1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910468231803321

Autore

Benton Jared T.

Titolo

The Bread Makers : The Social and Professional Lives of Bakers in the Western Roman Empire / / by Jared T. Benton

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2020

ISBN

9783030466046

3030466043

Edizione

[1st ed. 2020.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XIII, 216 p. 47 illus.)

Disciplina

937.09

Soggetti

Economic history

Europe - History - To 476

Ethnology

Industrial organization

Economic History

History of Ancient Europe

Sociocultural Anthropology

Industrial Organization

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction: ChaƮnes OpƩratoires and the Making of Roman Bread -- 2. Baking as Cultural Heritage: Regional Variation in the Roman Production of Bread -- 3. Modes of Production: Bakeries as Factories and Workshops -- 4 Experiencing the Bakery: Training, Status, Labor, and Exploitation -- 5. Voluntary Associations and Collectivity: A View from the East and the West -- 6. Crafting an Image -- 7. Conclusion: The Question of the Roman Middle Class.

Sommario/riassunto

Bread was the staple of the ancient Mediterranean diet. It was present in the meals of emperors and on the tables of the poorest households. In many instances, a loaf of bread probably constituted an entire meal. As such, bread was both something that unified society and a milieu through which social and ethnic divisions played out. Similarly, bakers were not a monolithic demographic. They served both the rich and the poor, but some bakers clearly operated within regional traditions. Some



lived in big cities and others lived in small towns. Some bakers made flat breads and others made leavened loaves. Some made coarse brown loaves and others specialized in fancier white breads. This book offers new methods and new ways of framing bread production in the Roman world to reveal the nuances of an industry that fed an empire. Inscriptions, Roman law, and material remains of Roman-period bakeries are combined to expose the cultural context of bread making, the economic context of commercialbaking, the social hierarchy within the workforces of bakeries, and the socio-economic strategies of Roman bakers.