NOTES ON THE COLLEGIUM UTRICLARIORUM
NOTES ON THE COLLEGIUM UTRICLARIORUM

Summary/Abstract: The collegium utriclariorum appears quite frequently on inscriptions from Gallia Narbonensis and Gallia Lugdunensis and only there, with the exception of two monuments from Dacia. Whereas the etymology of the word, as well as a bronze tessera from Cavaillon makes it clear that they were connected somehow to wineskins, to this day there is no consensus on what exactly was the business of the utricularii. According to the most wide- spread theories, they could have been bagpipers (players and/or manufacturers), rafters, wine- transporters, wineskin makers/traders or firefighters. This paper shortly discusses all of these theories formulated strictly on the basis of epigraphic sources, to which it adds also a glimpse into the archaeology of the wineskins, as well as an outlook to the Greek counterpart of the problem

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