ABSTRACT
As first-time visitors walk through the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, theyare struck by the large number of shops, workshops and taverns, distinguished from the entrances of dwellings by their wide store fronts (Figure 29.1). Particularly on the busy main roads, it is easy to get the impression that the street fronts of the buildings consist almost entirely of small business establishments, which I will designate by the Latin term tabernae. In antiquity, tabernae described not only taverns or pubs, but also artisans’ workshops, stores or simple dwellings (cf. DeFelice, Ch. 30).
