The routes of Dionysus

The rational exploitation of the countryside consequent to the rise of urban civilization, and the new intensive cultivation of grapes soon led to massive wine production, enough to satisfy the domestic market as well as for a flourishing trade reaching various parts of the Mediterranean Basin. The amphorae, wine containers par excellence, found by archaeologists in different parts of the Mediterranean, prove the existence of numerous wine routes, headed by Greek, Etruscan, Phoenician and Roman traders.

 

The wines

In the Roman world, there existed local vineyards for self-consumption, and noble vineyards for high-quality wines to be aged, produced for the elite. There was also mass production, supplying abundant wine for immediate consumption, which was stabilized by adding seawater and lime to preserve it during transport. This was the tavern wine whose qualities were amply described by the poets of the time.

 

Scene of transport by wagon
c. 1930
Rome, Museo della Civiltà Romana
Inv. M.C.R. 3474

Scene of transporting an amphora
Plaster cast of the original (1st century A.D.)
c. 1930
Rome, Museo della Civiltà Romana
Inv. M.C.R. 3525

Bas-relief with barge transporting barrels
c. 1930
Rome, Museo della Civiltà Romana
Inv. M.C.R. 3655

Epigraph of the barrel-maker L. Canzius Acutus
Plaster cast of the original (2nd century A.D.)
c. 1930
Rome, Museo della Civiltà Romana
Inv. M.C.R. 3368

Dressel 1B wine amphora
Middle of the 2nd - late 1st century B.C.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. 77664

Wine amphora of transitional “Graeco-Italic” type
First half of the 2nd century B.C.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. 4981

Dressel 2-4 wine amphora
Second half of the 1st century B.C. - late 1st century A.D.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. s.n.i./ no inv. no.

Cross-section of the hull of a cargo ship
2010
Florence, Opera Laboratori Fiorentini

Wine cellar scene
c. 1930
Rome, Museo della Civiltà Romana
Inv. M.C.R. 3524

Relief carving with wine-seller’s counter
Plaster cast of the original (early 1st-3rd century A.D.)
c. 1930
Rome, Museo della Civiltà Romana
Inv. M.C.R. 3528

Statue of a drunken old woman
Roman copy
Rome, Musei Capitolini
Inv. MC 299/S

Apparatus for measuring the density of fluids
2004
Florence, Opera Laboratori Fiorentini

Drinking vessel with siphon
2004
Florence, Opera Laboratori Fiorentini

Harmonic vessels
2010
Florence, Opera Laboratori Fiorentini

Earthenware plaque with relief carving, “Campana” type
Late 1st century B.C. - early 1st century A.D.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. 88925

Arm with grapes
2nd century A.D.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. 14264

Screw press
2010
Florence, Opera Laboratori Fiorentini

Satyr with grapes
2nd century A.D.
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
Inv. 108

Head of Dionysus in the form of a bull
2nd century A.D.
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
Inv. 39

Satyr with the child Dionysus
1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Villa Corsini)
Inv. 85083