Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Archaeologists Stumble On Brickworks Of Ancient Rome
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 10-2-2005 | Nick Pisa

Posted on 10/01/2005 6:15:47 PM PDT by blam

Archaeologists stumble on brickworks of ancient Rome

By Nick Pisa in Rome
(Filed: 02/10/2005)

Two thousand years ago its furnaces must have been working around the clock, turning out the bricks that built ancient Rome.

Now archaeologists have discovered the site of the brickworks that provided Rome with its most famous monuments, including the Colosseum and the Pantheon.

One of the inscribed bricks used to build the Colosseum in Rome

It lay 50 miles north of Rome, near the village of Bomarzo and close to the Tiber - enabling the red bricks to be loaded onto boats and transported down river. Archaeologists already knew from stamps on the Colosseum and Pantheon bricks that they were made by two brothers, Tullus and Lucanus Domitius.

The Domitius family were well-connected Roman nobles. A descendant, Domitia Lucilla Minor, was the mother of the future emperor Marcus Aurelius, who later inherited the brickworks.

Evidence linking the brothers to the furnaces was found at the archaeological dig in a Latin inscription on the road leading to the brickworks. "Iter privatum duorum Domitiorum," it read. "The private road of the two Domitii."

Two furnaces have been uncovered, in addition to thousands of bricks and floor and roof tiles, complete with the brothers' half-moon imprint.

Prof Tizano Gasperoni, an archaeologist based at the nearby Tuscia University, said: "The find is particularly important as it is the first brickworks uncovered known to have provided material for ancient Rome's most famous buildings.

"We know the brothers supplied the bricks for grand structures such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Market of Trajan.

"We have only just scratched the surface of the site and work is still continuing. We stumbled across it completely by accident while researching another project and it is a very exciting find."

Under Roman law, brickmakers had to stamp their product so that they could be held liable for the quality of buildings. The Domitius brothers' bricks also bear the name of the man responsible for the kiln, Titus Greius Ianuarius.

The works also turned out doli - terracotta containers for wine or olive oil. Prof Gasperoni said that the brothers were busy exporters. "Doli with the Domitius mark have been found all over the Mediterranean, particularly in France, Spain and north Africa.

"The brickworks operated over two sites. It seems to have been a hugely successful enterprise which ran from the first century AD right though until the fifth century.

"Crucially it was also close to the River Tiber where the bricks were loaded onto barges and carried to Rome. Others went to the port of Ostia to be taken elsewhere in the Roman Empire."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ancient; ancientrome; archaeologists; brickworks; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; on; rome; stumble

1 posted on 10/01/2005 6:15:49 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 10/01/2005 6:16:19 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

thank you very much for this post


3 posted on 10/01/2005 7:50:45 PM PDT by Flavius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach
Thanks Blam. I think this has been posted before? I'll take another look, I've turned up nothing about it so far.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

4 posted on 10/01/2005 9:03:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated by FR profile on Sunday, August 14, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

The Domitii Mark -- Rome's Greatest Brickmakers Identified
Discovery News | August 9, 2005 | Rossella Lorenzi
Posted on 08/10/2005 9:28:18 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1460596/posts


5 posted on 10/01/2005 9:10:16 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated by FR profile on Sunday, August 14, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
"The Domitii Mark -- Rome's Greatest Brickmakers Identified.

The Telegraph is a little late with the news, huh?

6 posted on 10/01/2005 9:30:33 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: blam

String got wet. :')


7 posted on 10/01/2005 10:34:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated by FR profile on Sunday, August 14, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson