Isola Sacra - Canal Tombs

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"The river widens considerably as it reaches the sea and forms large bays, like the best sea harbours. And, most surprising of all, it is not cut off from its mouth by a barrier of sea sand, which is the fate even of many large rivers."

"Ships with oars, however large, and merchantmen with sails up to 3,000 (amphorae) capacity enter the mouth itself and row or are towed up to Rome; but larger ships ride at anchor outside the mouth and unload and reload with the help of river vessels."
(Dionysius of Halicarnassus)¹

At the end of the first century BC Dionysius of Halicarnassus described the mouth of the river Tiber. For Rome the river had been the most important overseas supply route for goods, especially grain.
Another product indissolubly connected to the river was salt.
The salt pans at the Tiber's mouth were of crucial importance for the early inhabitants. Salt was indispensable to preserve food. Therefore it can not be a surprise that already in an early age a settlement originated with a well conducted salt trade.
During the eighth century BC the Greeks and Phoenicians developed a great interest for the rich metal supply of Etruria.
According to tradition, the early ruler Ancus Marcius², fourth king of Rome, decided that it was time to bring the road between Rome and Ostia under the jurisdiction of Rome. Round about 620 BC he reorganized the salt making and founded the first Roman colony in the angle between the mouth of the Tiber and the sea. He called that first dwelling after the Latin word for "mouth", Ostia.

 

In the following period Rome experiences an unexpected prosperity because of its unique location on the Tiber, which was navigable from Ostia up to the Tiber-island in Rome. Ostia's fate was inextricably tied with that of Rome.
During the fourth century BC Rome gets involved in several naval wars. From now on Ostia starts to play an important role as a military harbour. When, in 267 BC, Rome installed a new naval magistracy, one of the officials was permanently seated in Ostia.
So, originally Ostia was a naval base. Soon, however, many craftsmen would settle in Ostia to make a living in and around the harbour.
After the wars, life in Rome became more stable. The military nature of the colony diminished too. The population of Rome increases and so the necessaties of life. Ships come and go to solve these needs. Many of the vessels had to tranship their cargo at Ostia. Logically an active trade appeared in the harbour town. Traders started their trade offices³, shops were opened and the local middle class increased explosively. At the height of its prosperity, in the second century AD, about 40,000 people were housed in Ostia. The city developed then as a real city with its own temples, bathhouses, a theatre, shops, warehouses, construction places, workshops, guilds and so on.
Having an open connection with the sea, the Tiber didn't give sufficient protection to the large sea vessels. With the expansion and needs of Rome, traffic on the river grew bigger and bigger. There was hardly space for manoeuvring on the 100 m. wide river.
Silting of the river was another problem. To guarantee the supply of grain for Rome the emperor Claudius started in 42 AD to build a new harbour some two miles north of Ostia, named Portus. Two curving moles were built out into the sea. Between the moles, on an island formed by the sinking of a large merchantman⁴, a four-storied lighthouse was placed. Round about 110 AD the emperor Traianus enlarged the new harbour with a large landlocked inner hexagonal basin. The harbours were connected with the Tiber by channels.
Labourers for the new harbours came originally from Ostia. People had to cross the river every day and went to their work at Portus by foot. Soon, the Via Severiana, a coastal road running from Terracina to Ostia was extended over the Isola Sacta to Portus. Crossing the Tiber was done by ferries. Across the channel at Portus a bridge was built at the beginning of the second century AD.
After a while more and more people started a housekeeping in Portus. At the end of the second century, Ostia as well as Portus were densely populated. Portus was described as 'Portus Ostiensis'. The council and magistrates of Ostia may also have controlled the daily life of Portus, but the harbour itself was Imperial property. The harbour of Ostia still kept its function, as we can notice by the many grain warehouses. Their capacity was far higher than was strictly necessary for the local population.

 

• Sources
• Russel Meigs - Roman Ostia, At the Clarendon Press 1973
• Guido Calza - Necropoli nell'Isola Sacra'(1940)
• Dr. Jan Theo Bakker.
• 
  notes
• 1: Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Roman historian, rhetoric and writer. He was born in Turkey in 60 BC and died in Rome in 7 BC. Writer(in Greek) of 'Roman Antiquities'
• 2: Ancus Martius ruled 24 years from 640 till 616 BC
• 3: Read the article 'Overseas Trade'
• 4: In 37 AD Caligula transported an obelisk from Alexandria to Rome, via Ostia and the Tiber. It was to be erected on the spina of the Vatican Circus. The ship used for this was subsequently sunk between the piers of Portus, Claudius' new harbour, and used as the foundation for the lighthouse.