Panel 3.24 – Quantifying Ancient building economy


Organisation/Vorsitz:

  • Cathalin Recko (University of Cologne)
  • Michael Heinzelmann (University of Cologne)

Externer Diskutant:

  • Michael Galaty (University of Michigan)

Panel abstract

In recent years, the study of ancient construction has focused more and more on setting the different aspects of building into an economic framework. Not only construction processes and the organization of building sites are now examined in more detail, but also the quantification of building materials, labour-time and number of employed workmen (skilled and unskilled) are receiving increasing attention due to their potential to shed light on the scale of a building project and its impact on the overall economy. The goal of this panel is to bring together different approaches to the study of building economy, ideally from a wide range of chronological contexts.

Paper abstracts

1. Simon Barker (Norwegian Institute in Rome) / Ben Russell (University of Edinburgh)

Historical sources, labour figures and ancient stone working costs
There can be little doubt that huge amounts of time and labour were needed for architectural stone-work in ancient building projects – but what can we say about the cost? Occasionally costs are preserved, but this is rare, making any comparison difficult. One response to this problem, of course, is to think of cost not as a monetary figure but in terms of labour input expressed in man-hours. The barrier, however, is the lack of recorded labour figures for construction in the Roman world.
To-date, research on the economics of ancient building has made use of 19th-c. building manuals. In a 2009 paper, delivered in Paris, the present authors sought to check the validity of figures for ancient Roman stone-working calculated from 19th-c. building manuals. Through the use of pre-industrial documentary evidence and testimonies from modern stone masons, we reaffirmed the utility of such analyses of the economic implications of Roman stone-working.
This paper will provide further insight into the economics of stone-working practices during the Roman period through the further use of 19th-c. manuals. It will demonstrate their potential application to look at the ‘cost’ and economic implications of different types of architectural stonework. This will be accomplished by examining the labour differentials of various types of stonework from walling to detailed carving, in order to establish ratios of cost and therefore the economic repercussions of different architectural stone.

"Historical Sources, Labour Figures and Ancient Stone Working Costs" (Fulltext)

 

2. Monika Trümper (FU Berlin)

Quantifying Remodeling Processes: The Republican and Stabian Baths in Pompeii
The Republican Baths and the Stabian Baths in Pompeii were built in the 2nd half of the 2nd c BC and both remodeled several times before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. While the Stabian Baths were continuously used as publicly owned and operated baths, the Republican Baths were replaced by private residential structures in the early Imperial period. The aim of this paper is to focus on the most significant of these remodeling processes and to analyze and quantify the logistics, time, and work force that they may have entailed. Identification and assessment of major changes in these buildings is based on fieldwork carried out between 2015 and 2018 (project EXC Topoi C-6-8). Hence, the Stabian Baths saw a major expansion and modernization of technology after AD 62, whereas the most extensive remodeling of the Republican Baths was the transformation into a domestic garden peristyle around 30-20 BC. With the help of 3D models it will be demonstrated which parts of the buildings had to be destroyed, how destruction debris could have been managed (reused or removed), which parts were newly built or rebuilt, and which efforts, material, and means this did require. Visual and numeric modeling will allow for assessing the scale of the remodeling projects, and for identifying possible differences between private and public construction enterprises.

"Logistics of Building Processes: The Stabian Baths in Pompeii" (Fulltext)

 

3. Cathalin Recko (Universität zu Köln)

The construction of Pompeii’s sacred buildings and their role within the local building industry
The concept of estimating labour and material requirements for Ancient construction and their important role in economics are well established by now. However, the detailed study of multiple buildings as opposed to individual ones, opens an even wider field of possible research questions. The comparison of quantified material and labour for different buildings from the same city allows a more distinguished evaluation of each building's significance and economic standing within the built environment of the city.
In this paper, the sacred buildings of Pompeii serve as a case study to show how buildings with the same function compare with each other regarding the choice of materials, their specific use, and the labour they required. Furthermore, the buildings and structures will be embedded in the local construction industry and its traditions.

"The Construction of Pompeii’s Sacred Buildings and their Role within the Local Building Industry" (Fulltext)

 

4. Silke Müth (The National Museum of Denmark) / Jean-Claude Bessac (CNRS)

Economical challenges of building a Geländemauer in the middle of the 4th c. BC: The city wall of Messene as an example
The city wall of Messene, a 'Gelaendemauer' of 9 km length, belonged to the strongest of its kind in the 4th c. BC and now represents one of the best preserved Greek fortifications. It protected not only the large new capital of the Messenians, but also a vast space of arable land. Moreover, Messene’s enceinte included highly representative aspects which turned it into a monumental symbol of the city’s new freedom and independence. All these superlatives raise, however, questions about the necessary means (material, workforce, time and funds) to achieve such a huge monument and about the economical challenges this implicated for its builders – questions that have been addressed by the authors while investigating this city wall in a four years’ field project.
The proposed contribution will analyse the economical background of different choices the builders made concerning building materials, quarries, ways of transport, construction techniques and masonry forms, and it will investigate the workforce, time, amount of material and funds used for the erection of towers and curtains, by using results of experimental archaeology amongst others. In this way it will become clear on the one hand that the shape of Messene’s fortification is much more influenced by economical decisions than hitherto suspected, which is also valid for many other city walls, and on the other hand the economic challenges a city wall in general represented for its community will be appraised.

"Economic Challenges of Building a Geländemauer in the Middle of the 4th century BC: Quantifying the City Wall of Messene" (Fulltext)

 

5. Seth Bernard (University of Toronto)

The Energetics of Polygonal Masonry: Building the Colonial Walls of Cosa
This paper presents the results of a project to study and model the building techniques and labor costs of the walls of Cosa, the Latin colony founded in 272 BCE. Not only is this the first such analysis of Italian polygonal masonry, but an understanding of the labor costs of Cosa's walls has the potential to inform several historical debates. After much revisionist work on Cosan archaeology, the walls remain one of the few major monuments dated to the colony’s earliest years. Viewed in socioeconomic terms, the walls' building process forms singularly direct evidence of the early colonist's economic capacities. Furthermore, the 1.5 km circuit is perhaps the best-preserved example of Italian polygonal masonry outside Latium. Otherwise rare in Etruria, most other polygonal walls (Orbetello, Populonia, Pyrgi, Saturnia) postdate and even relate to Cosa’s walls. The connection between a Latin building technology and Cosa’s status as colonia Latina appears significant, and the walls thus offer evidence about the circulation of building techniques around Hellenistic Italy.
Energetics modeling of Cosa’s polygonal masonry presents different challenges than serial techniques such as brickwork or ashlar. However, close technical study shows a systematic logic supportive of such analysis. The paper quantifies the labor costs of the walls' chaine operatoire based on early-modern comparanda and mathematical analysis relying on photogrammetry and field survey undertaken by the author.

"The Energetics of Polygonal Masonry: Building Cosa’s Walls" (Fulltext)

 

6. Steffen Oraschewski (Universität zu Köln)

Ancient working processes and efforts considering large-scale constructions made of timber in Rome
Among the greatest achievements of the Romans are their efforts in building and engineering. Remains of Roman architecture throughout the Mediterranean and beyond bear witness to this fact until today. In the present project Roman building and construction techniques will be examined from an economic point of view. The main questions are the quantities of each material used for a specific monument, the work employed and an estimation of the number of workers needed to create such large-scale projects.
In my work, I treat some of the greatest buildings Rome has ever produced. Imperial architecture in Rome stands out both for its dimensions and very much for the splendour of its decorations, too. And yet there is a big quantity of material used by Romans for monumental buildings which do not get the same amount of attention as others. A prime example of this kind of material is timber, due to its general lack of conservation. In my paper, I try to zoom in on the use of this material in large-scale buildings, presenting my work using the examples of the roof truss of the Basilica Ulpia in the forum of Trajan and the so-called 'Porticus' at the topmost floor of the Colosseum. I am very aware of the fact that my proposals of reconstruction can only be considered as one way to revive the characteristics of these important architectonic elements in some of the most famous buildings dating to ancient times.

"Ancient Working Processes and Efforts Considering Large-Scale Constructions Made of Timber in Rome" (Fulltext)

 

7. Ana Portillo Gómez und Manuel Dionisio Ruiz Bueno (Universidad de Córdoba)

Considerations about the costs of the polychrome decoration and the constructive materials of the temple of Divus Augustus at Colonia Patricia (Córdoba, Spain)
Our proposal is focused on the valuation of the pictorial materials used in the decoration of the colossal temple that dominated the provincial forum of the capital of Baetica, as well as on the typology of the imported and regional materials used in this building. Our aim is to evaluate the factors that contribute in the use of polychomy and its direct consequences in the economy of the building costs which fluctuate according to the origin and nature of the pigments used. We will take into account the use of other materials for the decoration of the temple of Divus Augustus at Córdoba, such as the gold-coloured painting of some architectonical elements, which increased the final cost and the value of the building. In relation to the construction materials used in the temple of Divus Augustus, we will study other features which increased the cost of the building, such as their typology and origin, or the number and type of services required, that is, the volume of the materials needed, the extraction of the stone from the quarry, the rough down of the pieces, its transportation, the carving work by specialized workers. Taking the temple of Divus Augustus of Colonia Patricia into consideration, we would like to bring new ideas to this discussion. Our main goal is to provide new information about the final steps of the building process of these monumental constructions, the color application and its cost.

"Considerations about the Cost of the Polychrome Decoration and the Constructive Materials of the Temple of Divus Augustus at Colonia Patricia" (Fulltext)