Exhibition in the amphitheatre's subterranean chamber
The exhibition in the subterranean chamber of the amphitheatre focuses on the production of olive oil and wine, important segments of the Istrian economy. The processes whereby oil is obtained from olives are presented through reconstructed Roman olive mills and presses.
The second part of the exhibition showcases Roman era amphorae-based trade routes in the northern Adriatic. Trade was conducted primarily by sea, and the large and safe port of Pula was a major hub in the transport of goods across the Adriatic. Private estates on the western coast of Istria, which produced large quantities of olive oil, had their own smaller ports. Pula fostered intense economic and trade relations with both coasts of the Adriatic. Istra's trade with distant parts of the Roman Empire was most intense with the Ionian and Aegean coastal settlements, and with 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 spike, 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, fruits, and honey. A filled amphora would be sealed with a round stopper sealed 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 repurposed for drainage beds, a practice especially frequent during the reign of Augustus.
Amphorae were often stamped with maker's marks, indicating the name of the pottery workshop manager or the owner of the estate where the workshop was located. Two amphora workshops owned by senatorial families were active in Istria in the early imperial period: one at Lorun near Tar, owned by the consul Statilius Taurus Sisenna, and another at Fažana near Pula, owned by the consul Laecanius Bassus. The workshops were transferred to the imperial fiscus under Vespasian, and the seals on Istrian amphorae bear the names of Roman emperors of the 1st and 2nd centuries, from Vespasian to Hadrian.