In AD 42, the Emperor Claudius initiated work on the construction of a new artificial harbour a short distance to the north of the mouth of the Tiber. The harbour facilities were enlarged at the instigation of the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the second century AD, and Portus remained the principal port for the City of Rome into the Byzantine period.
The surviving archaeological remains and comments by ancient sources make it clear that Portus lay at the heart of Rome's maritime façade. As well as being a key Mediterranean centre for passengers and for the loading, unloading, transshipment and storage of products from across the Empire, it was also designed to make an ideological statement about the supremacy of Rome in the world.
Portus is, thus, of key importance to understanding Rome and her relationship to the Empire. The project that forms the subject of this book was designed to use non-destructive techniques of topographic and geophysical survey in combination with systematic surface collection to provide a new understanding of the plan of Portus.
The work was undertaken between 1997 and 2002 as a collaboration between the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia, the British School at Rome, and the Universities of Southampton, Durham and Cambridge. This volume presents the full results of the survey and uses them as the basis for a re-evaluation of the whole port complex. The geophysical survey results are interpreted in the context of earlier work at the site in order to offer new perspectives on the character and development of the site.

Portus: An Archaeological Survey of the Port of Imperial Rome

This is a collection of fourteen papers by leading scholars from the UK, Italy and France which focus upon recent archaeological work undertaken at Portus, the port of Imperial Rome, and in its hinterland. Results of the excavations undertaken under the aegis of the Portus Project are a highlight.

Portus and its hinterland: recent archaeological research

Results of the ongoing archaeological survey and excavations at Portus and the surrounding hinterland of the Tiber delta have revealed a system of large artificial canals and associated structures relating to the Imperial and Late Antique port, and associated agrarian practice and secondary industries practiced in the delta area. These man-made features have demonstrable links to the geomorphology of the Tiber delta, with canals making use of the dune cordons and variations in the sediments across the wetland. The methodology used to map the archaeological and geomorphological features in the study area has included topographic survey, geophysical survey, using magnetometry, and Ground Penetrating Radar, and analysis of air photographic evidence together with other sources of data including satellite imagery. To these non-intrusive techniques have been added borehole data collected by colleagues as part of the Portus Project (www.portusproject.org), and evidence for canal and waterfront construction relating to excavation at the site of Portus. This paper presents a detailed methodology of the fieldwork to date, and assesses some of the preliminary results of the archaeological survey, focusing on evidence for the system of large canals linking the port with the river Tiber, and the Tiber to the coast. It also focuses upon a reassessment of some of the canal features by comparing coring evidence collected during the excavation seasons at Portus by colleagues at the CNRS-Lyon with results of the geophysical survey. The paper also advances possible avenues for future investigation and research, and draws upon the results of the survey to provide an overview of evidence for the organization of land in the delta and wetland surrounding the port complex, including a system of smaller canals and land divisions.

The canal system and Tiber Delta at Portus. Assessing the nature of man-made waterways and their relationship with the natural environment

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