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The Roman Roofer: Thatch, Stone and Clay
Season 2, Ep. 16
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Does "Roman Roofs" make you think of red clay tile?
Well, one of the most common types of Roman roof was probably thatch.
Listen to this weeks episode to learn more about the person who did it. The Roofer.
This weeks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DY5HjhNF_m8/
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Artisan
A skilled craft worker. In this episode, the term refers to the people who physically made, laid, repaired, or finished Roman roofs, rather than the architects or patrons who commissioned buildings.
Carpentarius
A Latin term connected with carpentum, a carriage or wagon.
Carpentum
A Roman carriage or wagon.
Fired clay
Clay hardened by heating in a kiln. Roman roof tiles were commonly made of fired clay, especially the familiar tegulaand imbrex system.
Flashing
A protective strip or sheet, often of lead, used to keep water from entering vulnerable joints in a roof, such as around edges, walls, gutters, or roof intersections. The term is modern, but the principle is relevant to ancient roofing.
Freedman / freedwoman
A formerly enslaved person who had been manumitted. In Roman craft production, freedmen and freedwomen could remain connected to former owners, workshops, households, or trade networks.
Graffiti tile
A tile marked before firing with writing, symbols, footprints, or other informal marks. The episode mentions examples of inscribed roof tiles, including tiles associated with enslaved women working in tile production.
Imbrex
The curved Roman roof tile placed over the joints between flat tiles. Plural: imbrices. In the standard Roman tile roof, the imbrices cover the seams between rows of tegulae.
Kiln
A high-temperature oven used to fire clay objects such as bricks, roof tiles, and pottery. In tile production, shaped clay tiles were dried first and then fired in a kiln.
Plumbarius
A Latin term for a worker associated with lead, from plumbum, meaning lead. It is connected to the later word “plumber,” although modern plumbers usually work mostly with other materials.
Plumbum
Latin for lead. This is the root of English words such as “plumber” and the chemical symbol Pb for lead.
Roofer
A modern English term for a craft worker who installs or repairs roofs. The episode stresses that there is no single, simple Roman equivalent covering every roofing material and roofing task.
Scandulae
Latin term for wooden shingles or roofing boards. These would have formed lightweight timber roofing coverings in some regions, though they rarely survive archaeologically.
Scandularius
A worker associated with scandulae, or wooden shingles. The term is rare and mainly epigraphic, so its exact occupational meaning should be treated cautiously.
Slate
A thin, split stone used as a roofing material. The episode uses “slate” broadly for stone roof tiles, noting that stone roofing was part of the wider Roman roofing repertoire.
Tegula
The flat Roman roof tile. In a typical Roman tile roof, tegulae formed the main flat covering, with raised edges or joints protected by imbrices.
Tegulae
Plural of tegula. These are the flat tiles in the Roman roof-tile system.
Tegularius
A Latin occupational term connected with tegula. It may refer to a tile-maker, tile worker, or possibly roofer, but it does not map neatly onto the modern English word “roofer.”
Terracotta
Fired clay, usually reddish or orange in colour. Roman roof tiles are often reconstructed as terracotta, though the episode argues that this was not the only roofing material used.
Thatch
A roofing material made from plant stems, such as reeds, straw, or long grasses.
Tile yard
A production area where clay tiles were shaped, dried, trimmed, and prepared for firing
Sources
Alan McWhirr and David Viner (1978). “The Production and Distribution of Tiles in Roman Britain with Particular Reference to the Cirencester Region.”
Fikret Yegül and Diane Favro (2019). Roman Architecture and Urbanism: From the Origins to Late Antiquity.
Peter Warry (2006). “A Dated Typology for Roman Roof-Tiles (Tegulae).”
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