View source for Fullo

{{Short description|Laundry worker in the Roman empire}}
{{about|the ancient Roman worker|the Christian Patriarch known as "Fullo" or "Peter Fullo"|Peter the Fuller}}
[[File:Pompeii - Fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus 1 - MAN.jpg|thumb|300px|Mural painting from fullonica VI 8, 20.21.2 at Pompeii, now in the National museum of Naples.]]
A '''''fullo''''' was a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Fulling|fuller]] or [[washerwoman|laundry worker]] (plural: ''fullones''), known from many inscriptions from Italy and the western half of the [[Roman Empire]] and references in [[Latin literature]], e.g. by [[Plautus]], [[Martialis]] and [[Pliny the Elder]]. A ''fullo'' worked in a fullery or ''fullonica''. There is also evidence that ''fullones'' dealt with cloth straight from the loom, though this has been doubted by some modern scholars.<ref>[http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict/topics/fullones/fullones.htm Ostia Topographical Dictionary]</ref> In some large farms, fulleries were built where slaves were used to clean the cloth. In several Roman cities, the workshops of fullones, have been found. The most important examples are in [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]] and [[Pompeii]], but ''fullonicae'' also have been found in [[Delos]], [[Florence]], Fréjus and near [[Forlì]]: in the Archaeological Museum of Forlì, there is an ancient relief with a fullery view. While the small workshops at Delos go back to the 1st century BC, those in Pompeii date from the 1st century AD and the establishments in Ostia and Florence were built during the reign of the Emperors [[Trajan]] and [[Hadrian]].
==The fulling process==
Fulling consisted of three main phases. These include soaping, rinsing and finishing.
===Soaping===
Clothes were treated in small tubs standing in niches surrounded by low walls. The fuller stood with his feet in the tub filled with water and a mixture of alkaline chemicals (sometimes including ammonia derived from urine) and trampled the cloth, scrubbed it, and wrung it out. The aim of this treatment was to apply the chemical agents to the cloth so that they could do their work - which was the resolving of greases and fats. The installations in which this treatment was done are usually referred to as 'treading stalls', 'fulling stalls' or, erroneously, 'saltus fullonicus' and are typical for fulling workshops and are often used by archaeologists to identify fullonicae in the archaeological remains.
===Rinsing===
After the clothes were soaped in the chemicals, the dirt that they had resolved had to be washed out. This happened with fresh water in a complex of large basins that often were connected to the urban water supply. The typical rinsing complex consisted of three or four basins that were connected to each other: the fresh water entered on one side of the complex, the dirty water left it on the other side. Clothes followed the opposite direction of the water and went from the basin with the dirtiest water to the basin with the cleanest water.<ref>Flohr 2006, 193-200.</ref>
===Finishing===
The last phase of the fulling process consisted of a variety of treatments. The precise sequence is not exactly known and may have varied, depending on the nature of the workshop and the demands of customers.
* The cloth was often brushed, with the thistle of plants, and sheared, as is indicated from finds in some Pompeian fullonicae.<ref>Flohr 2006, 194</ref>
*  Sometimes, clothes were also treated with sulfur. The cloth was then hung on a basket woven structure called a [[viminea cavea]].<ref>Smith, William, ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (London, England:  John Murray, 1875), article: "Fullo", [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hneuvp;view=1up;seq=570 pp, 551-553.]</ref> This structure can be seen in the figure above. Fullones added sulfur to white cloths to maintain the color, knowing that sulfur was volatile enough to destroy colors.
* The clothes were also pressed in a [[screw press]]. Remains of such presses have been found at [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]], and a depiction was found in a Pompeian fullonica and is now displayed in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples|National Museum in Naples]].
==The fullo and the state==
According to [[Pliny the Elder]], the work of fullones was taken very seriously. C. Flaminius and L. Aemilius wrote the proper method for fullones to practice in the [[Metilian Law]]. The law stressed the use of [[Cimolian earth]] (similar to [[Fuller's earth]]) to brighten and freshen colors that have faded due to sulfur. On the other hand, the law stated that the mineral [[saxum]] was useful for white clothing but harmful to colors.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137&layout=&loc=35.57 Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'', XXXV.57]</ref>
Fullones were legally responsible for the clothes they were washing. Fullones were subject to penalties if they returned the wrong clothes or damaged the clothes. Furthermore, clothes once washed were considered devalued. In fact, Emperor [[Elagabalus]] said that he would not touch linen that had been washed because such cloth had already been devalued.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html#26 Elagabalus, ''Historia Augusta'', IIVI.]</ref> Still, the profession of a fullo was highly reputable. Fullones in Ostia created their own guild, called Corpus Fontanorum. The fuller guild of Pompeii dedicated a statue to [[Eumachia]] in the Building of Eumachia on the Pompeian Forum. The connection between Eumachia and the Fullers is not clear, but the building may have been used for selling cloth, although it could have been a market for anything. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=Joanne |title=The Complete Pompeii |date=2010 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-05150-4 |page=129 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fazpAAAAMAAJ |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Clements |first1=Peter and Michael |title=Building of Eumachia |url=https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/public-buildings/building-of-eumachia |website=AD79 |access-date=May 10, 2020 |archive-date=September 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923063059/https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/public-buildings/building-of-eumachia |url-status=dead }}</ref>
These Roman launderers worshipped the goddess [[Minerva]], as did many other professions. Therefore, the fullones were particularly involved with [[Quinquatrus]], Minerva’s main feast held on March 19. The feast often took place in a fullo's workshops.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aid%3Dfullo Peck, H. (1898). ''Fullo at Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities''. New York: Harper and Brothers.]</ref> Fullones are associated with representations of owls, such as in [[Roman graffiti]] found in [[Pompeii]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Miko Flohr |title=The World of the Fullo: Work, Economy, and Society in Roman Italy |year=2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford |pages=341–343 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lr6xu1StkC4C&q=fullo+fullones+owl&pg=PA341 |isbn=9780199659357 }}</ref> There has been a lively scholarly debate whether the association is due to the [[owl of Minerva]] or due to [[Varro]]'s proverbial phrase: "men fear him worse than the fuller fears the screech owl". ''Sat. Men.'' 86. 4<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Kristina Milnor]] |title=Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii |year=2014 |publisher=OUP Oxford |pages=248–249 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndbQAgAAQBAJ&q=Fullones+ululamque+cano%2C+non+arma+virumque&pg=PA248 |isbn=9780199684618 }}</ref>
==Archaeological remains of fullonicae==
Thus far, eleven fullonicae are known at [[Pompeii]], the most famous of which is the [[Fullonica of Stephanus]] along the Via dell'Abbondanza, where the remains of the fulling workshop can be seen in the back of the house. Most other workshops are rather small and are hard to recognize. Recent fieldwork by the [[Radboud University Nijmegen]] has resulted in the definitive identification of three previously unknown fulling workshops <ref>Cleaning the Laundries 2006-2008 [http://research.mikoflohr.nl/index.php?c=ctl www.mikoflohr.nl/archaeology/ctl]</ref>
At [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], three extremely large fullonicae have been excavated along with two smaller ones. Best preserved is the large [[fullonica of the Via degli Augustali]].<ref>A lot of material has been assembled on [http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict/topics/fullones/fullones.htm Ostia Antica]</ref>
An important recent development is the excavation of an exceptionally large fulling workshop in [[Casal Bertone]], in [[Rome]]. This workshop is three times as large as the large Ostian fullonicae and was discovered during a rescue excavation for the construction of the [[Treno Alta Velocità|high-speed railway]] from [[Roma Tiburtina]] to [[Naples]]. It was situated outside the ancient city in an area that also functioned as a [[necropolis]].<ref>The excavation is currently unpublished, but has attracted some attention from international media: [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/31/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Ancient-Tannery.php International Herald Tribune, July 31, 2007]; [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080100222_pf.html Washington Post, August 1, 2007]. The workshop is often erroneously referred to as a tannery.</ref> This workshop is probably the largest workshop from antiquity.
==See also==
*[[Washerwoman]] or laundress
*[[Dhobi]], an Indian laundry worker
*[[Lavoir]], a sheltered place to do laundry
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
*Flohr, M. (2006) 'Organizing the Workshop. Water Management in Roman Fullonicae'. In Wiplinger, G. (ed.) ''Cura Aquarum in Ephesus. Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering in the Mediterranean Region, Ephesus/Selçuk, October 2–10, 2004.'' Leuven: Peeters. 193 - 200.
*Wilson, A. (2003) 'The archaeology of the Roman fullonica', ''[[Journal of Roman Archaeology]]'' 16, 442 - 446.
*Flohr, M. (2003) 'Fullones and Roman Society. A Reconsideration', ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'' 16, 447 - 450.
*Bradley, M. (2002) 'It all comes out in the wash': Looking harder at the Roman fullonica', ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'' 15, 21 - 44.
*De Ruyt, C. (2001) 'Les Foulons, artisans des textiles et blanchisseurs'. In Descoeudres, J.-P. (ed.) ''Ostia. Port et Porte de la Rome Antique''. Genève: Musée Rath. 186 - 191
*{{cite book |last=Robertson |first=Robert H. S. |date=1986|title=Fuller's Earth: A History |url= |location=Volturna Press |publisher=Hyde, Kent |page= |isbn=0-85606-070-4}}
[[Category:Cleaning and maintenance occupations]]
[[Category:Laundry occupations]]
[[Category:Ancient Rome]]