questions. The first is that of the subject of an often-reproduced Pompeian fresco. The identity of the main figure in the painting is debated: either a baker or a politician. The second is the status, political rank, and network of the owner of the property on which the fresco was discovered. Supported by the evidence of an electoral programma , the painting and inscription illuminate the mechanics of beneficence at Pompeii and serve to identify the residence of someone who operated in the political networks of the 1st-c. CE city at a sub-elite level

Aesthetics · Art · Elite · Fresco · Identity (music · Painting · Political science · Politics · Residence · Sociology · Subject (documents · Visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Law

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access