Introduction
Historical Background
Portus (Fiumicino) was the maritime port of ancient Rome and, together with the neighbouring river port at Ostia, was the focus of a network of ports serving Imperial Rome between the mid-1st century AD and the 6th century AD. It was critically important for supplying the city of Imperial Rome with foodstuffs and materials from across the Mediterranean from the 1st century AD onwards. It also acted as both a point of export for supplies and products from the Tiber Valley to the north of Rome, and a major hub for the redistribution of goods from ports across the Mediterranean. It must also have acted as a major conduit for people visiting Rome from around the Mediterranean.
The port was established by Claudius and provided an anchorage for Ostia on a massive scale. The 200ha. basin projected out into the Tyrrhenian sea and had ample draft for maritime ships. At least two canals connected this and a smaller basin (Darsena) to the river Tiber, the sea, and a small associated settlement to the south on the so-called Isola Sacra. Yet for all its engineering ingenuity, the new harbour was still not an entirely safe berth, and the Roman historian Tacitus records that 200 vessels were wrecked during a storm in the 60s AD.
The next major phase of development at Portus came under Trajan, the centre-piece of which was a second and smaller 32ha basin of hexagonal plan which greatly increased docking facilities. This new harbour, built directly inland from the Claudian port and connected to it by a major canal, remains a visual treat for today’s tourists flying into Rome. A network of further canals connected the hexagonal harbour to the Tiber and the Isola Sacra. Large warehouses, administrative buildings and a temple bordered the new basin. The whole port complex covers some 3.5km² and, aside from exceptional complexes like Alexandria, dwarfs most other ports in the Mediterranean. It is the sheer scale, archaeological potential and significance to our understanding of the development of Imperial Rome that makes Portus one of the most important archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. Portus developed throughout the later 2nd 3rd and 4th centuries AD. It began to enter a period of slow decline from the late 5th century AD onwards, although it was the scene of a major struggle between Byzantine and Ostrogothic troops during the Gothic wars (AD 535-553).
Earlier Work at the Site
The first objective account of the ruins at Portus was published by Rodolfo Lanciani (1868). This was followed by a number of archaeological studies, including a summary of excavations and a general account of the complex by Lugli and Filibeck (1935), Testaguzza’s discussion of the remains of the Claudian port (1970) discovered during the establishment of the International Airport of Fiumicino in the 1960s, work by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia (Mannucci 1992) and, a geophysical survey of the port complex as a whole undertaken between 1998-2003 (Keay et al. 2005).
The Work of the Portus Project
The Portus Project (2006-2014) (www.portusproject.org), which hosts the Field School, has built upon the results of the 1998-2003 geophysical survey of the port to ask a series of research questions about the development of the port and its relationship to the Mediterranean. This has necessarily involved undertaking analysis at different scales. In the first instance we have implemented an integrated strategy of intensive survey and open-area excavation at the Palazzo Imperiale, a prominent and enigmatic complex that overlooks both the Claudian and Trajanic basins at the heart of the port, and adjacent buildings, including a building identified as the shipsheds (navalia). Secondly, we have undertaken large scale survey of the Isola Sacra, in order to supplement our understanding of the hinterland of Portus and, in particular, its relationship to Ostia to the south, and its place within the broader Tiber delta. This dual approach is a deliberate response to traditional approaches to the study of ports that privilege the study of the layout of ports and their maritime connections at the expense of their terrestrial hinterlands.
The Portus Field School
One of the areas of the site to be examined by the Portus Field School will the north-eastern quadrant of the Palazzo Imperiale, in the area lying between the Trajanic quays of the Claudian basin to the north and the Trajanic basin to the south. Previous work in 2007, 2008 and 2009 initially concentrated primarily upon the eastern sector of a range of rooms (Area E) that defined the northern façade of the complex, and comprised the three-storey Castellum Aquae (Building 1) and the rectangular opus spicatum floored porticoed courtyard (Building 3). In 2012 and 2103 we have been concentrating upon an area (K) that lies further to the west of Area E and continues up into the main bulk of the Palazzo Imperiale to the west. These excavations have allowed us to better define the western limit of Building 3 within which were uncovered further traces of a glass workshop. This was initially identified further to the west half of Building 3; the new evidence allows us to date its period of use to the earlier 3rd century AD. Our work also revealed important new clues about the layout of the rest of the three storey Palazzo Imperiale. An opening on the western side of Building 3 permitted access into a vaulted corridor that ran from north to south, and in turn up into the first and second floor of the Palazzo by means of a staircase. A second corridor, that ran east-west, and opened off the north-south corridor, provided access into two vaulted rooms. The first of these was a latrine and there is evidence that the vaulted room above this shared the same function. Initial clearance work also revealed evidence of a passageway with mosaic floor immediately to the north of the latter. The final phase of use of this part of the Palazzo Imperiale occurred in the later 5th century AD, when the complex was enclosed within the late antique fortification (Mura Costantininae) recorded in our 2008-2009 excavations. Our work shows that an opening on the Claudian basin was blocked-up, the floor levels of these rooms were raised, and that a new staircase leading to the first floor was built. These excavations were undertaken as part of a programme to restore the stability of standing walls and vaults in this part of the Palazzo Imperiale. Additional work at Portus during 2012 consisted of a detailed laser scan of the façade of the Palazzo Imperiale, as well as all the excavated parts of Buildings, 1, 3 and 8, with a view to supplementing the site plans, elevation and photogrammetry of standing structures. The focus of the fieldwork that will be undertaken by the 2013 Field School will be upon this Area K, seeking to answer questions about the layout and function of different rooms in this part of the complex.
We shall also be working upon an adjacent structure, Building 5, which has been identified as the shipsheds (navalia) of the Trajanic port. These took the form of a single building 240m long x 60m wide that was composed of three separate sections, each of which was comprised of two passages, three narrow aisles and a single wide aisle, and opened on to the Trajanic basin. Research into this building began in 2011. Work undertaken in 2012 consisted of a re-survey of the surface of Building 5 with a 400MhZ GPR in June 2012. This work complements an earlier GPR survey of the site (2008), and has permitting us to further refine our interpretation of the internal layout of the building. It also involved targeted surface clearance and topographic work along the standing structures of the northern façade at the eastern end of the structure (originally exposed by Lugli in the 1930s), together with limited clearance along its southern façade. Our re-examination allowed us to confirm the organization of the building into three sections as suggested in the 2011 work. In the Field School we hope to undertake further excavation on the floor of the Trajanic phase of the building, with a view to better understanding how ships would have been accommodated within it and launched into the waters of the Trajanic basin.