Afullo was aRomanfuller orlaundry worker (plural:fullones), known from many inscriptions from Italy and the western half of theRoman Empire and references inLatin literature, e.g. byPlautus,Martialis andPliny the Elder. Afullo worked in a fullery orfullonica. There is also evidence thatfullones dealt with cloth straight from the loom, though this has been doubted by some modern scholars.[1] In some large farms, fulleries were built where slaves were used to clean the cloth. In several Roman cities, the workshops of fullones, have been found. The most important examples are inOstia andPompeii, butfullonicae also have been found inDelos,Florence, Fréjus and nearForlì: in the Archaeological Museum of Forlì, there is an ancient relief with a fullery view. While the small workshops at Delos go back to the 1st century BC, those in Pompeii date from the 1st century AD and the establishments in Ostia and Florence were built during the reign of the EmperorsTrajan andHadrian.
Fulling consisted of three main phases. These include soaping, rinsing and finishing.
Clothes were treated in small tubs standing in niches surrounded by low walls. The fuller stood with his feet in the tub filled with water and a mixture of alkaline chemicals (sometimes including ammonia derived from urine) and trampled the cloth, scrubbed it, and wrung it out. The aim of this treatment was to apply the chemical agents to the cloth so that they could do their work - which was the resolving of greases and fats. The installations in which this treatment was done are usually referred to as 'treading stalls', 'fulling stalls' or, erroneously, 'saltus fullonicus' and are typical for fulling workshops and are often used by archaeologists to identify fullonicae in the archaeological remains.
After the clothes were soaped in the chemicals, the dirt that they had resolved had to be washed out. This happened with fresh water in a complex of large basins that often were connected to the urban water supply. The typical rinsing complex consisted of three or four basins that were connected to each other: the fresh water entered on one side of the complex, the dirty water left it on the other side. Clothes followed the opposite direction of the water and went from the basin with the dirtiest water to the basin with the cleanest water.[2]
The last phase of the fulling process consisted of a variety of treatments. The precise sequence is not exactly known and may have varied, depending on the nature of the workshop and the demands of customers.
According toPliny the Elder, the work of fullones was taken very seriously. C. Flaminius and L. Aemilius wrote the proper method for fullones to practice in theMetilian Law. The law stressed the use ofCimolian earth (similar toFuller's earth) to brighten and freshen colors that have faded due to sulfur. On the other hand, the law stated that the mineralsaxum was useful for white clothing but harmful to colors.[5]
Fullones were legally responsible for the clothes they were washing. Fullones were subject to penalties if they returned the wrong clothes or damaged the clothes. Furthermore, clothes once washed were considered devalued. In fact, EmperorElagabalus said that he would not touch linen that had been washed because such cloth had already been devalued.[6] Still, the profession of a fullo was highly reputable. Fullones in Ostia created their own guild, called Corpus Fontanorum. The fuller guild of Pompeii dedicated a statue toEumachia in the Building of Eumachia on the Pompeian Forum. The connection between Eumachia and the Fullers is not clear, but the building may have been used for selling cloth, although it could have been a market for anything.[7][8]
These Roman launderers worshipped the goddessMinerva, as did many other professions. Therefore, the fullones were particularly involved withQuinquatrus, Minerva’s main feast held on March 19. The feast often took place in a fullo's workshops.[9] Fullones are associated with representations of owls, such as inRoman graffiti found inPompeii.[10] There has been a lively scholarly debate whether the association is due to theowl of Minerva or due toVarro's proverbial phrase: "men fear him worse than the fuller fears the screech owl".Sat. Men. 86. 4[11]
Thus far, eleven fullonicae are known atPompeii, the most famous of which is theFullonica of Stephanus along the Via dell'Abbondanza, where the remains of the fulling workshop can be seen in the back of the house. Most other workshops are rather small and are hard to recognize. Recent fieldwork by theRadboud University Nijmegen has resulted in the definitive identification of three previously unknown fulling workshops[12]
AtOstia, three extremely large fullonicae have been excavated along with two smaller ones. Best preserved is the largefullonica of the Via degli Augustali.[13]
An important recent development is the excavation of an exceptionally large fulling workshop inCasal Bertone, inRome. This workshop is three times as large as the large Ostian fullonicae and was discovered during a rescue excavation for the construction of thehigh-speed railway fromRoma Tiburtina toNaples. It was situated outside the ancient city in an area that also functioned as anecropolis.[14] This workshop is probably the largest workshop from antiquity.