s implied by Pliny that "Samian"
pottery is older than "Arretine," the name may now be fairly rejected
altogether, as we have rejected the name "Etruscan" for Greek pottery.
The Romans probably used it as a generic term, just as we speak of
"china," and the real Samian ware is to be seen in the later Greek
pottery, with reliefs, of the 3rd century B.C.

There were, as Pliny and other writers imply, many pottery centres in
Italy, at Rhegium, Cumae, Mutina and elsewhere, as well as at Saguntum
in Spain, but all were surpassed in excellence by Arretium. In more
modern times its pottery came under notice even in the middle ages, and
discoveries were made in the time of Leo X (about 1500) and again in the
18th century. The Arretine ware may be regarded as _the_ Roman pottery
_par excellence_, and its popularity extended from about 150 B.C. down
to the end of the 1st century of the Empire, reaching its height in the
1st century B.C., after which it rapidly degenerated, and its place was
taken by the wares of the provinces. Its general characteristics may be
summed up as follows:--(1) The fine local red clay, carefully levigated
and baked very hard to a rich coral red or a colour like sealing-wax;
(2) the fine red glaze, which has already been discussed; (3) the great
variety of forms employed, showing the marked influence of metal-work;
(4) the almost invariable presence of stamps with potters' names. The
majority of the specimens have been found at Arezzo itself, but there
was a branch of the industry at Puteoli, producing pottery almost equal
in merit, and it was also exported to central and eastern Europe and
Spain.

The earliest examples are of black glossy ware, but the red appears to
have been introduced by 100 B.C., when the first potters' stamps appear.
These are usually quadrangular in form, though other shapes are found,
and are impressed in the midst of the design on the ornamented vases, or
on plain wares on the bottom of the interior. The number of potters'
names is very large, though some appear to have been more prolific than
others, and to have employed a large number of slaves, whose names
appear with their masters' on the stamps. The best known is Marcus
Perennius, whose wares take highest rank for their artistic merit, the
designs being copied from good Greek models. He employed seventeen
slaves, of whom the best known is Tigranes, the stamps usually appearing
as M.PEREN and TIGRAN. The slave-name of Barga