Caupona Construction

[Pegasus]

Hi Has anybody got ant Ideas on how to make a caupona maybe Tent form ? What kind of materials needed ? size ? or even where to buy in the UK if construction is not practicle .

Thanks in advance .


Pegasus .

[Carlton Bach]

Depends on what you want. There is a famous psainting depicting the Pompeii arena riots that shows such things (Regio I, Insula 3, 23, Peristyle, today in the Natl Museum in Naples)

Centre foreground shows a small stall, presumably for selling things, shaded by a square or rectangular cloth held up by four poles. The whole thing looks vaguely 2-3 metres wide and roughly equally deep, with enough headroom to stand under, and while I can't see any guyropes there must have been some. Under the canopy, there is something like a counter or chest with presumably a salesperson behind it. I can't quite make out what the stuff on top of it is, but I assume it's goods for sale, maybe wine jugs.

The same painting also shows what looks like a similar counter standing without any cover, though this one has a smaller shade made from a piece of cloth, two poles, and a tree. This one is not tall enough to stand under.

It sounds like a base to start with. For ideas for the counter, you can refer to the famous 'bakery' picture from Pompeii (Regio VII, Insula 3, 30)

edit: I would assume the poles to be part and parcel of the setup, not improvised, as wood cost serious money in ancient Italy. The cloth itself was probably linen, the same material used for sails, more or less. It looks vaguely dark-ish on the painting, but that doesn't have to mean anything given the overall style. Still, I guess a dyejob is justifiable.

[Pegasus]

Thanks very much Carlton , I'LL look at what you mentioned , it sounds like exactly what Iam after - Thanks .

[cacrispvs]

Perhaps also take a look at this : http://www.geocities.com/richsc53/

[Pegasus]

Thanks .