Roman ports

Version mise à jour en février 2022 : peu après la publication de cet article nous avons modifié le classement et chronologie de la pièce de monnaie de l'épave Monaco A (p. 184). La datation de l’émission entre 186 et 189 ap. J.- C. ne contredit, plutôt renforce la chronologie de la construction du navire.

This paper examines several interrelated aspects of maritime connectivity within the Roman Mediterranean. First, it considers Fulford’s suggestion of a divide between eastern and western trading zones along the North African coast in the light of new discoveries since the publication of his article in Libyan Studies in 1989. Some evidence supports his analysis; the distribution of Italian bricks imported as return cargoes to North Africa does not extend east of the Gulf of Sirt; by contrast the identifiable exports from Cyrenaica go north up the Adriatic but not west to Tripolitania. However, the imported finewares at Berenice (Benghazi) in the third century AD are almost exclusively African Red Slip ware from Tunisia, though it is unclear if they have been imported directly (as clearly occurred much earlier with the import of Punic cooking wares to Cyrenaica), or as return cargoes from an intermediate entrepôt such as Portus. The idea of a certain amount of traffic along the North African littoral is supported by the epigraphic evidence suggesting Alexandrian worshippers at sanctuaries of Isis and Sarapis at major North African ports west of the Gulf of Sirt, who may be part of trading diaspora communities, of the kind attested at Puteoli and elsewhere. Such trading communities at major ports suggest regular mercantile connections on established routes, with knowledge about general market demand (if not actual price levels) at distant ports, and sometimes contacts between known trading partners. The glass industry is considered as a case study illustrating the geographical integration of the Roman economy through maritime networks between ports. Roman glass production relied heavily on large-scale primary production of raw glass in the Levant, using natron imported from Egypt. The raw glass was then shipped around the Roman world to secondary production centres where it was transformed into a final product; the different stages of production were linked by long-distance maritime trade routes. Finally, the paper examines how port structures, capacities and facilities might relate to and reflect the patterns of maritime trade in antiquity. The type and size of port infrastructure and harbour capacity can help to construct hierarchies of ports, ranging from villa harbours to major entrepôts like Portus, and to suggest connections between them within regional hierarchies. It is noteworthy that some of the villa harbours of the Roman period could accommodate sizeable sea-going ships capable of undertaking open-water voyages to distant emporia.

This paper examines several interrelated aspects of maritime connectivity within the Roman Mediterranean. First, it considers Fulford’s suggestion of a divide between eastern and western trading zones along the North African coast in the light of new discoveries since the publication of his article in Libyan Studies in 1989. Some evidence supports his analysis; the distribution of Italian bricks imported as return cargoes to North Africa does not extend east of the Gulf of Sirt; by contrast the identifiable exports from Cyrenaica go north up the Adriatic but not west to Tripolitania. However, the imported finewares at Berenice (Benghazi) in the third century AD are almost exclusively African Red Slip ware from Tunisia, though it is unclear if they have been imported directly (as clearly occurred much earlier with the import of Punic cooking wares to Cyrenaica), or as return cargoes from an intermediate entrepôt such as Portus. The idea of a certain amount of traffic along the North African littoral is supported by the epigraphic evidence suggesting Alexandrian worshippers at sanctuaries of Isis and Sarapis at major North African ports west of the Gulf of Sirt, who may be part of trading diaspora communities, of the kind attested at Puteoli and elsewhere.

Such trading communities at major ports suggest regular mercantile connections on established routes, with knowledge about general market demand (if not actual price levels) at distant ports, and sometimes contacts between known trading partners. The glass industry is considered as a case study illustrating the geographical integration of the Roman economy through maritime networks between ports. Roman glass production relied heavily on large-scale primary production of raw glass in the Levant, using natron imported from Egypt. The raw glass was then shipped around the Roman world to secondary production centres where it was transformed into a final product; the different stages of production were linked by long-distance maritime trade routes.

Finally, the paper examines how port structures, capacities and facilities might relate to and reflect the patterns of maritime trade in antiquity. The type and size of port infrastructure and harbour capacity can help to construct hierarchies of ports, ranging from villa harbours to major entrepôts like Portus, and to suggest connections between them within regional hierarchies. It is noteworthy that some of the villa harbours of the Roman period could accommodate sizeable sea-going ships capable of undertaking open-water voyages to distant emporia.

Hispania and the Mediterranean: 3rd to mid 6th centuries 3.1. The 3rd century: a world in transition 3.2. The 4th century: Hispania, north Africa and the East 3.3. 5th century deposits in the West and exports from the East 3.3.1. The late 4th century to 425/45084 3.3.2. The barbarian kingdoms: early and mid Vandal period exports 3.4. The late 5th to mid 6th centuries: late Vandal and eastern Mediterranean trade 3.4.1. General distribution in the western Mediterranean and Atlantic 3.4.2. The end of Spanish, Portuguese and Balearic amphora exports v 3.5. The mid 6th century Benalúa deposit (Alicante) 4. Later 6th and 7th century trade: fragmentation and regionalisation 4.1. The Byzantine 'reconquest' of southern Spain 4.1.1. Byzantine Hispania, Carthage and the Balearics 4.1.2. General trends in the western Mediterranean 4.2. The second half of the 7th century

Between 1999 and 2003 the University of Southampton conducted excavations on the site of Quseir al-Qadim (western shores of the Red Sea), a place that had not been examined since the excavations by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago ended in 1982. The new work was prompted by the discovery that the site of Quseir al-Qadim was, in all probability, not that of the minor port of Leucos Limen, as had been previously thought, but none other than Myos Hormos. This port, together with its sister harbour Berenike, articulated Rome’s trade with India and the East. This second volume concentrates on the finds made during the excavation period and the volume concludes with an overview of what we now know of the nature and function of the ports of Myos Hormos and Quseir al-Qadim and a discussion of outstanding problems which can only be resolved by further work.
This volume presents and discusses the large volume of finds from the excavations at the Red Sea port of Myos Hormos, a major node in Rome's trade with the east. The many specialist chapters focus on ceramics, metal artefacts, glass, wooden artefacts, ship fittings, finds related to fishing, plant remains, faunal remains, basketry and some written material. A seperate volume, however will cover the pottery, textiles, palaeobotany, ostraca and paper documents.

A check carried out on fragments 23 and 24 b-d of the Forma Urbis Romae allowed to definitively exclude the presence of other epigraphic traces preceding the already known letters in rustic capital 'I A'. This evidence does not therefore allow the reading [PORTICUS AEMI] LIA to be rejected, among the interpretative hypotheses of the monument extra portam Trigeminam. The topographic reconstruction of the emporium district remains thus fully valid, gravitating around the building mentioned by Tito Livio, represented in the FUR and partially preserved to the west of Via Marmorata, which has become increasingly precise starting from the reading of G. Gatti. It therefore seems to reject the proposal for the interpretation of the monument as navalia, unsustainable for architectural, structural, topographical and historical reasons. An overall urban view of the area, on the other hand, shows how the building could coherently perform the functions of an infrastructure serving the river port and the emporium, as a place to carry out checks, including customs, and redistribute the goods to their final destination.

This book is an analysis of the commercial activity of Mediterranean ports in the early Roman Empire (1st-3rd cent AD). Abstract though this approach may seem, the problems addressed are concrete and down-to earth. Its main purpose is to chart and analyse the Roman trading experience during this period through close study of material evidence and juristic literature. Rather than providing a narrative of the development of trade as part of Roman history writ large, this work explores how commercial procedures were performed when distributing goods, how these procedures were reflected in merchandise, and what that tells us about law and its interaction with the daily practices used in trade. This work also integrates these procedures and their associated material record in their spatial and socio-political context. The spatial focus of this work will concentrate especially on Roman Mediterranean ports acting as key nodes through which were channelled major commercial flows of goods. In that sense, recent years have seen a growth in ancient port studies, increasingly showing that they cannot be viewed in isolation, or simply in relation to the sea. 1 Mediterranean ports during the imperial period occupied positions between land and sea and constituted systems, that are a set of interdependent areas and structures forming an integrated whole. This conception has been the impetus for the development of interdisciplinary studies carried out on several ports (e.g. Portus, 2 Narbonne 3), recovering many Roman-era port structures and revealing the multiple functions of these constructions (e.g. administrative, commercial). In that sense, visualize an ancient port: a cloud of people moving goods, loading and unloading ships, stacking warehouses, checking contents, boarding for travel to foreign places, etc. However, regarding the available evidence of the remaining structures, almost nothing is found in recent publications that tells us how a port worked, what its output was, how wholesale and retail sales were transacted, or what sort of accounting for and registration of the transactions took place at ports. These gaps in the research are partly due to the lack of consideration of the legal framework in relation to commerce and distribution and especially concerning the important role that merchandise plays in providing information about trading activities. 4 Studies about these sources were carried out in other disciplines (epigraphy, archaeology), but these were not undertaken from an interdisciplinary perspective. 5 Legal scholars studying Roman trade have also neglected the importance of the spaces where the law was put into practice and/or of the merchandise that 1 Keay (2012), and other studies developed under the umbrella of the ERC Portus Limen project, such as the present study. 2 Keay et al (2005) 3 Sanchez & Jezegou (2016) 4 For example, the introductory book by Morley (2007), though providing a good sample of sources, still remains too theoretical where trading activities are concerned.

Presentation of the Monte Castêlo (Guifões, Matosinhos -Porto) archaeological site within the context of sailing on the River Leça and, in general, in Ancient times. This late Roman site seems to prove the existence of intense commercial trade during the 4th and 5th centuries.

In Roman mural painting, ports (as Vitruvius explains) and maritime or lake villas are recurrent subjects. However, both these themes posed some graphic problems, because the ports were vast and complex infrastructures, not easy to summarize in a few elements; the villae maritimae, so that they were perceived as such, not only needed to be represented as coastal, but they also had to show aquatic foundations. In both cases, these informations requested graphic codes for summarize them in a universal and immediately comprehensible way: the most widespread is the series of arches built on immersed pilae, the s.c. opus pilarum. The model derived from bridges and from the few sea ports where it was actually implemented: in the representations of ports, jetties and bases of the villae maritimae on coins, paintings, mosaics, lamps, etc., this code was used and emphasized not (or not always) as an element of realism but, transposed into a pictogram, as a symbolic synthesis for 'structure built in water'.

The great need for stone as a building material in Roman Istria is attested by a large number of quarries along the Istrian coast, and several in the interior. The more or less high-quality limestone from these quarries could have been used for the building of many villae rusticae scattered across the peninsula, or perhaps even for further distribution. In that regard, Roman Istria was connected by a system of roads, the precise heading of which we are today still uncertain. The road con-necting Aquilea and Pola was called Via Flavia, and several authors suggest that a road of the same name connected Pola to Tarsatica. Nevertheless, a much cheaper system of transportation was by sea or river, and the Istrian coast is rich with many bays or coves that could have been useful to Roman sailors as safe havens or trading ports.

The Roman city of Ossonoba, located under the current city of Faro in the Portuguese Algarve, was one of the South’s most notable cities of Lusitania. From the time of Augustus this maritime city, whose name denotes Iberian origins, expands his area, and around mid-century its urban sprawl is already very significant. The epig- raphy, as well as a very strong presence of ceramics with origin in Baetica, reveals a great proximity with this neighboring province. Taking advantage of any weaknesses of the cities of Baetica from end of the 2nd century, Ossonoba reaches a great development around the III and IV century, particularly supported by the fish salting and maritime trade.
From the end of the fourth century its urban sprawl, like other cities of Hispania retracts too and the rich villas that developed on their territories, such as Milreu, suffer profound changes related to the new times in which the values and lifestyles have changed.

Between 1999 and 2003 the University of Southampton conducted excavations on the site of Quseir al-Qadim (western shores of the Red Sea), a place that had not been examined since the excavations by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago ended in 1982. The new work was prompted by the discovery that the site of Quseir al-Qadim was, in all probability, not that of the minor port of Leucos Limen, as had been previously thought, but none other than Myos Hormos. This port, together with its sister harbour Berenike, articulated Rome’s trade with India and the East. This second volume concentrates on the finds made during the excavation period and the volume concludes with an overview of what we now know of the nature and function of the ports of Myos Hormos and Quseir al-Qadim and a discussion of outstanding problems which can only be resolved by further work.
This volume presents and discusses the large volume of finds from the excavations at the Red Sea port of Myos Hormos, a major node in Rome's trade with the east. The many specialist chapters focus on ceramics, metal artefacts, glass, wooden artefacts, ship fittings, finds related to fishing, plant remains, faunal remains, basketry and some written material. A seperate volume, however will cover the pottery, textiles, palaeobotany, ostraca and paper documents.

Nell’autunno del 79 d.C., la catastrofica eruzione vulcanica che seppellì Pompei e tutta la fascia marittima vesuviana da Ercolano a Stabia, fu il teatro dell’intervento umanitario delle quadriremi della flotta imperiale di Miseno al comando di Plinio il Vecchio, che al termine di quella missione perse la vita. Tale epilogo personale, sul quale si è focalizzata la testimonianza del nipote, ha distolto l’attenzione dei posteri dalle navi romane e dalla loro coraggiosissima operazione di soccorso, i cui lineamenti generali possono tuttavia essere storicamente ricostruiti vagliando accuratamente i pochi dati pervenuti dalle fonti letterarie ed integrandoli con il complesso di conoscenze desumibili dalla storia, dalla vulcanologia, dall’archeologia e da molte altre discipline pertinenti, incluse le scienze marittime e navali.

Referència d'una vella excavació al nord de Menorca d'un magatzem portuari del segle II dC., època d'Adrià, amb un depòsit de fragments de marbre, crustae, de vuit pedreres importants d'Anatòlia i de l'Egeu, possib le recuperació antiga d'un naufragi.

Se corresponde con una factoría de salazón a la que se le asocia un área industrial subsidiaria, un espacio de carácter doméstico y un extenso ámbito de necrópolis. La factoría quedará principalmente representada por cuatro cubetas de salazón cuadrangulares de 1,5 m de lado y 1,10 de profundidad asociadas a elementos edilicios relacionados con la transformación y comercialización del pescado como el denominado "corral de las ánforas". Se ha estimado una capacidad productiva mínima para esta cetaria de 10 m3. Entre los contextos asociados se han identificado ánforas y molinos rotatorios. En otro sector del yacimiento se han identificado testimonios relacionados con la actividad alfarera que sin duda se debió desarrollar en este yacimiento, posiblemente como actividad subsidiaria.

La factoría romana de salazones situada en el yacimiento ibérico y romano de La Picola (Polígono Urbano de Salinas, Santa Pola) fue descubierta y excavada en parte hace décadas. Desde 1997 el equipo científico MMar-UA ha continuado las investigaciones descubriendo la secuencia estratigráfica completa del asentamiento, válida para entender la propia evolución del Portus Ilicitanus: poblado fortín ibérico ½ V a.C.-tercer ¼ IV a.C.; ambientes domésticos de época augustea y s. I d. C; almacenes del II a ½ IV d. C, y una cetaria que tiene dos fases de ½ IV d.C. hasta el siglo VI d.C. La factoría de salazones producía garum como lo demuestran distintos hallazgos como las balsas de decantación, los restos oseos de ictiofauna encontrados en sus fondos, la existencia de un horno de cocción o calentamiento, o el hallazgo de ánforas del tipo Almagro 51c que aún conservaban restos de salazón.

Between 1999 and 2003 the University of Southampton conducted excavations on the site of Quseir al-Qadim (western shores of the Red Sea), a place that had not been examined since the excavations by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago ended in 1982. The new work was prompted by the discovery that the site of Quseir al-Qadim was, in all probability, not that of the minor port of Leucos Limen, as had been previously thought, but none other than Myos Hormos. This port, together with its sister harbour Berenike, articulated Rome’s trade with India and the East. This second volume concentrates on the finds made during the excavation period and the volume concludes with an overview of what we now know of the nature and function of the ports of Myos Hormos and Quseir al-Qadim and a discussion of outstanding problems which can only be resolved by further work.
This volume presents and discusses the large volume of finds from the excavations at the Red Sea port of Myos Hormos, a major node in Rome's trade with the east. The many specialist chapters focus on ceramics, metal artefacts, glass, wooden artefacts, ship fittings, finds related to fishing, plant remains, faunal remains, basketry and some written material. A seperate volume, however will cover the pottery, textiles, palaeobotany, ostraca and paper documents.

Il contributo s’inserisce nel filone di studi sull’area archeologica di Ostia Antica, specificatamente nei suoi rapporti con le Province africane comprese nell’attuale Tunisia caratterizzati da diversificate influenze, eredità, lasciti e intrecci culturali. In ambito ostiense l’intreccio di interessi e culture è ampiamente testimoniato dai diversificati culti e religioni che hanno lasciato edifici significativi legati alle diverse forme di religiosità (culti pagani greco-romani, di origine orientale, religione ebraica e cristiana), o dagli edifici termali legati alle esigenze delle diverse comunità ostiensi provenienti da tutto il bacino del Mediterraneo. Ma soprattutto il Piazzale delle Corporazioni di Ostia Antica, è oggetto di un particolare approfondimento visto che tale struttura, retrostante la scena del Teatro, ha rappresentato nell’antichità un punto d’incontro tra civiltà diverse, luogo dove le comunità dei mercanti stranieri, associati su base etnica o per la propria origine, ritrovavano il proprio gruppo etnico di commercianti. Un luogo d’incontro commerciale dove alcune comunità del Nord-Africa e della Tunisia avevano depositi e magazzini di rappresentanza delle compagnie di navigazione e di commercio delle principali città del Mediterraneo e delle provincie d’Africa: tra questi i naviculari africani e le comunità di Alessandria, Sabratha, Cartagine. La bibliografia corrente, infatti, ha messo in evidenza come Ostia, grazie alla sua strategica posizione geografica, fosse diventata, nell’antichità, luogo di esportazione e importazione di merci, dove le navi giungevano da varie province come l’Africa. Esemplificando, si vuole ricordare che, nel rapporto tra Ostia e il territorio tunisino, nel 278 a. C., nel porto romano sbarca la flotta Cartaginese, inviata in aiuto dei Romani nella guerra contro Pirro e a seguire, nel 211 a. C., Ostia costituisce la base da cui partono le trenta quinqueremi di Publio Cornelio Scipione, dirette in Africa alla conquista definitiva di Cartagine. Senza dimenticare che le due città-stato, Roma e Cartagine, hanno avuto sempre l’esigenza di regolare le reciproche convenienze oltre che le rispettive zone di influenza; per secoli le due popolazioni hanno operato da alleate, condividendo interessi economici e metodologie di espansione.

El puerto romano de Puteoli es uno de los sitios más interesantes para el estudio de las infraestructuras comerciales marítimas de la antigua Roma. Sus  poderosas estructuras, aún conservadas en gran parte por debajo del nivel del mar debido a la actividad volcánica de los Campi Flegrei, ya fueron documentadas a principios de los años noventa del siglo XX, pero aún requieren un estudio arqueológico subacuático detallado.
Este breve aporte presenta algunas observaciones arqueológicas elaboradas durante recientes investigaciones bajo el agua y desde el cielo, mediante drones, en el sector en la base de la antigua acrópolis de Dicearchia y a lo largo de la densa secuencia de estructuras sumergidas que caracterizan la ripa Puteolana y los vici Annianus y Lartidianus. Gracias a los nuevos datos obtenidos, es posible conocer mejor la extensión del puerto y las diferentes construcciones realizadas en la costa y incluso directamente en el agua, aprovechando la amplia disponibilidad de pozzolana.

La fouille pluriannuelle des aménagements portuaires d’Aizier (Eure), menée entre 2009 et 2013, a donné lieu à la découverte d’un petit corpus d’instrumentum, composé de 84 objets. Son analyse fonctionnelle et contextuelle apporte un éclairage sur les objets de la vie quotidienne ayant circulé dans ce port ou à ses abords, et permet également d’améliorer la compréhension des dernières phases d’activité des terrasses portuaires et de leur abandon, à partir du courant du IIIe s. apr. J.-C.

Excavations of the port facilities in Aizier (Eure), carried out over several years between 2009 and 2013, led to the discovery of a small instrumentum, composed of 84 objects. The functional and contextual analysis of this corpus sheds light on objects for ordinary and domestic use that circulated in this port or in its surroundings, and also provides a better understanding of the last phases of activity on the port terraces and their subsequent abandonment, as early as during the 3rd c. AD. The objects collected are common and quite varied, as is the case for the instrumentum recovered from nearby estuary sites and also dated to the Early Roman Imperial period. In addition to objects illustrating the everyday life of the port users, certain elements, made of remarkable materials, also make it possible to study small-scale and large-scale networks, within which Aizier must be considered as being a significant crossing point.