Officinae Aphrodisienses
About
Aphrodisias already had a thriving marble-sculpture export trade by 117 CE, with signed work by its sculptors turning up in Rome, Greece, and Africa on the strength of local quarries and a renowned sculpture school. Its columnar sarcophagi, an architectural facade with figures between the columns, are a later specialty documented from the 2nd century, with nearby Goktepe marble spreading Mediterranean-wide only from the mid-2nd century. In 117 CE it stood on the edge of its own sarcophagus boom.
What happened here
Blocks arrive rough from the quarry, already roughed into a box shape to save weight on the journey. Here the surface is finished to order: a name and dates left blank for the buyer to fill in later, a scene picked from a pattern book — a myth, a hunt, a wedding, a battle — carved deep enough to hold shadow from across a room. Journeymen block out the figures and the master carver finishes the faces last, since a bad face ruins the whole piece. Workshops keep stock pieces half-finished for a quick sale and take custom orders from families who can wait and pay more. A finished chest goes out by cart or ship, sometimes to a buyer a thousand miles away who never sees the workshop at all.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →