Submitted by Bija Knowles on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 14:27
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.
Portus was the principal maritime port of ancient Rome for most of the imperial period. Construction began during the reign of Claudius by digging out a huge man-made harbour protected by sea walls. It is located on the coast about two kilometres north of Ostia Antica, to the north of the Tiber mouth at Ostia, and near to Rome's main international airport, Fiumicino. The port was finalised during the reign of the emperor Nero and then greatly enlarged by the emperor Trajan. It was at this time that an amphitheatre would have been built within the complex of the 'palazzo imperiale', where most of the port's administrative business would have been done by the port official – known as Procurator Portus Utriusque. The port would have supplied the city of Rome with imports from large cargo ships until the Byzantine period and beyond. Portus was the conduit through which most of the key foodstuffs, marble, glass and metalwork that were consumed in Rome were imported from the Mediterranean provinces.
The 
