Ancient mall

I knew a fair amount about ancient Roman history before coming to Rome, and i knew that they were an incredibly advanced culture, but i never thought about their material necessities. Across the street from the forum is an ancient market place that the guide book says is the equivalent of a present day shopping mall. Looking at the structure you can imagine what it would be like to be a Roman walking from store front to store front buying whatever it is Romans bought. What did they buy? Lets speculate: Statues of favorite gladiators for kids, fresh vegetables, fish, togas, leather sandals, Egyptian cotton, goods from other parts of the empire...makes you wonder.