Macellum of Bulla Regia

About

Bulla Regia's covered market measured just 12 by 13 meters yet packed in a dozen shop stalls, six facing north and six south around a portico. Builders raised it in the third century, giving the town a dedicated food market separate from the open forum. An apse on one side likely held a shrine or the market office. Trajan had been dead for more than a century when the first stallholder set up here.

What happened here

Trade is regulated and everyone is aware of it. Weights and measures are checked against the standards kept by the aediles, and short measure gets you fined and named. Stalls are arranged by trade, with the fish and meat kept to one side and downwind where the town has any choice. Prices swing with the shipping season and are shouted rather than displayed. Much of the meat on sale has come from a sacrifice, so the religious calendar shows up in the supply. Slaves buying for a household argue harder than their owners would. The upper floors, where there are any, are offices and storage let by the town for rent. It opens at dawn and the good produce is gone by mid-morning.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Bulla Regia

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