Sergius-orata-demonstrates fishing Medieval French Illustration

Caius Sergius Orata ( fl. c. 95 BC) was an Ancient Roman who was a successful merchant, inventor and hydraulic engineer. He is credited with inventing the cultivation of oysters and refinement to the

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

method of heating a building to provide in addition, heated water for bathing.

Origins of his name

The writer

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

noted "The

Orata The gilt-head (sea) bream (''Sparus aurata''), known as Orata in antiquity and still today in Italy and Tunisia (known as "Dorada" in Spain, "Dourada" in Portugal and "Dorade Royale" in France), is a fish of the bream family Sparidae found in t ...

", the gilt headed bream, "is a kind of fish so called for its golden color (''aurata'', "golden," also spelled ''orata'')." ... "Because of this, it's said about the very wealthy Sergius that they called him ''orata'', because he wore two big rings of gold. Some authorities assert that his nickname just comes from the commercialization of those fishes."

Biography

Sergius was well known to his contemporaries for the breeding and commercialization of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s, of which he was a noted innovator. Orata wanted to take advantage of the wealthy Romans' liking for shellfish as food, so he developed many new techniques for breeding oysters. This included the practice of surrounding mature oysters with twigs, to which their young (known as "spats") could affix themselves and thus be easily transplanted wherever desired. This allowed for the creation of artificial oyster beds, which he surrounded with channels and dams in order to protect them from the sea tides. He based his business at the

Lucrine Lake Lucrinus Lacus or Lucrine Lake ( it, Lago di Lucrino; nap, Laco 'e Lucrine) is a lake in Campania, southern Italy. It is less than one kilometre to the south of Lake Avernus and is separated from the Gulf of Pozzuoli by a narrow strip of land. A ...

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, which was adjacent to the luxurious and popular spa town of Baiae. This brought him into conflict with the local Roman

tax farmer Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contract ...

Considius, in a dispute over his use of the public resource of the lakefront for his business. Consilius was successfully defended in the legal case by the orator

Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...

Alma-Tadema A Favourite Custom 1909 Tate Britain

Orata was also a significant developer and builder of luxury villas in the area, Crassus made a joke based on the common use of terra cotta tiles both as surfaces for artificial oyster beds and also in the roofs of structures, saying that "even if Orata were deprived of the waters of the lake, he would still find oysters on his roof-tiles". Orata was also credited by the writer

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...

with the invention of the

(

underfloor heating Underfloor heating and cooling is a form of central heating and cooling that achieves indoor climate control for thermal comfort using hydronic or electrical heating elements embedded in a floor. Heating is achieved by conduction, radiation and ...

), although this is not fully established . What is certain is that he invented a new type of "''hanging baths"'' (''"bal(i)nea pensilia"''),Karl Friedrich Kempf's edition has it with an extra i, which would also make more sense given the Greek source. which were a kind of relaxing thermal spa baths; that are usually considered to be related to hypocausts. He commercialized them as he had his oyster business. He claimed healing and soothing properties for the invention and this helped Orata to market it successfully. They became fashionable among the wealthy and no luxury villa was considered complete unless one of Orata's pools was installed. Sergius Orata became rich due to his inventions; he was himself noted for his love for luxury and refinement.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergius Orata 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Roman civil engineers Ancient Roman merchants Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Hydraulic engineers

Origins of his name

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography