Introduction
When we compare Ostia and Portus to the modern world, the first thing that comes to mind is Leonardo da Vinci airport. Not so much because part of the airport is lying on top of the ancient harbour, but because of the wide variety of people that passed through both the airport and the harbour. If only we could see the footage of ancient security cameras! At Arrivals and Departures we would see an endless parade of embassies and provincial governors, merchants and tourists, the Emperor himself and countless servants. We would see large cargo ships approaching the harbour, using a very tall lighthouse as their Instrument Landing System, and small auxiliary vessels employed by the harbour master and his personnel. Instead of gates we would see numbered mooring spaces where cargoes were unloaded, and where passengers boarded and left ships. Both the passengers and the cargoes were checked and went through customs. Outside the harbours carts were parked, the taxis for Rome.
Arrival in the harbour of Portus, depicted on a sarcophagus from the Isola Sacra necropolis.
In the left part is the lighthouse of Claudius with its lighthouse, to the right people are being served in a bar.
Photo: ICCD E069953.
A column marking mooring place XXXIX of Trajan's harbour basin.
Image: Volpi 1734, Tav. VIII.Today a stay at the airport lasts a few hours, at most. In antiquity the wait took much longer. After a dusty trip from Rome to the harbour, many people would want to take a bath, and that is why in Ostia, near the taxi stand, are the Baths of the Coachmen, named after a mosaic with depictions of the taxis. More importantly, departing passengers had to wait for their ship to arrive and then for a calm sea and fair winds. In the meantime they stayed in a hotel, or in the house of a friend or business associate. The Emperor had his own palatium, both in Ostia and in Portus.
Leonarda da Vinci airport.
Photo: Wikimedia, Jorge Royan.We could also compare Ostia to downtown Rotterdam, with its skyscrapers and offices related to shipping and trade, and Portus to Europort, the vast harbour of Rotterdam, with adjoining industrial areas. The ancient harbours were not - we would think - attractive cultural, intellectual or political centres, but functional places, well looked after by the government. Whereas the centre of Rotterdam had to be rebuilt after bombing in the Second World War, the centre of Ostia was raised and rebuilt by Hadrian, so that it was henceforth protected against Tiber floodings and well-suited for its tasks. Republican remains were preserved only like little islands in the new city. Portus was built ex novo by Claudius and Trajan, using part of the Mediterranean sea, just like the "Meuse plain" of Europort uses land reclaimed from the North Sea. Canals connected Portus to the Tiber, just like the New Waterway connects the Rhine and Meuse rivers to the sea. In this section we will investigate what ancient authors thought worth mentioning in the harbours.
Rotterdam - The Hook: Europort at night.
Photo: Wikimedia, Kees Torn.
