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PORTUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 169 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PORTUS , an See also:

ancient See also:harbour of See also:Latium, See also:Italy, on the right See also:bank of the See also:Tiber, at its mouth. For its origin see OsT1A. See also:Claudius constructed the first harbour here, 21 M. See also:north of See also:Ostia, enclosing an See also:area of 170 acres, with two See also:long curving moles projecting into the See also:sea, and an artificial See also:island, bearing a See also:light-See also:house, in the centre of the space between them; the harbour thus opened directly to the sea on the north-See also:west and communicated with the Tiber by a channel on the See also:south-See also:east. The See also:object was to obtain See also:protection from the prevalent south-west See also:wind, to which the See also:river mouth was exposed. Though Claudius, in the inscription which he caused to be erected in A.D. 46, boasted that he had freed the See also:city of See also:Rome from the danger of inundation, his See also:work was only partially successful. See also:Nero gave the harbour the name of Portus See also:Augusti. It was probably Claudius who constructed hither the See also:direct road from Rome, the Via Portuensis (15 m.) which ran over the hills as far as the See also:modern See also:Ponte Galera, and then straight across the See also:plain. An older road, the Via Campana, ran along the See also:foot of the hills, following the right bank of the Tiber, and passing the See also:grove of the Arval See also:Brothers at the See also:sixth mile, to the Campus salinarum romanarum, the saltmarsh on the right bank—from which indeed it derived its name (see Notizie degli Scavi, 1888, p. 228). The site can still be fairly clearly traced in the See also:low ground to the east of Fiumicino, and the lighthouse is represented in bas-reliefs. The harbour is generally supposed to have been protected by two moles with a See also:breakwater in front, on which stood the lighthouse, with an entrance on each See also:side of it.

Trial soundings made in 1907 showed that the course of the right-See also:

hand See also:mole is represented by a low sandhill, while the central breakwater was only some 190 yds. long, and probably divided from each of the two moles by a channel some 125 yds. wide. The existence of two entrances is, indeed, in accordance with the See also:evidence of coins and See also:literary tradition, though the position of that on the See also:left is not certain, and it may have been closed in later times. The whole course of the left-hand mole has not yet been traced, but it seems to have protected not only the south-west but a considerable portion of the north-west side of the harbour. In A.D. 103 See also:Trajan constructed another harbour farther inland—a hexagonal See also:basin enclosing an area of 97 acres, and communicating by canals with the harbour of Claudius, with the Tiber direct, and with the sea, the last now forming the navigable See also:arm of the See also:Tibet (reopened for See also:traffic by See also:Gregory XIII. and again by See also:Paul V.), and bearing the name Fossa trajana, though its origin is undoubtedly due to Claudius. The basin itself is still preserved, and is now a reedy See also:lagoon. It was surrounded by extensive warehouses, remains of which may still be seen: the fineness of the See also:brickwork of which they are built is remarkable. Farther to the See also:cast is a circular See also:building in See also:brick with niches; it is called the See also:temple of Portumnus. To the east again is the so-called Arco di Nostra Donna, a gateway (possibly originally built by Trajan) in the fortifications which surround the See also:port and are attributed to the See also:time of See also:Constantine. Many other remains of buildings exist; they were more easily traceable in the 16th See also:century when Pirro Ligorio and See also:Antonio Labacco made plans of the harbour. Considerable excavations were carried on in 1868, but unfortunately with the See also:idea of recovering See also:works of See also:art and antiquities; and the See also:plan and description given by R. Lanciani (Annali del instituto, 1868, 144 sqq.) were made under unfavourable circumstances.

By means of these works Portus captured the See also:

main See also:share of the harbour traffic of Rome, and though the importance of Ostia did not at once decrease we find Portus already an episcopal see in Constantine's time not very 169 long (if at all) after Ostia, and as the only harbour in the time of the See also:Gothic See also:wars. Its See also:abandonment See also:dates from the partial silting up of the right arm of the Tiber in the See also:middle ages, which restored to Ostia what little traffic was left. To the west of the harbour is the See also:cathedral of S. Rufina (loth century, but modernized except for the campanile) and the episcopal See also:palace, fortified in the middle ages, and containing a number of ancient See also:inscriptions from the site. On the island (Isola Sacra) just opposite is the See also:church of S. Ippolito, built on the site of a See also:Roman building, with a picturesque See also:medieval campanile (13th century ?); 2 M. to the west is the modern See also:village of Fiumicino at the mouth of the right arm of the Tiber, which is 21 M. west-south-west by See also:rail from Rome. It is a frazione, or portion of the See also:commune of Rome. Three See also:miles to the north is the pumping station by which the See also:lowland (formerly called Stagno di Maccarese, now reclaimed and traversed by many drainage canals) between here and Maccarese is kept drained (Bonifica di Maccarese) (see TIBER). See H. See also:Dessau in Corp. inscr. latin, xiv. I sqq. (See also:Berlin, 1887) ; J.

Carcopino in Notizie degli Scavi (1907), p. 734. (T. As.) PORT-VENDRES, a seaport of south-western See also:

France, in the See also:department of See also:Pyrenees-Orientales, in an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea, 191 m. S.S.E. of See also:Perpignan by rail. Pop. (1906), 2525. Port-Vendres, the ancient Portus Veneris, is See also:fourth in importance of the See also:French Mediterranean ports, and forms a See also:good harbour of See also:refuge. Its See also:trade, which is with See also:Spain, See also:Greece and See also:Algeria, is in See also:cork, carobs, See also:grain and See also:wine, &c.

End of Article: PORTUS

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PORUS (4th century B.C.)