Abstract

For the Roman empire the control of marble resources was of high significance: marble was central to the representation of imperial wealth and power. The use of marble in public and private buildings at Rome and in other major urban centers throughout the vast empire has been studied extensively; the quarrying of marble and its organizational aspects, however, is less well explored. Popular belief has quarry work being executed by convicts, enslaved barbarians, or condemned Christians. Inscribed potsherds, honorary monuments, and gravestones from the imperial quarries at Mons Porphyrites and Mons Claudianus in Eastern Egyptian Desert provide quite a different picture. The paper aims to provide a survey of everyday life and work at these sites.