Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Horreum

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

HORR'EUM (ὡρεῖον). A granary, barn, or other building in which the fruits of the earth were stored (Virg. Georg. 1. 49. Tibull. ii. 5. 84.); frequently constructed, like our own, upon dwarf piers, in order to keep the floor dry, and free from vermin; in which case it was termed pensile. Columell. xii. 50. 3.

2. A store room for wine in the upper floor of a house, where it was kept to ripen after it had been put into amphorae, or, as we should say, bottled. Hor. Od. iii. 28. 7.

3. (ἀποθήκη). A repository, store room, or lumber room, in which goods and chattels of any kind were deposited for preservation, or to be out of the way, when not required for use; books, for instance (Sen. Ep. 45.); statues (Plin. Ep. viii. 18. 11.); agricultural implements (Columell. i. 6. 7.), &c.

4. Horreum publicum (σιτοφυλακεῖον). A public granary, in which large stores of corn were kept by the state, in order that a supply might always be at hand in times of scarcity, to be distributed amongst the poor, or sold to them at a moderate price. P. Victor. de Reg. Urb. Rom. Compare Liv. Epit. 60. Vell. Pat. ii. 6. 3. Plut. Gracch. 5., from which passages we learn that the first notion of building these granaries originated with C. Sempronius Gracchus.

5. A bonding warehouse, where persons of all classes could deposit their goods and chattels, whether merchandise or personal property, such as furniture, money, securities, or valuables of any kind, for safe custody. This was also a public building, as well as the last mentioned, and each quarter (regio) of the city was at one period furnished with a separate warehouse for the use of the neighbourhood. Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 39. Ulp. Dig. 10. 4. 5. Paul. Dig. 34. 2. 53. Modest. ib. 32. 1. 82.