Weighing the grain

The grain for Rome, imported mostly from Tunisia and Egypt, was weighed after the unloading, and again when it was taken to the tow boats on the Tiber. The guild of the grain measurers (mensores frumentarii) had three subdivisions: the "receivers" (acceptores), the "helpers" (adiutores), and the "loaders" (nauticarii). The first took care of the unloading, the latter of the loading of the tow boats that took the grain to Rome. The "helpers" presumably supported both groups. A mosaic in the Hall of the Grain Measurers (I,XIX,1.3) shows a group of mensores and porters.

The mensores frumentarii. Photo: Bill Storage.

The grain measure, a wooden bin resting on a few short legs, became the symbol of their work. It can be seen on some funerary reliefs as a reference to the profession of the deceased, related to the grain trade.

Funerary relief of a deceased couple, with an erote and a grain measure.
From the Isola Sacra necropolis, tomb 72. Inv. nr. 1338. Photo: E069974.

Funerary relief with two grain measures.
From Ostia. Inv. nr. 10345. Photo: Berg 2020, fig. 10.

Funerary relief of Marcus Cornelius Successus and Cornelia Victoria, with a grain measure.
From Ostia. Inv. nr. 6646. Photo: Berg 2020, fig. 11.

Relief a grain measure from a tomb, a workshop or an office.
From Ostia. Inv. nr. 14381. Photo: Berg 2020, fig. 9.

Funerary relief of Sextus Publicius Amethystus and Oppia Rufina with two grain measures.
Reused in the Terme del Mitra (I,XVII,2). Inv. nrs. 6730 + 11343 + 11759. Photo: Caldelli 2018, 540 nr. 1398.