Of particular interest to researchers is the section of the Macellum located on the east side that is thought to have been dedicated to the imperial cult. It makes manifest how central a role the Emperors played in the lives of Romans as early as the 1st century. The other rooms on the west side are also interesting as examples of the link between economic and public life. Additionally, the market is an eloquent testimony to the everyday culture of the Romans, which is illustrated by archeological finds such as food remains, items of daily use and necessity, up to examples of Roman wall paintings.
Macellum of Pompeii - View from the outside to the Tabernae
The Macellum of Pompeii is located outside the northeast corner of the forum. As the city continued to grow, it was necessary to relieve pressure on the forum. When the Macellum was first discovered, because of the twelve column bases in the center, the excavators at first believed it was a kind of pantheon, a temple dedicated to many gods. However, when subsequent excavation turned up the remains of cereals and fruits in the north side of the building and fish scales and bones in the middle of the courtyard, the archeologists realized that this was a market.
The Macellum had three entrances: two main entrances, one in the middle of the west side to the forum and one in the middle of the north side to Via degli Augustali (a local road), plus a side entrance on the southeast that could only be reached using a small stairway.
The shape of the Macellum is slightly misaligned with the forum because it had to fit between the two roads that flanked it to the north and south, the Via degli Augustali and the Vico del Balcone Pensile. To compensate, the shops that abut the forum on the west side increase in size from north to south.
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