The harbour basins

Some larger ships needed help to enter the harbour and dock safely. For that purpose tugboats were available. One such boat can be seen on a terracotta relief in the facade of tomb 78 of the Isola Sacra necropolis, a burial place of Portus. The inscription in the facade informs us that the tomb was built by Tiberius Claudius Eutychus for himself, for his wife Claudia Memnonis, and for their freedmen and freedwomen. To the left of the inscription is a relief of the interior of a bakery, to the right the relief of the boat. The two reliefs seem to have been inserted later, presumably when Eutychus was buried, because they do not have a terracotta frame like, for example, the windows on either side of the inscription and other reliefs.

The facade of tomb 78 of the Isola Sacra necropolis.
Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica.

A cast of the relief has now been placed in the facade. On the original are traces of red paint; many terracotta reliefs must originally have had painted details. Lionel Casson describes the boat (dory) as follows: "We see three oarsmen straining hard as they row a sturdy dory from the end of which a stout taut line runs outward and upward, a line that can only be a cable made fast to the prow of a lofty ship under tow. The dory has two special features. The first is a single oversize steering oar mounted on the sternpost instead of the customary pair of oars mounted on the quarters; this apparatus gave the steersman the leverage he needed to direct a clumsy tow. The second is a mast stepped so far up in the bows that it could only have carried some form of fore-and-aft sail, a versatile type that allows maximum mobility; this little tug, then, was equipped to sail out to meet a tow with a wind blowing from almost any quarter - the rowers' energies were to be conserved for the hard pull back".

Tomb 78, detail of the relief of the tugboat. Width 0.575, height 0.40.
Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 156. Photo: American Academy Rome.

Special boats were used to take the cargoes from the warehouses at the quays to Rome: towboats pulled by men, in late antiquity also by oxen. The tow was attached to a sturdy mast with climbing steps. Terracotta reliefs of two such boats come from the facade of a tomb to the north of the main cluster of the Isola Sacra necropolis (tomb A). The tomb was built by Calpurnia Ptolemais, daughter of Lucius, for herself, for her husband Lucius Calpurnius Ianuarius, and for their freedmen and freedwomen. On one of the reliefs the outline of the steersman (once painted) seems visible.

Tomb A, a relief of a towboat. Width 0.42, height 0.44.
Inv. 5514. Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 158. Photo: American Academy Rome.

Tomb A, a relief of a towboat. Width 0.42, height 0.44.
Inv. 5515. Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 159. Photo: American Academy Rome.

The cargoes were carried to and from the warehouses by porters called saccarii ("sack-bearers"). A terracotta relief of two porters was found in 1925 in the facade of the nearby tomb H. Unfortunately the upper part was lost during the Second World War. The excavator, Guido Calza, described the persons as follows: "Two persons, one with a hood in the shape of Sardinian caps, which falls over the shoulders; he extends his right arm to the person who follows, who seems to be carrying a sack on his back; one can see the left hand holding it. The persons have a short tunic tightened at the waist by a belt". This description leaves no doubt about the identification: terracotta statuettes of such porters have been found in Ostia.

Tomb H, relief of porters. Width 0.60, current preserved height 0.35.
Inv. 3379. Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 190. Photo: Floriani Squarciapino 1956-1958, Tav. VII,1.

Small terracotta statuettes of porters, saccarii.
Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica.