Exhibition in the Underground of the Amphitheater
The exhibition in the underground of the amphitheater is dedicated to the production of olive oil and wine, important factors of the Istrian economy. The processes of obtaining oil from olives are presented through reconstructed Roman olive mills and presses.
The second part of the exhibition showcases the trade of amphorae in the northern Adriatic during the Roman era. Trade was conducted primarily by sea, and the large and safe port of Pula was a significant station in the transport of goods across the Adriatic. Private estates on the western coast of Istria, which produced larger quantities of olive oil, had their own smaller ports. Pula fostered intense economic and trade relations with both coasts of the Adriatic. From more distant areas of the Roman Empire, Istria maintained the most intense trade exchange with the coasts of the Ionian and Aegean Seas, as well as the Middle Eastern and North African provinces.
Liquids were transported in amphorae, large ceramic vessels with two handles. Amphorae usually had a rounded bottom ending in a pointed foot, which ensured greater carrying capacity; they were primarily used for transporting and storing oil and wine, although they could also contain other foodstuffs, such as fish sauce, various fruits, and honey. A filled amphora would be sealed with a round plate lid, secured with resin. Shipwrecks that transported them have left us large deposits of amphorae on the seabed. By land, amphorae were transported by wagons. Empty amphorae were used as drainage material, especially often during the time of Augustus.
Amphorae were often marked with a stamp bearing the name of the pottery workshop manager or the owner of the estate where the workshop was located. In Istria, at the beginning of the Roman Empire, two amphora workshops owned by senatorial families operated: one in Lorun near Tar, owned by the consul Statilius Taurus Sisenna, and another in Fažana near Pula, owned by the consul Laecanius Bassus. Under Vespasian, the workshops transferred to the imperial fiscus, and the seals on Istrian amphorae bear the names of Roman emperors of the 1st and 2nd centuries, from Vespasian to Hadrian.