Humanities › History & Culture The Crafts of the Ancient Craftsmen An overview of the crafts of the ancient craftsmen from Greece and Rome Share Flipboard Email Print Black Figure Attic Cylix With Athena Between 2 Warriors. NYPL Digital Library History & Culture Ancient History and Culture Figures & Events Ancient Languages Greece Egypt Asia Rome Mythology & Religion American History African American History African History Asian History European History Genealogy Inventions Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By N.S. Gill N.S. Gill Ancient History and Latin Expert M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota B.A., Latin, University of Minnesota N.S. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. She has been featured by NPR and National Geographic for her ancient history expertise. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on March 08, 2017 Ancient craftsmen provided ancient Greece and Rome with goods that weren't easily made in the average home. Among the ancient craftsmen of the Greeks, Homer names builders, carpenters, workers in leather and metal, and potters. In the reforms of the second king of ancient Rome, Plutarch says Numa divided the craftsmen into nine guilds (collegia opificum), the last of which was a catch-all category. The others were: fluteplayersgoldsmithscoppersmithscarpentersfullersdyerspottersshoemakers Over time, the different types of craftsmen multiplied. Tradesmen became wealthy selling the handiwork of the ancient craftsmen, but in both Greece and Rome, the ancient craftsmen tended to be held in low regard. There may have been many reasons for this, including the fact that many ancient craftsmen were enslaved. Source: Oskar Seyffert's Dictionary of Classical Antiquity. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Gill, N.S. "The Crafts of the Ancient Craftsmen." ThoughtCo, Sep. 7, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-crafts-of-the-ancient-craftsmen-120506. Gill, N.S. (2020, September 7). The Crafts of the Ancient Craftsmen. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-crafts-of-the-ancient-craftsmen-120506 Gill, N.S. "The Crafts of the Ancient Craftsmen." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-crafts-of-the-ancient-craftsmen-120506 (accessed March 25, 2023). copy citation