Roman Woodworking ROMAN Woodworking Roger B. Ulrich yale university press New Haven and London Published with assistance from the office of the Dean of the Faculty, Dartmouth College. Copyright © 2007 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Set in Quadraat by Tseng Information Systems, Inc., Durham, North Carolina. Designed by Gregg Chase. Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ulrich, Roger Bradley. Roman woodworking / Roger B. Ulrich p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-300-10341-0 (alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-300-10341-7 (alk. paper) 1. Building, Wooden—Rome. 2. Carpentry—History—To 1500. 3. Woodwork—Rome. 4. Rome—Antiquities. I. Title. th1111.u47 2006 684'.080937—dc22 2006003784 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10987654321 For Imogen Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations of Ancient Sources xi 1. Introduction 1 2. The Roman Woodworker 6 3. The Tools of the Trade 13 4. Joints 59 5. Foundations 72 6. Framing and Walls 90 7. Wooden Flooring 111 8. Roofing and Ceilings 123 9. Interior Woodwork 178 10. Wheels 202 11. Furniture and Veneers 213 12. Classification of Trees and Species of Timber Used by Roman Woodworkers 239 13. The Forests of Italy 263 Glossary of Roman Woodworking Terms 269 Appendix: Roman Woodworking Tools 337 Notes 349 Bibliography 353 Index 365 Acknowledgments Over the past ten years I have benefited from many conversations with profes- sional colleagues, museum curators, librarians, craftsmen, and students on the topics of ancient and modern woodworking. My first study season in 1994 was immensely boosted with the kind permission of Stefano de Caro and his staff at the Museo Nazio- nale of Naples, which allowed me to examine iron and bronze tools from Pompeii stored at the museum. In that same year I was permitted to study traces of wood in buildings from Pompeii and Herculaneum by the Soprintendente of Pompeii, Baldas- sare Conticello. Similar access was granted to me by the Soprintendente of Ostia, Anna Gallina Zevi. The initial results of the fieldwork in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Ostia were published in 1996 with the encouragement and support of Fred Kleiner, at that time editor of the American Journal of Archaeology. A highlight of a tour of collections in Britain in 1995 was an invitation to exam- ine the Roman tools held in the Verulamium Museum, under the stewardship of the Keeper of Archaeology, Vivienne Holgate. Shortly thereafter Francis Grew of the Mu- seum of London graciously shared his office with me for a day, where I was able to study many Roman woodworking tools in near-pristine condition discovered in London. In 1999, additional work on carbonized doors and furniture was undertaken at Hercula- neum with the permission of Conticello’s successor, Soprintendente Pietro Giovanni Guzzo. My time at the site included a visit to the storerooms at Herculaneum to exam- ine the singular pieces of carbonized furniture conserved there; these were published that same year in a comprehensive study by Stefan Mols, who would later allow me to include some of his drawings and photographs in the present volume. I would also like to express gratitude to Christina Huemer and the staff of the library of the American Academy in Rome, and to the staff of the archaeological section of the Biblioteca del Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, Italy, as well as to Reinhart Sonnenburg and other reference librarians at Baker-Berry Library at my home insti- tution of Dartmouth College, the last for accommodating near-daily interlibrary loan requests for the better part of two years. Thanks are due as well to Alessandro Bettagno of the Instituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte; Robin Birley of the Vindolanda Trust; Edward Bradley; ix acknowledgments Francesco Buranelli of the Vatican Museums; Andrea Bussmann of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn; Enrico Cavada; Gill Clark of the British School at Rome (London office); John Clarke; Angelica Condrau of the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum; Fran- cesca DeSimone; Sylvia Diebner of the Fototeca of the Deutsches Archäologisches Insti- tut in Rome; Norman Doenges; Omar Foelsche and Susan Bibeau of Humanities Com- puting at Dartmouth; Brad Goedkoop of Kingfisher Woodworks; M. Cristina Guidotti of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana; Kathy Hart of the Hood Museum; Hugh Kilmister of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology; Joan Mertens of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Bethan Mogford of the British Museum; John Ole- son; Lorenza Mochi Onori of the Soprintendenza per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico e Demoetnoantropologico delle Marche; James Packer; Norm Roberson; Paola Rubino and Valeria Sampaolo of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici delle province di Napoli e Caserta; Susan Simon of Curricular Computing at Dartmouth; Anna Mura Sommella of the Musei Capitolini, Rome; Roberta Stewart; and Elizabeth Sullivan. I am grateful to Harry Haskell, Keith Condon, Lawrence Kenney, and the rest of the editorial staff of Yale University Press for the support they have shown for this project. Rabun Taylor evaluated the manuscript for the press and offered many valuable suggestions. Finally, I would like to thank the office of the Dean of the Faculty of Dart- mouth College, the Petitt Family Fellowship, and especially the Associate Dean of the Humanities, Lenore Grenoble, for offering financial support to underwrite the publi- cation costs of this book. x Abbreviations of Ancient Sources Apul. Apuleius, poet, philosopher, and (De Re) Rust(ica), De Arboribus, ca. rhetorician, born ca. a.d. 123 a.d. 60–65 Fl(orida), Met(amorphoses), (De) English: Columella Mun(do) English: Apuleius Curt. Q. Curtius Rufus, rhetorician, historian, first century a.d. Arn. Arnobius (of Sicca), Christian Historiae Alexandri Magni convert, third century English: Curtius Adversus Nationes English: Arnobius Dio Cassius Dio Cocceianus, historian, ca. a.d. 150–235 Caes. C. Iulius Caesar, consul, general, English: Dio dictator, 100–44 b.c. (De) B(ello) Civ(ili), (De) B(ello) Gall(ico), Enn. Q. Ennius, poet and playwright, mid–first century b.c. 239–169 b.c. English: Julius Caesar or simply Ann(ales), scenica Caesar English: Ennius Cato M. Porcius Cato, consul, censor, Fest. Sextus Pompeius Festus, lexicogra- 234–149 b.c. pher, late second century (De Re) Rust(ica)(=De Agri Cultura), De verborum significatu cum Pauli ca. 160 b.c. Epitome, Lindsay edition English: Cato English: Festus Cat. C. Valerius Catullus, poet, ca. 84– Gaius Gaius, Roman jurist, second century 54 b.c. Dig(est) English: Catullus English: Gaius Cic. M. Tullius Cicero, statesman, Hor. Q. Horatius Flaccus, poet, 65–8 b.c. philosopher, 106–43 b.c. Carm(ina), Sat(irae = Sermones) (Epistulae ad) Att(icum), (Pro) Clu(en- English: Horace tio), (De) Nat(ura) D(eorum), Orat(or Ad M. Brutum), (In) Verr(em), (De) Isid. Isidorus Hispalensis, bishop of Inv(entione Rhetorica), (De) Leg(ibus), Seville, sixth–seventh century (De) Off(iciis), Parad (oxa Stoicorum), Etymologiae (or Origines), ca. (Orationes) Phil(ippicae), (Epistulae a.d. 602–36 ad) Q(uintum) Fr(atrem), Tusc(ulanae English: Isidore Disputationes) English: Cicero Joseph. Josephus, historian, first century B(ellum) J(udaicum) Columella L. Iunius Moderatus Columella, English: Josephus large estate holder, first century xi abbreviations of ancient sources Juv. Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, poet, late Plin. C. Plinius Secundus, historian, ca. first–early second century a.d. a.d. 23–79 Saturae HN (Naturalis Historia), completed English: Juvenal a.d. 77 English: Pliny (the Elder) Liv. Titus Livius, historian, 64 or 59 b.c.–a.d. 12 or 17 Plin. C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus, writer English: Livy of literary letters, ca. a.d. 61–ca. 112 Epist(ulae curatius scriptae), published Luc. M. Annaeus Lucanus, poet, between a.d. 101 and 109 historian, a.d. 39–65 English: Pliny (the Younger) Bell(um) Civ(ile) English: Lucan Prop. Sextus Propertius, poet, first century b.c. Lucil. C. Lucilius, poet, ca. 180–102/1 b.c. English: Propertius English: Lucilius Scaev. Q. Cervidius Scaevola, Roman jurist, Lucr. T. Lucretius Carus, philosopher, late second century ca. 94–55 b.c. Digesta de Rerum Natura English: Scaevola English: Lucretius Sen. L. Annaeus Seneca, philosopher, Man. M. Manilius, poet, early first century poet, ca. 5 b.c.–a.d. 65 Astronomica, early first century Ep(istulae) English: Manilius English: Seneca the Younger Mart. M. Valerius Martialis, poet, ca. Serv. Maurus (Marius) Servius Honoratus, a.d. 40–ca. 104 grammarian, fourth–fifth century Epigrammata, mid–first century (In) Verg(ilium Commentarius) English: Martial English: Servius Ov. P. Ovidius Naso, poet, 43 b.c.–ca. Stat. P. Papinius Statius, poet, ca. a.d. 17 a.d. 45–96 Ars Am(atoria), (Epistulae ex) Pont(o), Silv(ae) Met(amorphoses) English: Statius English: Ovid Strab. Strabo, geographer, historian, Palladius Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus ca. 64 b.c.–a.d. 21 Palladius, poet, fourth century Geo(graphy) English: Palladius English: Strabo Paul. Paulus Diaconus, historian, eighth Suet. C. Suetonius Tranquillus, biogra- century pher, ca. a.d. 70– ca. 140 (Epitoma) Fest(i) De Vita Caesarum English: Paulus English: Suetonius Petron. Petronius Arbiter, writer, first Tac. Cornelius Tacitus, historian, born century ca. a.d. 56 Sat(yricon) Ann(ales), Hist(oriae) English: Petronius English: Tacitus Plaut. Titus Maccius Plautus, playwright, Tert.