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The Collegium Pistorum was a guild of bakers, headquartered in Rome, during the late Roman Republic through the Roman Empire.[1] Founded around 168 BC, the college of bakers was the first official government sanctioned guild for bread and pastry making.[1] The Collegium Pistorum played a central role in the cura annoae, the care and distribution of the grain supply in the Roman world.[2]
Membership into the Pistorum granted a baker's license to sell baked goods commercially and to receive contracts from the Roman government. The membership was granted for life and included hereditary privileges, whereby the next generation inherited the legal obligation to also be a commercially licensed baker.[1] By the reign of Emperor Augustus, there were over 150 licensed pastry specialists with the Collegium Pistorum.[3] The college was considered so important to Roman life and activity that the Roman Senate granted a member of the Collegium Pistorum a seat as a Roman Senator.[3]