Description of the Macellum (Reg VII, Ins 9, 7/8, 19, 42)

The Macellum, or food market, stands in the north-east corner of the Forum. The complex, built in the imperial age as a covered market, had a large number of shops on its periphery on the Via degli Augustali and on the Forum as well as on the inside under a colonnade around its large internal court. .. .. .. The Macellum had three entrances, (B), (I) and (J) as indicated on the accompanying plan. The main entrance (B) was divided into two passageways by an aedicule set in the centre (pictured right), containing a statue of a member of the Imperial family. .. .. .. .. Three rooms line the east wall of the court. The central room (E) (pictured below and right) was dedicated to the worship of the imperial family. The floor is raised above the rest of the building and it is accessed by a flight of five steps leading up from the rear of the colonnade. On a pedestal against the rear wall, and in four niches at the sides, were statues, of which only the two in the niches on the south wall have been found; they represent Octavia, the sister of Augustus and Marcellus, Octavia's son. .. .. Behind the colonnade on the south side of the court was a row of market stalls or small shops. Above these were upper rooms fronted by a wooden gallery, but access must have been by ladder as no steps have been found. The entrance (J) on the south side of the complex (pictured right) contains a small niche on the left hand wall under which two serpents were painted. This shrine was probably dedicated to the presiding divinity of the building, the Genius Macelli.

.. Along the east side of the Forum was a portico (A) consisting of two orders of white marble columns, one above the other, supporting a roof. Fragments of the Corinthian columns belonging to the lower order and of the well proportioned intermediate entablature have been preserved (pictured left). Statues stood at the foot of the columns and at the ends of the party walls between the shops at the rear of the portico. .. Because the Macellum lies at an angle to the axis of the Forum the shops lining the Forum decrease in depth from north to south so that the depth of the portico remains constant. The room at the extreme south, being so shallow that it could not be used as a shop, was made into a shrine. .. .. The internal court, measuring 37 x 27 metres, was surrounded by a deep colonnade (C). In its centre 12 columns (pictured left) supported a roof shading a rectangular basin from which a covered drain led to the southeast corner of the complex. Under this roof fish that had been sold were scaled, the scales being thrown into the basin where they were found in large numbers. A reconstruction of the court and its central rotunda (H) is pictured left. .. The walls of the colonnade were decorated in the fourth style. The decoration consists of large black panels framed by a broad red border (pictured left) above a lower decorative frieze. Between each framed panel are architectural themes in yellow, green and red on a white ground. Along the edges of the black panels run conventional plant designs while in the centre are mythological scenes alternating with floating figures. Among the mythological scenes are pictures of Ulysses before Penelope, Io guarded by Argus and Medea plotting the murder of her children. .. The remains of several sheep were found in the small room or pen (G) at the north east corner of the court. Such animals would presumably be sold alive so that they could be sacrificed as an offering to the household gods before being used as food. .. .. To the right of the imperial shrine, in the south east corner of the court, is a large market room (D) (pictured lower left). The entrance is divided into three by the presence of two columns. Along three sides of the room runs a counter which was used for the sale of meat and fish. The left hand counter appears to have been used for the sale of fish due to the arrangements for carrying off water; the floor behind the counter is raised and slopes to the rear from where a connecting gutter leads under the counter on the south side out into the street. .. The room (F) to the north of the imperial shrine, like the room to the south, has a wide entrance split into three by two columns (pictured bottom left). The room contains an unusual low altar, which according to August Mau was used for the offerings of drink, while the room itself was used for sacrificial banquets. In this room were found two pictures containing cupids. In one they were shown drinking wine and playing the lyre while in the other engaged in acts of worship.