Workshop

Workshops were used in ancient times by many craftsmen. Skills were perfected and guilds were set up to teach and protect the profits against outside competition. Blacksmithing, pottery and weapon-making were all trades handed down from father to son. All the skills needed by a city would be found in small workshops alongside homes and other businesses. Some trades and skills, however, were less than pleasant for the workers and their neighbours: in a fuller’s workshop the art of whitening the Roman togas of the elite was done with urine collected in receptacles in the streets. The fuller spent his day treading the urine into the cloth with his bare feet. The clothes were then rinsed and sulphur was applied to rid them of any lasting stains. Finally after drying, they would then be ready for return to their owners, as good as new.