The temporary exhibition is open until 31 October
In Roman towns like Aquincum shops and workshops along the streets were defining features of the cityscape. “The audacious shopkeepers had seized Rome” wrote the poet Martial, implying that there once was a time when shops, taverns and workshops completely overran the Eternal City. Fortunately there are many visual as well as written sources and of course a vast number of archaeological remains and ruins (primarily from Rome and Pompeii) to tell us about Roman commerce and crafts.
It was no different in the Aquincum Civil Town, where – as precursors of modern shopping centres – endless rows of shops lined the main roads. Shops and workshops also operated on the ground floor of houses facing the street and the town even had a dedicated market hall. The exhibition introduces visitors to these buildings and the archaeological finds from them. Visitors can also browse the wares of a Roman vendor.
What did they sell in such shops? What was it like to be a Roman tanner or money changer? What laws regulated commerce in the Roman Empire? Were there customs duties and taxes? How did Aquincum residents cope with the often unpleasant odours emanating from the workshops in the crowded town? The exhibition answers these questions and more, evoking daily life in Aquincum with colourful visual reconstructions, furnished shops and archaeological finds.
The exhibition can be visited from 4 May until 31 October 2018
