Dr. Rhodora G. Vennarucci, Assistant Professor of Classical Studies and Art History at the University of Arkansas

Work in Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) has underscored that shopping is meaningful behavior. It is sti ll new, however, to ask how shoppingbehavior was meaningful for people in the Roman world in part because consumpti on studies in archaeology have overlooked consumeragency and the social act of consumpti on. This talk applies a CCT and phenomenological approach to The Felt Shop of Verecundus (IX.7.5-7)from Pompeii, which sold fi ne footwear (e.g. socci, soft -soled felted slippers) and high-status texti le products (e.g. toga praetexta) to explorehow ancient consumers self-fashioned through public acts of consumpti on in the shop. An interacti ve 3D model of the shop in VR,reconstructed using the architectural remains and archival data from the shop’s excavati on, facilitated this investi gati on, which contributes tothe Virtual Roman Retail project.

Socci were a luxury item worn indoors and at dinner parti es that only the more affl uent…