- Shopping and Markets in Ancient Rome

Catalog description

Evidence from ancient Rome suggests that a sophisticated retail system developed in urban centers during the Republic so that by the Early Imperial period, many Roman towns were characterized by busy commercial streets and districts where people consumed time and space alongside ready-made goods and services. The shop became a place of leisure and a locus of sociability where status and identity were forged, negotiated, and performed. It also became a potentially subversive space where information was exchanged, and status and power could be challenged and temporarily overturned. This course explores the questions of where, how, and why ancient Romans shopped. focusing on such important aspects as: distribution networks, the evolution of the retail trade, Roman attitudes toward various forms of retailing, analysis of commercial art and architecture, evidence for marketing strategies, shopping behaviors, and consumption practices.