The macellum of Mirobriga (Santiago do Cacém, Portugal): typology, functions and inspirational models

Abstract

The conversion of the indigenous settlement of Mirobriga into a Roman town, after an incipient Late Republican phase, is now increasingly known in its 1st century AD constructive contours, which occurred throughout the late Julio-Claudian and Flavian periods, covering a wide plan that includes the main public sectors (forum and balnea), as well as various private areas. The vast commercial sector of Mirobriga, in the immediate vicinity of the forum, includes a large number of tabernae and a macellum. In this article, we describe and discuss the main architectural results of a building whose typology fits perfectly into the latter nomenclature, that of a macellum, addressing the similarities and differences with many other examples from the imperial West and proposing a set of three evolutionary phases for the building.