horreum
Let an agent identify horrea as a Roman building type, explain their design, management and role in supply, relay archaeological examples and references, and distinguish them from later warehouses and from granaries in other cultures.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Identify What a horreum is.
Definition
Definition and features.
Definition
Definition.
- What is a horreum, and what features identify one in excavation? definition
- Is the building a horreum or another Roman structure? boundary
Kinds
Kinds.
Kinds
Kinds.
- What kinds of horrea existed, from state granaries to military stores? definition
- Which entry fits a specific site? action
Function Design and management.
Design
Design.
Design
Design.
- How were horrea designed to keep goods dry and secure? provenance
- Which entry fits Roman architecture? action
Management
Management.
Management
Management.
- How were horrea managed, and what do inscriptions and texts say about their officials and tenants? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Supply Role in supply.
Annona
Grain supply.
Annona
Annona.
- What role did horrea play in the grain supply of Rome and the army? provenance
- Which entry fits the annona? action
Trade
Trade.
Trade
Trade.
- How did horrea at ports and cities serve trade? provenance
- Which entry fits Roman trade? action
Study Archaeology.
Sites
Excavated sites.
Sites
Sites.
- Which horrea are well documented, at Rome, Ostia, Portus and in the provinces? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Later
Later uses of the term.
Later
Later.
- How was the term horreum used in later periods? provenance
- Which entry fits medieval granaries? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.BLT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Chartaria
What it is Filled
A public warehouse of ancient Rome used to store grain, olive oil, wine, textiles and other goods, ranging from the great state granaries of Rome and Ostia to storerooms in forts and villas; horrea were typically rectangular buildings around a courtyard with raised floors and thick walls, managed by officials, and are known from excavations, inscriptions and ancient texts.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent identify horrea as a Roman building type, explain their design, management and role in supply, relay archaeological examples and references, and distinguish them from later warehouses and from granaries in other cultures.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Roman building type
- Courtyard plan with storerooms
- Raised floors against damp and vermin
- State and private management
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Damage, dig or remove material from a horreum site without a heritage permit.
- Help trade in objects taken from ancient storage sites.
- Present reconstructions as excavated fact.
Only with a human decision
- Flying drones over or surveying a protected site.
May
- Describe horrea from archaeological and written sources, noting where evidence is uncertain.
- Report the condition of a horreum site to the heritage body responsible for it.
Moral aspects Filled
- Ancient sites are shared heritage that cannot be replaced once disturbed.
- Horrea show how a state fed its people; their history should not erase the labourers who worked them.
Who is affected
- Future generations
- Local communities near sites
- Researchers
Owners Filled
Steward
The heritage authority of the country where the site lies; the landowner holds the ground.
Master systems
- National monuments and archaeological site registers
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q1362225 - registry parent class
related
- warehouse - the general category
- Roman building - in registry terms
- annona - the grain supply system
- Roman archaeology - the discipline
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.horreum
- Wikidata: Q279616 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q279616)
Direct properties required Filled
- largest known: about 225 by 150 m - Horrea Galbae in Rome
- period: about second century BC to fifth century AD years
Recognition required Filled
- Roman public warehouse
- Storerooms around a courtyard with raised floors
- Medieval and modern warehouses and non-Roman granaries are separate types
- A rectangular masonry building with rows of storerooms around a courtyard, raised floors, narrow windows and thick walls.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- identify horrea and their features
- explain design and management
- relay archaeological examples
- distinguish from other warehouse types
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Confusing horrea with other Roman buildings
- Unsourced reconstructions
- Site decay and looting
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Heritage protection of archaeological sites
- No regulation of the type itself
Context of use required Filled
- Storing goods, especially grain, in the Roman world.
- state granaries of Rome such as Horrea Galbae
- harbour horrea at Ostia and Portus
- military horrea in forts
- villa and estate horrea
- specialised horrea such as those for documents, sometimes called chartaria
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q279616: horreum - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Horreum - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should notable horrea be separate entries?
- How should excavation reports be linked?
- The registry entry has merged an alias for document stores; should it be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q279616/spec.json