For everyday use, the ancient Romans relied on sturdy terracotta vessels which they produced in large quantities to serve people in the far reaches of the Empire. Unlike the Greeks and the Etruscans, the Romans didn’t produce decorative ceramics.

Roman pottery production began in the early Republic period and continued through the late Empire. Early wares were simple and functional, often imitating Greek styles. By the 1st century CE, mass production techniques met growing demands. The introduction of the pottery wheel and improved kilns led to more standardized forms.

Roman domestic pottery can be divided into fine wares and coarse wares, the former being serving vessels or tableware used for more formal dining and usually had a more decorative and elegant appearance while the latter were everyday pottery jars, dishes and bowls used for cooking or the storage and transport of foods.

Fine Ware
Fine ware often mixed decoration with function.. A wide range of fine vessels such as jugs, dishes, drinking cups, bowls, and vases served the everyday needs of Romans. The most popular of fine ware was terra sigillata, also known as Arretine ware, known for its polished red slip finish, that came from a workshop complex in the province of Arretium, modern-day Arezzo in Tuscany, between 30 BCE. to 30 CE.

Potters produced this pottery from molds which had been impressed with a series of stamps or punches. The application of the mold to the clay left the piece with a relief, giving it both a high-quality look and allowing for faster production. Mold designs ranged from images of flora and fauna to scenes from mythological stories. Some wares had painted designs, generally geometric patterns.

Around the 1st century, Gaul—what’s now France and Germany—became the prominent manufacturing center for terra sigillata. These wares were thicker, had a higher gloss finish, and ranged in color from a lighter orange to an intense red and were in high demand. By the 3rd century CE, potteries in the province of Africa Proconsularis, now Tunisia, began producing the redware, which became known as African Red Slip (ARS) ware.

Though a wide range of bowls, dishes, and flagons appeared in ARS, potters discontinued the technique of making entire relief-decorated vessels in molds. Instead, they frequently used appliqué motifs on those that required relief decoration, separately made and applied to the vessel before drying and firing. Stamped motifs were also a favored form of decoration.

Potteries produced most of these wares on an industrial scale. The largest kilns could fire up to 40,000 pieces at a time, and undoubtedly using a high degree of specialization within the workshops.

The most common method of making relief decoration on the surface of an open terra sigillata vessel was to throw a pottery bowl whose interior profile corresponded with the desired form of the final vessel's exterior. The internal surface was then decorated using individual positive stamps called poinçons, usually made of fired clay, or small wheels bearing repeated motifs, such as the ovolo,, or the egg-and-tongue design that often formed the upper border of the decoration. Details could also be added by hand with a stylus. When the artisan completed the decoration in intaglio on the interior, he would set the mold aside to dry. As the bowl dried, it shrank sufficiently to remove it from the mold, after which the he finished the process with additional shaping or by adding a foot-ring and finishing the rim.

The completed bowl could then be slipped, dried again, and fired. Roman potters seldom relief decorated closed vessels, such as jugs and jars, in molds. Potters made larger vessels by making the upper and lower parts of the vessel separately in molds and joining them at the point of widest diameter. They added relief-decoration of tall vases or jars by using molded appliqué motifs, called sprigs, and/or slip-trailing, known as barbotine decoration.

Roman potters made plain sigillata table vessels, which included large platters, shallow dishes in several sizes, slightly deeper bowls, and small cups, on the wheel using a range of templates to create very precise profiles. They also standardized sizes, which facilitated the firing, storage and transport of the huge numbers produced.

Potters in many parts of the Roman Empire produced lead-glazed pottery. They generally employed this type of vitreous glaze for small, decorative items of tableware, including mold-made cups with relief decoration, lamps and zoomorphic, animal shaped, containers. The glazes varied in color from amber to brown and many shades of green.

Tableware made of Egyptian faience, glazed in vivid blue, turquoise or green, continued to be manufactured in Egypt throughout the Roman occupation, and the shapes of some of these faience vessels in the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE were directly influenced by Arretine ware. Egyptian potteries also produced luxurious, elaborately decorated polychrome faience vessels.

Coarse Ware
The Roman lower classes and slaves used coarse ware. It was inexpensive, quick to produce, and came in various shapes and sizes. The quality was generally poorer than fine ware since potteries produced pieces in quantity using unrefined clays. This process often left parts with rough textures and appearances. The walls of these vessels were thick to compensate for the low quality and daily use, but chips and breaks still occurred. Coarse ware generally lacked decoration due to its daily use.

Roman kitchens relied heavily on ceramic vessels for food preparation and consumption. Cooks used earthenware caccabi, or large stew pots, ollae, or smaller pots, and patellae, or pans—all designed to withstand heat and daily use.

The mortarium was a robust shallow, bowl-shaped vessel with a thick, out-curved rim that made it easy to handle, often a pouring lip, and an internal surface roughened with a coating of grit or coarse sand during its manufacture, used for grinding and mixing herbs and spices, nuts and seeds, vegetables and fruits, grains, meat and fish, as well as cheese and other dairy products.

Roman Pottery Production
Pottery production varied across Roman territories, influenced by local clays, traditions, and market demands. Gaul became renowned for distinctive red-gloss tableware. Workshops in the Province of Italia specialized in thin-walled pottery and relief-decorated wares. .

Roman potters used a variety of types of clay to produce their wares. They carefully selected clay deposits based on their properties and suitability for different vessel types. They often mixed different clay types to achieve the desired characteristics, much as potters do today. They also added sand or crushed pottery, known as grog, to their clay to improve its workability and reduce shrinkage during firing.

After forming their vessels, they fired them in kilns made of stone, brick, and clay. Temperatures in these kilns often reached 1832 degrees F. Large pottery centers used multiple kilns to create large quantities of wares.

Roman potters employed all the standard methods for making vessels—wheel throwing for symmetrical vessels, coil-building for large ones, slab construction for flat ones, and molding for oil lamps.

Roman pottery featured a variety of decorative elements. Geometric patterns, floral designs, and figurative scenes were common. Another prevalent motif was the cornucopia, or "horn of plenty," which symbolized abundance, prosperity, and fertility in ancient Roman culture. Cornucopia motifs often appeared on drinking vessels or serving dishes, to convey wishes for wealth and good fortune.

Potters employed various techniques to create these motifs, including incision and relief work. Animal and mythological figures often appeared on ceramic surfaces. To enhance their wares, Roman potters added slip, a more liquid form of clay, and glazes. They also burnished their pieces.

While individual potters may have worked in smaller towns and villages, mass-production potteries produced much of the wares used by the Roman army and for storing and transporting trade goods. To increase efficiency, they used standardized forms and sizes. The use of consistent dimensions and shapes allowed for more efficient stacking and storage of pottery during shipping, maximizing the available space in cargo holds. Furthermore, standardized sizes made it easier for merchants and customers to estimate the volume and value of the contents within each vessel.

Storage Vessels
Amphorae were large terracotta vessels used for storing and transporting goods. These sturdy containers had a characteristic two-handled design and pointed base. The Romans developed different shapes of amphorae to transport specific products—wine, olive oil, and garum, a Roman fish sauce. The design of each piece was heavily dependent on the province from which it was produced and the item it would be transporting. Roman amphorae, for the most part, were one piece, composed of a curved body, two cylindrical handles, a rim, and a spiked foot. Flat bases on Roman amphorae were rare. The spiked foot allowed for ease of storage on ships where it could be restrained upright and served as a third handle when emptying the container..Amphorae often bore stamps or inscriptions providing information about contents, origin, or capacity.

Potters first threw the body of an amphora on a wheel and left to partially dry. Then they added coils of clay to form the neck, the rim, and the handles. Once they completed the amphora,, they treated its interior with resin in order to ensure a better performance for liquid storage. Stamps, graffiti and inscriptions provided information from the production cycle to the content and the commercialization. Potters usually applied a stamp, which indicated the name of the figlina, or workshop, and/or the name of the owner of the workshop, to the amphora at a partially dry stage. Upon an amphora’s completion, the potter applied painted stamps, called tituli picti, which indicated the weight of the container and the content.

Along with amphorae, the Romans used large ceramic containers, called dolia, for long-term storage of grains, oils, and other foodstuffs by partially burying them in the ground to maintain cool temperatures.

Smaller jars and pots were used for domestic storage of dry goods and preserved foods. The variety in sizes and shapes of storage vessels reflects the diverse needs of Roman households and businesses.