Red-figured fish plates of the 5th century BCE

Throughout my travels to various museums around the world I have often encountered red-figured fish plates. First developed in Athens, these beautifully detailed serving pieces became especially popular in South Italy and Sicily in the 400s BCE. I stumbled across this excellent video about them and learned that fish plates produced in Magna Graecia were usually more colorful with white accents and the fish are portrayed with their bellies facing inwards towards the small central depression that is thought to have contained dipping sauce like garum. Fish on plates produced in Athens are painted with their bellies facing outwards. I thought this is quite a peculiar style difference. 

There also seems to be disagreement among scholars as to whether these plates were actually used in everyday life or produced for funerary purposes only, as almost all of the 1,000 examples that have been recovered came from ancient burials. Art historian Lucas Livingston points out that many of the recovered examples have a crack in the bottom of the dipping well produced during firing. This would indicate many of the plates were never actually used in the way they are designed.

You can see dozens of examples here:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ancient+Greek+fish+plates+in+art&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=ancient+greek+fish+plates+in+art&sc=0-32&cvid=B677B9B0A24547C0B59A1F1E97C1E345&first=1&tsc=ImageHoverTitle

As producer of the Ancient Art Podcast, Livingston, who has worked at the Art Institute of Chicago since 2002, has a number of other ancient video lessons available on YouTube including a discussion of Hadrian and Antinous, Medusa, the Roman Lycurgus Cup, Cleopatra's ethnic origins, and ancient astronomy.

 

 

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Fish and Fishing in the Roman World

In her paper, "Fish and Fishing in the Roman World," Annalisa Marzano of the University of Reading observes:

"On the whole, fishermen in antiquity had a low social status and although fishing could be the topic of literary works, of mosaics in elite dwellings, and a recreational activity, the ordinary men who engaged in large-scale fishing and supplied the many fish-salting establishments of the Roman world remain almost invisible. It seems very likely that the same individuals engaged both in fishing and salting the fish, but to date we do not have definite evidence. There are only few surviving attestations of groups of fishermen from the Roman Mediterranean. Some clearly refer to proper collegia, which seemed to have worked in collaboration with the fishmongers, who sold only fresh fish. Others were business partnerships (societates) formed in order to operate large-scale fishing, and, possibly, also fish-salting operations."

Sought after fish that could command high prices were large specimens of bass, sea bream, mullet, and gilthead while anchovies and smaller fish species were considered affordable by people of modest means. Marine fish was, generally, more sought after than freshwater fish and, in terms of status and monetary value, fresh fish was superior to preserved fish. In a meal consisting of more than one dish, preserved fish was mainly consumed as appetiser, while fresh fish could be either the main dish or, especially for small types of fish, also feature among the appetisers.

Of course location played an important role in whether fresh fish was readily available or preserved fish was more often part of a Roman's meal.   Sewer analysis from Herculaneum, primarily a port city, indicate consumption of fresh seafood across social strata. However, for inland agricultural laborers, Marcus Aurelius in a letter to his friend Fronto points out that, at least on one of his imperial estates,  small preserved sardines, boiled beans, and onions were the foods eaten by the agricultural laborers.  Salted fish was also served to ship crews, as attested to in an excavation of sixty small vessels in the Rhône at Arles, and to the Roman army.

Culinary "fashion" also changed over time. During the Republican period, a sturgeon was prized because it was a non-Mediterranean species. It subsequently went out of fashion for a time until it was once more considered worthy of an emperor's table.  The social value of fish as a gift also seemed to be disputable. Martial ridicules a social climber named Papylus, who tries to impress people by sending gifts of fresh mullets and oysters, while he dines on much simpler fare at home.  In contrast, a military verteran named Tiberius Bellenus Gemellus selected a gift of fresh fish and one artaba (about 27 liters) of olives for an Egyptian official whose favor he wished to gain.

To read more of Marzano's paper that appeared in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11457-018-9195-1

Image:  Bollard with a Fisherman, early 5th century CE, Late Roman or Byzantine, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This young fisherman, wearing a tunic and boots, stands before a weighted bollard, used to tie large boats to a wharf. With a net cast over his shoulder, he holds a rudder in his left hand. The cleat itself, used to secure a line from a boat, is formed by two fingers protruding from the bollard. Image courtesy of the museum (digitally enhanced).

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The beautiful mosaics of Empúries

Empúries was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain.  Meaning "trading place", the city was founded in 575 BCE by Greek colonists from Phocaea on a small island at the mouth of the river Fluvià. About 550 BCE the inhabitants moved to the mainland.  After the conquest of Phocaea by the Persian king Cyrus II in 530 BCE, the city's population increased considerably through the influx of refugees. Situated as it was on the coastal commercial route between Massalia (Marseille) and Tartessos in the far south of Hispania, the city developed into a large economic and commercial centre as well as being the largest Greek colony in the Iberian Peninsula.  During the Punic Wars, Empúries allied itself with Rome, and Publius Cornelius Scipio initiated the conquest of Hispania from this city in 218 BCE. After the conquest of Hispania by the Romans, Empúries remained an independent city-state until it sided with Pompey during the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar. After Pompey's  defeat it was stripped of its autonomy and colonia of Roman veterans was established near Indika to control the region. In the third century the Greek portion of the town was abandoned since it had been eclipsed by Tarraco (Tarragona) and Barcino (Barcelona), although the Roman town survived as a mint and ceremonial center until the Viking raids of the mid-9th century.

Mosaic depicting the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, Roman, 1st century BCE

Mosaic depicting a theatrical tragic mask from the bedroom of House 1 in Empúries, photographed by Mary Harrsch

Mosaic depicting a partridge taking jewels out of a basket from a bedroom in house number 1, 1st century BCE in Empúries photographed by Mary Harrsch

Detail of Marine mosaic from Empúries at the National Archaeological Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona by Ophelia2

Geometic floor pavement in the Roman quarter of Empúries courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor HJPD.

Marine mosaic from Empúries at the National Archaeological Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona by Ophelia2

Star mosaic  in the Roman quarter is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Olga Gairin

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