In a city as large as Pompeii, all the occupations corresponding to the needs of daily life must have been represented. The remains of the appliances and products of labor are of the most varied character, sometimes far from satisfactory, raising more difficulties than they solve; yet often revealing at a glance the ancient methods of work, and casting light upon the economic background of Greek and Roman culture. The excavations have brought before us three sources of information, inscriptions, paintings, and the remains of buildings or rooms used as workshops.
The inscriptions refer to more than a score of occupations; from farming to innkeeping, and from hairdressing to goldworking. Most of them are election notices, in which the members of a craft unite, or are exhorted to unite, in recommending a certain candidate for a municipal office. These are painted in red letters on the walls along the streets, and are much alike, though some are fuller than others. The simplest form contains only three words, as Trebium aed. tonsores,—'The barbers recommend Trebius for the office of aedile.' The more elaborate recommendations may be illustrated by the following: Verum aed. o. v. f. (for aedilem, oro vos, facite), unguentari, facite, rog[o],—'Do make Verus aedile, perfumers, elect him, I beg of you.' The whole craft of goldsmiths favored the election of Pansa: C. Cuspium Pansam aed. aurifices universi rog[ant],—'All the goldsmiths recommend Gaius Cuspius Pansa for the aedileship.'
The recommendations of the fruit sellers are particularly conspicuous. On one occasion they joined with a prominent individual in the support of a ticket: M. Holconium Priscum II vir. i. d. pomari universi cum Helvio Vestale rog.,—'All the fruit sellers, together with Helvius Vestalis, urge the election of M. Holconius Priscus as duumvir with judiciary authority.' There may have been some special reason why the fruiterers wished to keep in favor with the city authorities, and so took an active part in the elections; the dealers in garlic (aliari) also had a candidate.
Among the representatives of other employments that joined in the support of candidates were the dyers (offectores), cloak-cutters (sagarii), pack-carriers (saccarii), mule-drivers (muliones), and fishermen (piscicapi). The inscription in which reference is made to the gig-drivers is mentioned elsewhere ([p. 243]).
The paintings in which we see work going on are numerous. By far the most pleasing are those in which the workmen are Cupids, busying themselves with the affairs of men. Several pictures of this kind have already been described ([pp. 97], [332]-[337]); but we ought to add to those mentioned two scenes from Herculaneum, often reproduced, in which Cupids are represented as carpenters and as shoemakers.
Among the more important paintings in which the figures of men appear are those which picture the life of an inn and those that present the processes of cleaning cloth; both groups are reserved for later discussion. In a house in the ninth Region (IX. v. 9) a stuccoer is pictured at work putting the finishing touches on a wall with a smoothing tool, and in the house of the Surgeon an artist is seen painting a herm ([Fig. 133]).
In only a few instances are the remains of workshops sufficiently characteristic to indicate their purpose. Among the most impressive, to the visitor at Pompeii, are the ruins of the bakeries, with their large millstones ([Fig. 218]). Equally important, also, are the remains of the fulleries, and of a large tannery, which, as well as those of the inns and winerooms, will be discussed in separate chapters.
A few out of the hundreds of shops opening on the streets contain remains of the articles exposed for sale. The discovery of charred nuts, fruits, and loaves of bread in the market stalls north of the Macellum has already been noted ([p. 96]). We know the use of other shops from the remains of paints found in them. The arrangements of such places of business were discussed in connection with those of the Pompeian house.
Several establishments which contain large lead kettles set in masonry, with a place for a fire underneath, have been identified as dyehouses. In the case of one on Stabian Street (VII. ii. 11), the identification seems complete. Nine such kettles stood in the peristyle, which has a direct connection with the street; in a closet were numerous bottles, part of which contained coloring materials. There was formerly a painting on the wall of the entrance, representing a man carrying on a pole an object which had the appearance of a garment fresh from the dye.