Officinae Atticae
About
Athens became one of the Roman world's three major sarcophagus-exporting centers, its workshops carving Pentelic marble coffins shipped across the eastern Mediterranean. But the dating is unambiguous: surviving Attic sarcophagi run from roughly 130 to 260 CE, with output really taking off only after 200 CE. In 117 CE this industry had not yet started. Athens under Trajan still cremated its dead, a full generation before its famous sarcophagus workshops carved their first pieces.
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 →