Clay: Spies in the Making: Imperial Oil Economies and the Geographies of Mediterranean Food

On one particular trip to Ostia Antica, Rome's ancient port at the mouth of the Tiber River, Caroline pointed to the back corner of one of the port's onsite food storage facilities known as Caseggiato dei Dolii, or House of the Dolia. There are 35 enormous clay vessels known as dolia arrayed in a tight grid and partially sunken into the ground, with only the top quarter of each vessel exposed. As the Roman capacity to produce, monetize, and leverage increased, the topography, climate, and culture of the Mediterranean changed. The durability of the clay spies moves the understanding of the Roman economy from point source hot spots to near-continuous lines of work woven across the Mediterranean, lines that expose the sea for what it became under the weight of the Empire: a worked landscape. Estimating Imperial Roman olive oil consumption is both challenging and inherently speculative.