Professor Simon Keay

The discovery of a unique amphitheatre and other structures at Rome's ancient maritime port is putting the archaeological site of Portus on the map. For decades it's been a much over-looked site next to Fiumicino's international runway and scholarly attention has focused on neighbouring Ostia Antica, but experts now believe it is a unique site that should rank alongside monuments such as Stonehenge or Angkor Wat.

I blogged earlier about the discovery of major Roman structures at Rome's principal maritime port from the middle of the first century onwards. As part of the Portus Project, a team of archaeologal experts worked together with the Archaeological Computing Research Group at Southampton University to create digital images to aid excavators at the site. These two images show what the amphitheatre and the entrance to the port would have looked like 1,800 years ago.

The Amphitheatre

The amphitheatre has emerged at a location that excavators say is inside an 'imperial' palace complex - whose main function was port-related administration.