The World of the Fullo: Work, Economy, and Society in Roman Italy

by Miko Flohr

The World of the Fullo takes a detailed look at the fullers, craftsmen who dealt with high-quality garments, of Roman Italy. Analyzing the social and economic worlds in which the fullers lived and worked, it tells the story of their economic circumstances, the way they organized their workshops, the places where they worked in the city, and their everyday lives on the shop floor and beyond.

Through focusing on the lower segments of society, Flohr uses everyday work as the major organizing principle of the the volume discusses the decisions taken by those responsible for the organization of work, and how these decisions subsequently had an impact on the social lives of people carrying out the work. It emphasizes how socio-economic differences between cities resulted in fundamentally different working lives for many of their people, and that not only were economic activities shaped by Roman society, they in turn played a key role in shaping it.

Using an in-depth and qualitative analysis of material remains related to economic activities, with a combined study of epigraphic and literary records, this volume portrays an insightful view of the socio-economic history of urban communities in the Roman world.

Genres: History

422 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book and was surprised by it!
I thought the structure was very easy to follow and the language is comfortable to read. Greek and latin words are translated to help the reader make sense even if they don‘t understand one of the languages. Information is presented structured and in a good writing style. It was a nice and interesting read and I would definitely recommend it to people interested in the romance fullonicae and everything surrounding them!