1st cent Patera

[Crispvs]

I have often read of the rings on the bottoms of many paterae being cast, with no mention or indication of them being braised on. I think that rings such as these would be warped out of shape if they had been subjected to a spinning former.

I have no doubt that many paterae were hammered out - they were as ubiquitous in the Roman world as saucepans are in ours after all, but certainly many were cast and this may have been the dominant production method in many places. As anyone who owns a skillet knows, a cast pan is heavy, hence the thinning down of the sides after casting.

"That patera you have shown is one that a soldier would have used for eating"

Do you have some evidence to hand that it is a military item rather than a normal domestic one? Also, how can you be sure of the exact activity it was used for? How do you know he didn't have a wooden or pottery plate to eat off and thus used the patera purely for (for instance) cooking? I think sometimes some people here assume a little too much.

Crispvs